Solved: Need feedback on B2B ad creative & platform advice

Hi there,

Thanks for getting in touch! Happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance on your corporate travel management SaaS platform and paid advertising strategy. I've worked with a few B2B SaaS companies, so I've seen what works and what doesn't. Hopefully I can give you some ideas!

We'll need to look at LinkedIn...

First off, for B2B, you can't really go wrong with LinkedIn. It's pretty much the place to be if you want to reach professionals. The great thing about LinkedIn is the targeting. You can target people based on their job title, industry, company size, skills, all sorts of things. It's ridiculously granular, which is brilliant for B2B.

I've ran quite a few campaigns for B2B SaaS firms, and more often than not, LinkedIn outperforms other platforms, especially at the beginning. I remember one software client where we drove B2B decision makers at $22 CPL on LinkedIn ads - that's very targeted B2B traffic. Just make sure your ad copy and landing page are aligned with the audience you're targeting. No point targeting CMOs if your ad is talking to junior sales reps!

Google Ads can also work, but it's trickier. You need to be very specific with your keywords. If you're too broad, you'll end up wasting money on searches from people who aren't really in your target market. Think very precisely and use negative keywords to filter out irrelevant traffic. E.g. if you only serve large enterprises, you'll want to exclude keywords related to "small business travel management".

I'd say you should check your creative...

Now, about your creative concepts... It's tricky to give specific feedback without seeing them, but I can give you some general pointers. With corporate travel, you need to focus on the benefits for the company, not just the traveller. Sure, travellers want comfort and convenience, but that's not what the people signing the cheques care about.

Think about things like cost savings, improved efficiency, better reporting, and duty of care. All the important but maybe boring stuff. The decision makers are going to be more interested in how your platform can save them money and make their lives easier, then fancy features for the travellers.

For example, your ad could show a travel manager being able to easily track travel spend and generate reports, or how your platform helps them ensure their employees are safe and compliant with travel policies. We see that visuals often work better than written copy, so try to include this in your visualisations. If your creative is all about how comfy the flights are, or how convenient it is for travellers to book, you might be missing a trick here and it's less effective for this market.

You probably should A/B test your different ad formats...

Don't forget about A/B testing different ad formats. LinkedIn has a load: single image ads, carousel ads, video ads, lead gen forms, and text ads. You should test a few different formats to see what resonates with your audience. I usually run sponsored content campaigns for lead generation.

Video ads can be powerful, but make sure they're short and to the point, and grab attention right away. People's attention spans are getting shorter. Also I like to use testimonials as these build trust immediately as well as explainer videos that are straight to the point as well as showing the key features.

Lead gen forms can be a great way to capture leads directly on LinkedIn. They're pre-filled with the user's profile data, so it's really easy for them to submit their info. I remember one software client where we drove 4,622 registrations at $2.38 Cost Per Registration using lead gen forms on Meta Ads - so worth a try to lower your CPL (Cost Per Lead). The only snag is that these leads are usually lower quality and require more nurturing. If you want higher-quality leads, you're better off pointing people to a landing page on your website and let them fill out a proper form - this means higher cost per lead but better qualified.

You'll need to set up your landing page correctly...

Speaking of landing pages, make sure yours is up to scratch. It should be clear, concise, and focused on the benefits of your platform. Include social proof (testimonials, case studies, logos of well-known clients), and a clear call to action. Your offer is important here. We've had success running campaigns with free trials or a free demo/consultation.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

Scaling B2B SaaS campaigns can be a challenge, but with the right strategy and execution, it's definitely possible to drive results. From the sounds of it, it seems that you might benefit from working with someone with expertise in scaling software campaigns. Feel free to book in a free initial consultation where we review your strategy and account together - it usually is super helpful and gives potential clients a taste of the expertise they'll see going into their project if they decide to work with us.

Regards, Team @ Lukas Holschuh