PAID MEDIA
Back to case index ↑Improving qualified leads for a B2B logistics company
More qualified opportunities. The same ad spend.
Sales-qualified leads
24 → 44 per month
Cost per qualified lead
$250 → $136, rounded
Monthly ad spend
Unchanged
The business challenge
A regional logistics business offers commercial freight, warehouse distribution, and scheduled B2B transportation. Its $6,000 monthly Google Ads budget produces enquiries, but many come from job seekers, individual moving requests, or customers outside the service area.
The challenge is to generate enquiries the sales team can realistically convert into commercial contracts.
Total enquiries decline by approximately 11%, while sales-qualified leads increase by 83%. The commercial outcome improves even though the top-line lead count falls.
Diagnosis & strategy 4 steps
Initial diagnosis
- Broad keywords attract consumer and job-related searches.
- All forms and calls count as conversions, irrespective of commercial intent.
- Landing pages do not address freight and distribution requirements.
Strategy & execution
Rebuild around commercial intent
Segment campaigns into commercial freight, dedicated delivery, and warehousing/distribution. Add negative keywords for jobs, careers, personal moving, and unsupported freight, and refine geography.
Qualify at conversion
Capture company name, shipment type, commercial volume, pickup/delivery locations, and service requirements while keeping the form concise.
Connect CRM outcomes
Define unqualified leads, MQLs, and SQLs. Use GCLID-based attribution and offline conversion imports for qualified outcomes, with appropriate consent and data hygiene.
Reallocate using sales signals
Reduce spend on low-quality queries and prioritise services and locations producing sales conversations. Use qualified outcomes to inform bidding when sufficient volume is available.
Performance comparison Full data
Comparable 30-day periods
Baseline versus a stabilised 30-day period after optimisation. values.
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly ad spend | $6,000 | $6,000 |
| Clicks | 1,000 | 923 |
| Average CPC | $6.00 | $6.50 |
| Total leads | 80 | 71 |
| Raw conversion rate | 8.0% | 7.7% |
| Sales-qualified leads | 24 | 44 |
| Lead-to-SQL rate | 30.0% | 62.0% |
| Cost per SQL | $250 | $136 |
Business impact & interpretation Context
Business impact
The campaign generated 44 sales-qualified leads per month, up from 24—20 additional qualified opportunities, an 83% increase, without increasing the $6,000 monthly ad budget. Cost per qualified lead fell from $250 to approximately $136, a 45% reduction. The share of enquiries qualifying for sales rose from 30% to 62%, giving the sales team a more commercially relevant pipeline even as total enquiries fell from 80 to 71.
Measurement context
Lead-quality measurement depends on consistent CRM definitions, attribution quality, and sales follow-through.
Align the campaign’s definition of success with commercially qualified opportunities and the sales team’s needs.
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