Case Study
User Research Platform
From surface-level leads to qualified pipeline.
Rebuilding paid acquisition around the conversion path that matched how enterprise customers actually bought.
Company identity anonymized due to confidentiality.
01
Context
A sales-led product with an enterprise buying motion.
About the company
A Y Combinator-backed B2B SaaS platform that helps product and marketing teams recruit research participants, conduct user interviews, run surveys, and analyze customer insights.
IndustryB2B SaaS - User Research
Business modelSales-led, high-value contracts
Target customersPMs, UX Researchers, Designers, PMMs
Avg. contract value$35k-$40k, occasionally ~$18k
The goal
Increase qualified demo bookings from Google and LinkedIn Ads while maintaining positive ROAS and efficient cost per MQL, aligned with the company's enterprise sales process.
02
Problem
The account was rewarding activity, not buying intent.
Reported volume looked healthy, but the conversion signal, lifecycle definitions, and booking experience were hiding the real cost of qualified acquisition.
Campaigns were optimizing for the wrong conversion event
- Free trial signups had been set as a primary conversion event.
- CRM analysis showed free trial users rarely converted into paying customers.
- Most customers converted only after booking a demo and speaking with Sales.
- Google Ads was learning from low-intent trial users rather than qualified buyers.
Reported performance looked strong but was misleading
- At first glance: 40-50 free trial signups and around 3-4 demo requests.
- Once free trials were excluded, the true cost per qualified lead was significantly higher.
- Many demos came from brand campaigns or marketing events, so they were not purely driven by paid acquisition.
CRM lifecycle tracking was misconfigured
All form submissions were being labeled as SQLs in HubSpot.
- Lifecycle was restructured to: Prospect → Lead → MQL → SQL.
- This allowed the team to measure qualified pipeline instead of raw form fills.
Demo form friction was causing drop-off
- The booking flow had 4-5 steps and open-ended questions.
- Users had to manually type detailed responses.
- Hotjar recordings showed drop-off during the form flow.
Campaign structure limited optimization
Generic campaigns grouped multiple keyword themes together. This limited keyword-to-ad intent alignment, bid optimization, and relevance.
03
Strategy & execution
Fix the signal first. Then improve the path around it.
The work moved from measurement and website alignment into campaign structure, competitor demand, and ad relevance.
Fixing conversion signals
- Removed Free Trial as a primary conversion event.
- Optimized campaigns toward Demo Requests and qualified leads.
- This shifted optimization toward revenue-aligned conversions.
Aligning the website funnel with Sales
- Free Trial still existed on landing pages after removing it from tracking.
- Tested removing the Free Trial CTA and shifting the primary action to demo bookings.
- This aligned the website funnel with the sales-led motion.
Simplifying the demo booking experience
Before
Multi-step form
Manual open-ended responses
High drop-off
After
2-step booking flow
Direct calendar scheduling
Fewer required fields
Outcome: significantly improved demo completion rate.
Restructuring search campaigns
Campaigns were reorganized around four clear themes.
- User Research
- Surveys
- Usability Testing
- Research CRM
This improved keyword → ad alignment, ad relevance, and optimization control.
Scaling competitor campaigns
- Created dedicated competitor landing pages around a strong price advantage.
- Segmented competitor keywords into individual campaigns.
- Used HubSpot data to identify high-performing competitors.
- Paused underperforming segments and scaled those generating qualified leads.
Improving ad relevance and CTR
Non-brand CTR was around 0.5-1%.
- Refined messaging based on search intent.
- Improved landing page structure.
- Aligned ads with keyword themes.
04
Results
Better signal quality changed the economics of acquisition.
Paid acquisition began generating higher-quality pipeline aligned with the enterprise sales process, rather than low-intent trial traffic.
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