London's Guide to Hiring a B2B Tech PPC Expert

I get it. You're a B2B tech founder in London, probably somewhere around Shoreditch or working out of a WeWork near London Bridge, and you're drowning in a sea of PPC agencies all promising the earth. They've all got shiny offices in the City, slick pitch decks, and they all talk a good game about "driving ROI". But you've got a nagging feeling that they don't *really* understand the difference between selling a subscription box and selling a complex SaaS product with a six-month sales cycle. And you're right to be worried.

The truth is, most of them don't. They're generalists. They apply the same B2C playbook to every account and hope for the best. For a B2B tech business like yours, that's a recipe for disaster and a very quick way to burn through your seed funding. Finding the right partner is less about finding a generalist and more about finding a specialist who lives and breathes your world. It's a daunting task, but there's a clear framework for cutting through the noise and finding a firm that can actually move the needle. This isn't just another checklist; it's a new way of thinking about how you hire an agency in the first place.

So, why do so many tech founders in London end up with the wrong agency?

It usually comes down to a few common mistakes. The London agency scene is incredibly saturated, and it's easy to get dazzled by the wrong things. People see a big name, a fancy address near Canary Wharf, or a long list of client logos and assume that means quality. Often, it just means they have a great sales team and you'll be handed off to a junior account manager the second the contract is signed.

Another classic blunder is falling for outrageous promises. If an agency guarantees you a "10x ROAS" in the first month without knowing a single thing about your customer lifetime value or sales cycle, they're either lying or incompetent. In the complex world of B2B tech, results take time, strategy, and a deep understanding of the market. There are no silver bullets, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling snake oil.

But the biggest mistake is focusing on tactics before strategy. Founders ask questions like, "What's your approach to keyword bidding?" or "How do you optimise landing pages?". These things matter, but they're secondary. It's like asking a builder about their favorite type of hammer before you've even shown them the architectural plans. The first, and most important thing, is to find out if they understand *who* you're selling to and *why* they should care. The rest is just execution. If you get the core strategy wrong, the most perfectly optimised campaign in the world will still fail. It's why so many founders feel like they're just pouring money into a black hole; they're working with tacticians, not strategists. And the difference is what will make or break your growth.

What's your customer's biggest nightmare?

Forget everything you think you know about your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). "Companies in the finance sector with 50-200 employees" is a useless, sterile demographic that leads to generic ads that speak to no one. To stop burning cash, you have to define your customer not by who they are, but by the specific, urgent, expensive problem that keeps them up at night.

Your Head of Sales isn't just a job title; she's a leader terrified of missing her quarterly target and having to explain it to the board. Your Head of Engineering is petrified that his best developers are about to quit because they're frustrated with a clunky, inefficient workflow. For a legal tech SaaS, the nightmare isn't 'needing better document management'; it's 'a senior partner missing a critical filing deadline, exposing the firm to a multi-million-pound malpractice suit.' Your ICP isn't a person; it's a problem state. It's a career-threatening nightmare.

This should be the very first test for any agency you speak to. Don't ask them about their process. Ask them this: "Based on our website, what do you think is our ideal customer's biggest professional nightmare?"

A bad agency will waffle. They'll talk about "increasing efficiency" or "streamlining workflows." They'll repeat the marketing copy from your homepage back to you. They'll ask about demographics. A great agency will pause. They'll ask you clarifying questions. They'll say something like, "It looks like you're targeting CTOs. From our experience, their biggest fear isn't just system downtime, it's the reputational damage and the painful questions from the CEO that come with it. Is that what you're solving?"

See the difference? One is guessing, the other is demonstrating genuine empathy and domain expertise. An agency that understands the pain can write ad copy that resonates. They can choose targeting that finds people *in that state of pain*. An agency that only understands demographics will just target "CTOs" on LinkedIn and hope for the best. One approach leads to highly qualified leads who feel understood; the other leads to high CPLs and wasted ad spend. Before you let anyone touch your ad accounts, make sure they can articulate the nightmare you're selling a solution to. If they can't, they have no business spending your money.

How do you look past the glossy case studies?

Every agency website has a 'Case Studies' page. They're all full of impressive-sounding results like "Increased brand awareness by 300%" or "Generated 10 million views". In the context of B2B tech, these numbers are almost completely meaningless. You can't take your impression count to the bank. You need to learn how to dissect these case studies to see if there's any real substance behind the spin.

First, look for niche relevance. If you're a SaaS company selling to law firms, a case study about a B2C eCommerce brand is irrelevant. Even a case study about a "B2B client" that sells office supplies isn't good enough. You need to see evidence that they have experience in *your* world. The sales cycle, the decision-making unit, the value proposition—it's all completely different. A firm that has a track record with other B2B SaaS companies, for example, will already know that a "Request a Demo" button is often a conversion killer and that a free trial or a product-led growth model is usually more effective. It's this kind of nuanced, specialist knowledge in SaaS user acquisition that you're paying for.

