Case Study: How to Turn 15000 $ „Wasted” into 230% ROI

A Story That Should Concern You

A client called me. Marketing director at B2B tech company. His voice sounded tired, but you could hear desperation: „Tom, I have a problem. We spent $15k on Google Ads last quarter. Results? Minimal. The board is asking if there’s even any point investing in this channel.”

I knew this scenario. I’d seen it dozens of times through 13 years working with campaigns.

I asked for access to the ad account. First thing I saw? Targeting. Companies 10-50 employees. Positions: business owners, IT managers. Budgets: spread evenly across 15 different audience groups.

Second thing? Communication. Headlines talked about „innovative solution”, „increasing efficiency” and „saving time”. Sounded professional. Problem was, it sounded exactly the same as every competitor’s communication in the market.

Third thing? Channels. 80% of budget went to LinkedIn, because „that’s where B2B professionals are”.

I asked three simple questions:

Who is your ideal customer? „Well… entrepreneurs, managers, decision-makers.”

Where did your best customers find you? „Hmm… through referrals? Or Google? Don’t know exactly.”

What was main reason they bought? „Because our solution is best on the market.”

And then I knew where the problem was.

Not in campaign. Not in budget. Not in creatives.

Problem was they didn’t know WHO their customer is, WHERE to find them and WHAT to tell them.

They were shooting blind and $15k brought poor results.

Diagnosis: What Went Wrong

Before I tell you how we fixed this, I need to explain something basic. Something most marketers skip because it seems „too obvious” or „too time-consuming”.

Most campaigns don’t work for three reasons:

Reason #1: You talk to everyone, so you reach no one.

„We target entrepreneurs 30-50 years old” is not customer definition. This is half of business population. Entrepreneur running one-person business has completely different problems than CEO of company with 200 employees. IT manager in corporation has different priorities than CTO in startup. Speaking to everyone means your message is so generic that nobody feels it’s for them.

Reason #2: You’re where your customer is NOT looking.

„All B2B is on LinkedIn” is myth that costs companies millions. Yes, people have LinkedIn profiles. But do they search for solutions to their problems there? Often not. They search on Google. Ask on Reddit. Read industry blogs. Listen to podcasts. If your customer searches for solution on Google, and you spend 80% of budget on LinkedIn – it’s like selling ice cream at North Pole. You can have best ice cream in world. Only nobody’s there.

Reason #3: You talk about yourself instead of their problem.

„Innovative solution increasing efficiency” – how many times have you seen this slogan? Hundred? Thousand? This is corporate speak that means nothing. Your customer doesn’t wake up thinking „I need to find innovative solution”. They wake up thinking „damn, again I have to spend 4 hours on this bloody report” or „it’ll be bad if I don’t improve conversion by end of quarter”. This is real language. These are real problems. And if your communication doesn’t hit these problems, you don’t hit anything.

Solution: 4 Hours That Changed Everything

Back to client with $15k budget.

Instead of another „blind” campaign, I proposed something different. 4-hour audit. Research. Analysis. Before we spend another dollar.

Reaction was predictable: „But we already know our market. Don’t waste time on analysis, we want action.”

I answered: „You spent 15 thousand on action. Where are those results?”

Silence.

I got green light.

What did we do in those 4 hours? We conducted systematic research in three areas. And each of them completely changed approach to campaign.

Area 1: WHO is the ideal customer

First hour went to analyzing existing customers. But not just any. I used framework that allows separating customers you WANT to work with from those you MUST.

I asked for CRM access and asked three questions:

Which customers have highest lifetime value (LTV)? Not revenue from single transaction, but total value over time.

Which customers refer you to others? NPS is one thing, but real referrals are something else.

Which customers have shortest sales cycle? Quick decision = lower acquisition costs.

Result? From over 200 customers in database emerged one specific group: SaaS companies, 50-200 employees, after Series A or B funding, with dedicated marketing team minimum 3 people.

This wasn’t „entrepreneurs 30-50 years old”. This was specific niche.

But that’s just beginning. Because knowing WHO isn’t same as knowing WHY they buy.

