Paid Ads Strategy — B2B SaaS#

Purpose: Build a focused paid advertising plan that generates quality pipeline — right channels, audiences, and creative for each funnel stage.

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Step 1: Gather Context#

• Goal: Pipeline / demos / downloads / event registrations / awareness?
• Budget: Monthly budget
• ICP: Role, company size, industry
• Funnel stage: Cold TOFU / warm MOFU / high-intent BOFU?
• Assets: Case studies, demo video, strong landing page?

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Step 2: Channel Selection#

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LinkedIn Ads — Primary for most B2B SaaS
├── Best for: TOFU + MOFU, exact job title targeting
├── Minimum: $3K-5K/month | CPL: $100-$400
└── Use: Always if targeting mid-market to enterprise by title

Google Search — High intent, essential for BOFU
├── Best for: In-market buyers searching your category
├── Minimum: $2K-3K/month | CPL: $50-$200
└── Use: When buyers are already searching

Meta — Retargeting + TOFU at scale
├── Best for: Website visitor retargeting, lookalikes
├── Minimum: $1K-2K/month | CPL: $30-$100 (retargeting)
└── Use: Retargeting always; cold if budget allows

G2 / Review Site Ads — Intent-based BOFU (high ROI)
└── Use: If you have G2 reviews and are in a competitive category

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Step 3: Audience Targeting#

LinkedIn#

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Layers (2-3 combined):
Job Title | Seniority (Director, VP, C-suite) | Company Size | Industry | Skills

Retargeting:
Website visitors (30/60/90 days) | Pricing page (30 days, highest intent)
Blog readers (60 days) | Video viewers (25%/50%/75%)

Google Keywords#

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Tier 1 — Brand: [Your brand] — lowest CPL, always defend
Tier 2 — Competitor: "[Competitor] alternative", "vs [you]"
Tier 3 — Category: "best [category] software"
Tier 4 — Problem: "how to [problem your product solves]"

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Step 4: Creative Angles#

TOFU (Cold):

• Insight: "Most [role]s don't know [counter-intuitive insight]"
• Pain: "[Pain point] is costing you [specific impact]"
• Benchmark: "[X]% of similar companies [benchmark] — where do you stand?"

MOFU (Warm/Retargeting):

• Social proof: "See how [similar company] achieved [result]"
• Objection: "Think [common objection]? Here's what [customer] said..."
• Demo CTA: "See [product] in action — [specific capability]"

BOFU (High Intent):

• Direct: "[Outcome] in [timeframe] — book a 20-minute demo"
• Comparison: "[Competitor] vs [your product] — see the difference"

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Step 5: Budget Allocation#

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$3K-5K/month: LinkedIn 70%, Google 30%
$5K-10K/month: LinkedIn 50%, Google 30%, Meta 15%, G2 5%
$10K-20K/month: LinkedIn 45%, Google 30%, Meta 15%, G2 5%, YouTube 5%
$20K+: Add programmatic, content syndication, podcast ads

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Step 6: KPIs & Optimization#

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KPIs:
├── CTR: 0.5-1.5% LinkedIn | 2-5% Google
├── CPL: per channel benchmark
├── MQL rate (quality signal)
├── Pipeline influenced
└── CAC from paid channel

OPTIMIZATION:
Week 1-2: Don't change (learning phase)
Week 3: Kill lowest CTR creatives
Week 4+: Shift budget to best performers
Monthly: New creative, refresh audiences

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Output Format#

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# Paid Ads Strategy — [Company Name]
## Objective & Budget
## Channel Mix & Rationale
## Audience Targeting (per channel)
## Creative Angles
## Ad Copy Variants (2-3 per angle)
## Budget Allocation
## Campaign Structure
## KPIs & Benchmarks
## 90-Day Plan (Month 1: baselines, 2: optimize, 3: expand)