Compliance SaaS: 6.2X Pipeline ROAS
38 demos, 7 closed-won and 6.2X pipeline ROAS in the first quarter.
The before and after
Founder-led sales only, inbound flatlined for two quarters
38 demo requests in Q1 at £142 each
The founder was the bottleneck
A repeatable, forecastable pipeline source
No measurable paid channel
6.2X pipeline ROAS, 7 closed-won
The fuller story
Founder-led sales had carried the business, but inbound had flatlined for two quarters. The founder was the bottleneck.
We built the main audience from their HubSpot pipeline: people and companies who already knew them, plus lookalike firms from a list of 2,400. Then we tested their polished corporate video against a raw one.
The situation
A compliance SaaS selling into Heads of Risk at mid-market financial services firms. Product was strong, founder-led sales worked, but the team had no repeatable top of funnel. Inbound had flatlined for two quarters and the founder was the bottleneck.
What we did
Job title and company size targeting on LinkedIn against a built list of 2,400 qualifying firms. Three creative angles tested: a blunt 'your spreadsheet risk register is the risk' hook, a short founder explainer video, and a one page benchmark download. Demo page rewritten to remove three friction points the old form had.
The result
38 demo requests in the first quarter at £142 cost per demo. 7 closed-won inside the existing sales cycle. 6.2X pipeline to ad spend in Q1. A repeatable pipeline source the founder could finally forecast against.
Why it worked
James's read on what actually moved the numbers.
Your CRM is your best audience
Most companies run ads at strangers while their HubSpot is full of people who already asked about them. Starting there is the fastest route to demos.
Polish can hurt
The polished video looked expensive and said nothing new. The raw one sounded like a person. In B2B, sounding like a person wins more often than not.
The demo page was part of the campaign
Three friction points on the old form were costing every click. Fixing them lifted demos without spending more.
Who we targeted
Heads of Risk at mid-market financial services firms.
A built list of 2,400 qualifying firms.
Job title and company size targeting on LinkedIn.
Creative angles
Raw founder video beat the corporate one
Their polished corporate video went head to head with a rough, ready, phone-shot video sales letter from the founder. The raw one won.
Why it worked: Buyers can smell a corporate video. A founder speaking plainly about a problem feels honest, and honest is what a sceptical buyer needs before booking a demo.
Drone shots, music, voiceover. Looked expensive. Said nothing new.
Phone on a desk, founder talking plainly about the problem. Won.
Answer a few questions and get a raw, founder-led video script in the same style.
Write my video scriptHubSpot pipeline as the main audience
Contacts and companies already in the CRM, uploaded to LinkedIn and targeted first.
Why it worked: These people already know the name. Ads to them warm up stalled deals and remind people why they spoke to you, which is far cheaper than starting from cold.
Connect LinkedIn and HubSpot so your pipeline becomes your best audience.
Read the HubSpot guideBenchmark download
A one page benchmark for the colder part of the list.
Why it worked: Something useful to download is an easy first step for buyers who aren't ready for a demo.
How the funnel worked
- Step 1
LinkedIn Ads (3 angles)
- Step 2
Rewritten demo page, three friction points removed
- Step 3
Demo request
- Step 4
Founder-led sales
What you can take from this
Test angles, not just ads
Three genuinely different creative angles ran side by side.
Remove friction from the demo page
The old form had three friction points. The page was rewritten to remove them.
A forecastable source
38 demos at £142 each and 7 closed-won in Q1, a pipeline the founder could plan against.
Run this play yourself
Free guides, playbooks and tools covering the exact strategy and sector behind this case study.
How to build and upload a named account list to LinkedIn, step by step.
Read itGuideHow to build a B2B target account list worth spending against.
Read itRead nextFour ad formats that stop the scroll when your buyers are sceptical.
Read itGuideThe demo and enquiry page anatomy that stops leaking paid clicks.
Read itFree toolWrite a raw, founder-led video script like the one that won here.
Read itGuideFilm it on a phone. Script, shoot and edit without an agency.
Read itGuideConnect LinkedIn and HubSpot so you can see which ads move your pipeline.
Read itWant a pipeline like this?
Tell us where your pipeline is stuck and we will tell you, straight, whether paid ads are the right fix.