I conducted 5 short interviews with best customers. Not formal focus groups for $50k. Five 15-minute phone calls. One magic question:

„What do you do regularly now that you’d like to get off your plate?”

Answers were revelatory.

I didn’t hear „looking for more efficient solution”. I heard:

„My CMO wants report every Monday morning. I spend entire Fridays collecting data from five different systems. I hate Fridays.”

„We have great product, but can’t sell it. CEO keeps asking why conversion so low. I feel pressure that I’ll be fired soon.”

„Previous agency let us down. We spent fortune, zero results. Now board doesn’t believe in marketing.”

See the difference?

These aren’t „business problems”. These are human emotions. Stress. Fear. Frustration. Guilt.

People don’t buy solutions. They buy freedom from pain.

And this is first key conclusion from research: Your ideal customer isn’t demographic profile. It’s SITUATION. Specific person in specific context with specific pain.

Area 2: WHERE to find them

Second hour: channel analysis.

Remember? Client was spending 80% of budget on LinkedIn. Because „that’s where B2B professionals are”.

I checked. Yes, people from target group had LinkedIn profiles. But did they search for solutions there?

I did simple thing. Went to Google and typed queries potential customer might type:

„how to improve conversion in SaaS” „marketing automation for mid-size companies” „marketing reporting tools” „alternatives to [competitor]”

What did I find? Industry blogs. Forums. Reddit (yes, Reddit for B2B!). Product comparisons. Expert articles. Podcasts.

Where did I NOT find? LinkedIn ads.

Then I analyzed competition. Not all – that’s common mistake. I chose three most important players according to simple matrix: quality (is it large company with team?), rigor (do they actually test and measure?) and relevance (do they have same customer?).

I checked where they ARE visible. Used tools like SimilarWeb, Meta Ad Library, Google Ads Transparency Center. Saw which of their ads run longest (these are usually most effective – nobody pays for ads that don’t convert).

Result? Best competitors spent 15-70% of budget on Google Search. 20% on remarketing. And only 10% on LinkedIn – and mainly in form of organic content, not paid ads.

Client was spending 80% on LinkedIn and 20% on Google.

Exactly opposite of what they should.

Area 3: WHAT to tell them

Third and fourth hour: communication analysis.

Here’s real gold mine. Because you can have perfectly defined customer and be in perfect place – but if you speak wrong language, you still won’t hit the mark.

Where did I look for customer language? Where they speak honestly.

Amazon Reviews

Yes, I know – „but this is B2B, we don’t sell on Amazon”. Doesn’t matter. On Amazon are books about marketing, courses, tools. 3-4 star reviews are most valuable because they start with: „Good product, BUT…”. That word „BUT” is gold.

I found:

„Great solution, BUT implementation takes ages” „They promise a lot, BUT support is terrible” „Nice features, BUT too expensive for what they offer”

Reddit and industry forums

On Reddit people are brutally honest. Go to subreddits like r/marketing, r/SaaS, r/startups and look for threads where people:

• Ask for product recommendations
• Complain about current solutions
• Describe their daily problems

One quote I found:

„Damn, tried three different automation tools. All either too expensive, or so complicated my team doesn’t use them. Boss thinks I’m sitting on reddit instead of working, and I just can’t find something that actually works.”

This is real language. Not „seeking efficient solution optimizing processes”. But „damn, tried three tools and all were crap”.

Customer interviews

Same conversations I conducted earlier gave one more insight. I asked: „How would you describe our product to friend in 30 seconds?”. Answers were fascinating:

„It’s like auto-piloting marketing. Set once and it works.” „Like having extra person on team who does boring work.” „Finally have Fridays free.”

These are headlines. Ready to use. From customers’ mouths.

Result: From $15k in Mud to 230% ROI

After 4 hours of research we had everything:

WHO: SaaS companies 50-200 employees, after Series A/B, with marketing team 3+ people, who feel pressure for results and are frustrated with ineffective tools.

