Scaling a Software as a Service (SaaS) business with PPC isn’t just about running ads – it’s about smart, optimized campaigns that convert high-intent leads into tangible outcomes. This is precisely what I focus on as a PPC Growth Leader at Aimers agency, where we’ve spent over a decade managing $30M+ in ad spend for leading SaaS brands like Mixpanel, Automattic, and SaaStr. Through extensive testing, our team has refined the key PPC tactics that actually move the needle for SaaS companies.
This post offers five such tried-and-true SaaS PPC tactics. Some you can implement right away, while others – like setting up proper conversion tracking – may take more time. But every one of them will drive your conversion rates up.
1. Reevaluate Your Channels and Reallocate Budget Based on Performance
One of the biggest PPC mistakes we see SaaS companies make is setting their budgets on autopilot and never revisiting them. Some divide their budget 50/50 between two platforms, while a 30/70 ratio would bring better results. Another thing is when companies “get stuck” on one or two ad platforms, without venturing into new channels.
Just because a channel worked six months ago doesn’t mean it’s still your most profitable acquisition source today. Don’t hesitate to reallocate budget between ad campaigns and various channels based on real data. Moreover, you can use a small portion of your budget to experiment with new channels, for example Reddit or Capterra, as an addition to Google and LinkedIn Ads.
2. Structure Campaigns by Customer Lifecycle Stage & Assign Proper Conversion Value
Not all leads are created equal. If you’re aiming for trial sign-ups, but those sign-ups don’t convert to paid customers, your campaigns aren’t working effectively.
Instead of treating all conversions the same, I recommend structuring your PPC campaigns based on the SaaS buyer’s journey. Here’s a real-life example of how I would do it for a SaaS client:
- Top of Funnel: demand gen campaigns (i.e. LinkedIn Awareness Ads) to build brand familiarity and drive early interest.
- Mid-Funnel: capture intent-driven users who search for the client’s SaaS solution or research their competitors.
- Bottom of Funnel: capture and remarket to hot leads – those who were searching for the client’s brand, visited a website, or made any key actions like signing-up for a trial. At this stage, it’s great to have a multichannel approach, and create other touchpoints, for example via email. This will nudge users towards purchase even more.
This PPC funnel approach can boost your lead gen 30% up or more, compared to haphazard ads that do not account for the user’s journey stage.
Implement systems to track conversion value accurately – from the first click to a final sale. You should not only have numbers on the quantity of leads, but also analyze their quality. In-depth analysis can reveal keywords that generate a ton of leads, but do not lead to real customers, who are ready to purchase.
3. Optimize Landing Pages for a Smoother Conversion Path
Ad clicks drive traffic, but it’s your landing page that ultimately determines conversions. In our experience, one of the most influential factors here is your speed loading time. Portent’s study has found that if a site loads in 1 second, it has an average CR of 39%. But every additional second of delay results in a drop in conversions. For the websites that took 6 seconds to load, CR dropped to 18%.
Another factor is the length of your lead forms. If these are too long and difficult to fill in, your conversion rates suffer. You have to make it easy for your leads to finish and submit your forms. For one of our clients, we tested the lead form that had only a few required fields (name, business email, company name). The rest were optional. This instantly led to the boost of conversions, but there were more spam leads, too. So this might require a balancing act on your part. Look at the whole sales cycle (how many deals closed) to see if your lead form works. In that campaign, we ended up switching this minimized form on and off, to balance the boost in lead gen and quality of leads.
A great PPC tactic for SaaS is to custom-tailor pages for specific audiences to enhance their experience and boost conversion potential. One of the things you can do is to create campaigns targeted to attract audiences that are looking for your competition. For example, here’s a competitor-focused landing page that one of our clients is using:
4. Keep Your Quality Score in Check
A lower Quality Score means you pay more per click, while a higher Quality Score reduces costs and boosts ad rank. I recommend aiming for a QS of at least 6/10.
Ensure ad relevance aligns with keywords and landing pages. Keep in mind that landing page experience influences the Quality Score of your ads. One of the things we do for our clients is conducting an advanced analysis to align your landing pages with the keywords that you use for PPC.
Here’s a concrete example. You run ads for the webinar solution that can be used for events, among other things, and use “events platform” in some of ad groups. But your landing page uses only general terms and does not mention events. In this case, we would do a re-alignment of the landing page copy for the smoother conversion and higher Quality Score.
Moreover, Google considers mobile responsiveness when calculating Quality Score, which influences both ad placement and cost – even for desktop-targeted ads. So whether or not you include mobile traffic, it’s essential to optimize landing pages for mobile devices. That’s why during our PPC audits, we frequently check if landing pages are optimized for mobile, even if your ad campaigns are not targeting mobile users.
5. Be Honest and Specific in Your Ad Copy
Many marketers believe that hyping up their offer will increase clicks. Our experience has taught us that users value transparency. Let’s take two ads from our real-life practice as an example:
Ad A says “try for free”, Ad B discloses specific prices. Ad B outperformed Ad A by driving 67% of total conversions while maintaining the CPA that was 2x lower in key geographies.
The age of clickbait is over. Today’s SaaS buyers want straightforward messaging that sets the right expectations. If you are being honest and straight-forward, it builds trust. It also attracts those who are ready to make a decision here and now.
Conclusion
Summing up, here are the 5 proven PPC tactics to boost your conversion rates:
- Reevaluate your budget regularly and test new ad platforms – don’t assume every channel is still performing at its best.
- Structure your PPC campaigns based on lifecycle stage and track the value of each conversion.
- Improve your landing page experience for a smoother conversion path.
- Aim for a high Quality Score – it means lower CPC, better ad placements, and improved ROI.
- Be upfront in your ad messaging – users value transparency.
By applying this advice, your SaaS business can drive more high-intent leads and convert them into loyal customers.