Second, scrutinise the metrics. Clicks, impressions, and even CTR are vanity metrics. They look good on a report but don't tell you anything about business impact. You need to look for business metrics. -> Cost Per Lead (CPL) or Cost Per Qualified Lead (CPQL) -> Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) -> Lifetime Value to CAC Ratio (LTV:CAC) -> Conversion rate from lead to customer

An agency that proudly displays these metrics is one that speaks your language. One that hides behind vanity metrics is probably hiding a lack of real results. I remember one B2B software client we worked with where we generated 4,622 registrations at $2.38 each. That's a specific, meaningful number. Compare that to "we improved engagement". It's night and day.

Finally, look for transparency. Does the case study talk about the challenges they faced? Do they explain *how* they achieved the results, not just what the results were? A good case study tells a story. "The client came to us with a high CPL of £150 on Google Ads. We identified that their keyword strategy was too broad, attracting informational searchers, not buyers. By refocusing on long-tail keywords with high commercial intent and restructuring the campaigns, we brought the CPL down to £45 within three months." That's a story that demonstrates strategic thinking. "We ran their ads and got great results" is just marketing fluff.

What's the one number that will change how you view advertising forever?

Most B2B tech founders I talk to are obsessed with lowering their Cost Per Lead (CPL). It's the wrong question. The real question you should be asking is, "How high a CPL can I *afford* to acquire a fantastic customer?". The answer lies in a metric that most agencies conveniently forget to talk about: Customer Lifetime Value (LTV).

Calculating your LTV is the single most empowering thing you can do before you spend a single pound on ads. It transforms advertising from a cost centre into a predictable growth engine. It's the mathematical foundation for scaling your business intelligently. Without it, you're just guessing.

Here's how you work it out. You just need three numbers:

-> Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA): How much does a typical customer pay you each month?
-> Gross Margin %: What's your profit margin on that revenue after accounting for costs of service/goods?
-> Monthly Churn Rate %: What percentage of your customers do you lose each month?

The calculation is simple: LTV = (ARPA * Gross Margin %) / Monthly Churn Rate

Let's run through an example. Say your SaaS product has an ARPA of £1,000, your gross margin is 85%, and your monthly churn is 3%.
LTV = (£1,000 * 0.85) / 0.03
LTV = £850 / 0.03 = £28,333

Suddenly, you have clarity. Each customer you acquire is worth over £28,000 in gross margin to your business. A healthy LTV to Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) ratio is typically 3:1. This means you can afford to spend up to £9,444 (£28,333 / 3) to acquire a single new customer and still have a very profitable model. If your sales team converts 1 in 10 qualified leads into a customer, you can afford to pay up to £944 for a single, high-quality lead. Suddenly that £250 CPL from a LinkedIn campaign targeting CTOs doesn't look so expensive anymore, does it? It looks like an absolute bargain.

This is the maths that separates the businesses that scale from those that stagnate. Use the calculator below to find your own number. Once you have it, you're in control. You can go to an agency and say, "My maximum allowable CAC is X, and my target CPL is Y. Can you build a strategy to hit that?". It completely changes the conversation from one about vague 'results' to one about profitable, sustainable growth.

How can you spot a strategist from a salesperson in the first call?

Every agency will want to get you on a "free consultation" or offer a "free account audit". This is their main sales tool. But most of these are a complete waste of time. They're designed to find fault and create fear, uncertainty, and doubt so you'll feel pressured to sign up. You'll hear generic advice like "your Quality Score is low" or "you're not using enough ad extensions". This is low-level tactical stuff that a junior employee could spot in five minutes.

A valuable consultation is completely different. It shouldn't feel like a sales pitch; it should feel like a strategy session. A true expert won't come in with all the answers. They'll come in with all the right questions. They'll spend 80% of the call asking you about your business, your customers, your sales process, and your growth goals. They'll challenge your assumptions. They'll make you think.

The goal of a great consultation isn't to sell you a retainer; it's to deliver an "aha!" moment. You should walk away from the call with at least one or two specific, actionable ideas that you could go and implement yourself, for free. For us, we call this a strategy session. We might look at a failing campaign and say, "Look, your offer is 'Request a Demo'. For a product at your price point, that's too high-friction. Have you considered offering a free, automated data health check as a lead magnet instead? It provides instant value and qualifies leads at the same time."

That's the difference. A salesperson points out problems. A strategist provides solutions. To make sure you're talking to the right person, go into the call prepared with your own set of questions designed to test their strategic depth:

-> "Forget our current ads for a moment. Based on what you know about our business, what would be your dream top-of-funnel campaign if budget wasn't an issue?"
-> "We're competing with [Competitor X]. How would you position our ads to steal market share from them on Google Search?"
-> "Our sales cycle is about 4 months long. How would you structure a retargeting strategy to nurture leads over that period without causing ad fatigue?"
-> "What metrics would you define as our North Star KPIs for the first 90 days, and why?"