WHERE: Google Search (15%), remarketing (25%), LinkedIn organically (15%). Zero paid ads on LinkedIn.

WHAT: „Finally have Fridays free”, „Like having extra person on team”, „Set once, works itself”. Customer language, not corporate speak.

We launched new campaign. Same budget – $15k monthly. But completely different strategy.

Results after first month:

• Lead acquisition cost dropped 67%
• Conversion rate increased from 1.2% to 3.8%
• Lead quality: 40% more qualified conversations
• Campaign ROI: 230%

Marketing director called after 6 weeks. This time voice was completely different:

„Tommy, board is asking if we can increase budget. First time in two years.”

5 Lessons You Can Implement Today

This story isn’t exception. It’s pattern I’ve seen dozens of times.

Here are 5 specific things you can do in next week:

Lesson 1: Stop defining customer demographically

„Men 30-50 years old” is not customer. This is population. Your customer is SITUATION: „Marketing manager in post-Series A company who has quarter to show results and feels pressure because previous agency failed”. This is someone you can talk to.

Do today: Write down 3 best customers. Not their demographics – their SITUATION at moment of purchase. What hurt them? Why did they buy NOW, not year earlier?

Lesson 2: Research where they ACTUALLY search

Not where they ARE (everyone’s on LinkedIn), but where they SEARCH for solutions. These are often two different places. Use Google, see organic results. Check Reddit. Analyze competition – where THEY spend most and longest.

Do today: Type into Google 5 queries your customer might type. See what appears. Are you there? Is your competition?

Lesson 3: Listen to customer language, not marketing

„Innovative solution optimizing processes” means nothing. „Finally have Fridays free” – means everything. Your message must sound like conversation over beer, not like presentation for board.

Do today: Go to Amazon and find 10 3-4 star reviews of competitor products. Write down words after „BUT”. These are real problems in real language.

Lesson 4: Don’t test blindly – test with hypothesis

„We launch campaign and see” is not strategy. It’s gambling. Each experiment should have hypothesis: „I believe [group X] will react to [message Y] in [channel Z] because [reason from research]”. Then you learn, not guess.

Do today: Before next campaign write one hypothesis. What exactly are you testing? Why do you believe it will work?

Lesson 5: Research isn’t project – it’s habit

Market changes. Competitors pivot. Customers evolve. Research from year ago is outdated. Set Google Alerts for competition. Do mini-audit every quarter. Talk to customers regularly, not just when there’s complaint.

Do today: Set Google Alert for 3 most important competitors. Takes 5 minutes. Information will come by itself.

Finally: Why 4 Hours > 4 Months of Tests

I see this constantly. Companies prefer to „act” than „think”. They launch campaign, test, iterate. Sounds super agile and lean.

Problem? Each iteration costs. Time. Money. Team morale.

4 hours of good research can save 4 months of chaotic testing.

Because when you know WHO your customer is, WHERE to find them and WHAT to tell them – your first campaign is better than tenth campaign of someone shooting blind.

This isn’t theory. This is process that works.

My client with $15k budget is living proof.

What Next?

You now have two options.

Option A: You implement this yourself. You have framework, you have method, you have examples. This is solid foundation that can already change your campaign results.

Option B: You want to go deeper.

Because what you read is basic version. Foundation. In practice research is much more – purchase path analysis, touchpoint mapping, Jobs To Be Done segmentation, deep competitor communication analysis, message-market fit testing.

Companies that do this more thoroughly get better results. Not 10-20% better. 100-200% better.

If you feel your campaigns could work better, but don’t know where the problem is – let’s talk.

15 minutes. Specifically about your situation. I’ll tell you honestly if I see potential and if audit even makes sense.

→ Choose time in calendar: labroi.co/rozmowa

No commitment. No sales. If after conversation you decide you can handle it yourself – great. At least you’ll know where to start.

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Tom Piskorski Senior Marketing Campaign & Analytics Specialist 13+ years experience in Google Ads, Meta Ads and LinkedIn Ads campaigns for B2B companies across Europe. Managed budgets exceeding €500,000 monthly for over 100 clients.