Their answers to these questions will tell you everything you need to know. If they give you confident, specific, and creative answers, you're likely talking to a strategist. If they dodge the questions or give vague, textbook answers, you're talking to a salesperson. Knowing how to find a genuine expert who can actually help you drive B2B leads in a competitive market like London is half the battle won.

What does a winning London B2B tech ad strategy actually look like?

A successful B2B paid advertising strategy isn't just about running a few ads on LinkedIn. It's a full-funnel approach that guides a prospect from being completely unaware of you to becoming a paying customer. It requires a coordinated effort across different platforms, each playing a specific role. Many agencies fail because they only focus on one part of the funnel, usually lead generation, and ignore the crucial stages of awareness and nurturing.

Here’s a simplified look at what a robust, multi-touchpoint strategy for a London-based B2B tech company might look like. Think of it as a journey you're creating for your ideal customer.

This is obviously a simplified model, but it illustrates the core principle: you need different messages and different platforms for different stages of the buyer's journey. A great B2B tech ad strategy is a symphony, not a solo. For instance, LinkedIn Ads are fantastic for precise targeting at the top of the funnel, allowing you to get your message in front of the exact right job titles in the exact right companies. But they can be expensive for direct conversions. That's where Google Ads comes in. It's brilliant for capturing high-intent prospects at the bottom of the funnel who are actively searching for a solution like yours. We've seen London-based tech firms get great results using a focused Google Ads strategy to capture this demand. The magic happens when you make them work together, using retargeting to guide people from one stage to the next. Any agency that proposes a single-platform strategy without a very good reason is showing their lack of experience.

What kind of results should you realistically expect in London?

It's important to have a realistic understanding of what B2B advertising costs in a competitive market like London. If your expectations are out of line with reality, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. The numbers can vary wildly based on your industry, audience, and the quality of your campaigns, but we can establish some rough benchmarks based on our experience.

For B2B tech, your primary platforms for lead generation will almost always be LinkedIn Ads and Google Search Ads. They serve different purposes and come with very different cost structures.

LinkedIn Ads: This is where you go for precision targeting. You can reach a C-level executive at a FTSE 100 company. That precision comes at a price. Clicks are expensive, often in the £5-£15 range. For lead generation (e.g., a whitepaper download or webinar registration), you should expect a Cost Per Lead (CPL) anywhere from £40 to £200+. We ran a campaign for a B2B software client targeting decision-makers and achieved a CPL around $22 (£18), which was exceptional, but for highly senior roles or competitive niches like cybersecurity or FinTech, it's not uncommon to see CPLs north of £100.

Google Search Ads: This is about capturing intent. The costs here are driven by keyword competition. For broad, competitive terms like "CRM software," you could pay upwards of £50 per click. However, the leads are often higher quality because they are actively searching for a solution. For more niche, long-tail keywords ("accounting software for creative agencies"), clicks might be cheaper, and the CPL could fall into the £30-£120 range. The key is to find the balance between search volume and commercial intent.

Remember, CPL is only one part of the equation. A £150 lead from a CTO on LinkedIn that turns into a £50,000 contract is infinitely more valuable than a £20 lead from an intern on Google who was just doing research. It all comes back to knowing your LTV and what you can afford to pay for a truly qualified lead.

What's your final action plan for hiring the right agency?

We've covered a lot of ground. It's easy to feel overwhelmed, so let's boil it all down into a clear, step-by-step vetting framework. This is the process you should follow to move from uncertainty to confidently hiring a PPC partner who can actually help you grow. Don't skip any steps. Each one is designed to filter out the generalists and identify the true specialists. Following a structured vetting framework is the best way to de-risk your investment.

This is the main advice I have for you:

Is it really worth hiring an agency?

After reading all this, you might be thinking you can just do it yourself. And perhaps you can. But the reality is that executing a full-funnel, multi-platform advertising strategy is incredibly complex and time-consuming. The landscape changes constantly, with new ad formats, algorithm updates, and targeting options appearing all the time. As a founder, your time is your most valuable asset, and it's almost certainly better spent on product, sales, and strategy than it is inside an ad platform.

Hiring the right specialist agency isn't just about outsourcing a task; it's about buying expertise, experience, and speed. A good agency has already made the mistakes you're about to make, but on someone else's dime. They know what works and what doesn't in your specific niche because they've run dozens of campaigns for similar companies. They can get you from zero to generating qualified leads in a fraction of the time it would take you to learn everything from scratch.

The key, as we've discussed, is finding the *right* one. Don't settle for a generalist. Find a partner who feels like an extension of your own team, someone who is as obsessed with your business metrics as you are. For a clearer picture of what to look for, our ultimate guide to hiring a PPC expert in London provides even more depth.

If you’re a B2B tech founder in London and this guide has resonated with you, you're exactly the kind of company we love to work with. We offer a no-obligation, 20-minute strategy session where we'll dive into your business, your goals, and give you some actionable advice you can use right away, whether you decide to work with us or not. It's not a sales pitch; it's a chance to see if we can provide that "aha!" moment that signals a true strategic partnership. Feel free to book a free consultation with us to see how we can help.