LinkedIn Ads Case Study
LinkedIn Ads Case Study: 263% More Qualified Leads for Sage
Scale Oxford grew qualified leads from LinkedIn Ads by 263% for Sage. The old campaigns targeted broad interests and sent people to a long website form most never finished. We agreed with the sales team what a qualified lead was before rebuilding anything, and connected LinkedIn to the CRM so every report read in pipeline.
- Sage
- B2B software, HR
- United Kingdom
- January–August 2026 (8 months)
01THE CLIENT
The Client: Lots of Clicks, Few Real Leads
Sage sells HR software to mid-sized companies. It had run LinkedIn Ads before and judged them on clicks, which looked healthy. The sales team saw it differently, and said very few of the leads were worth a call.
The head of marketing asked us to bring in leads from the people who actually choose HR software, and to report on the pipeline those leads created. That meant the sales team was involved from the first week.
Worked inLinkedIn Campaign ManagerInsight TagCRM
02THE PROBLEM
The Problem: The Right Platform, the Wrong People
LinkedIn lets you choose who sees an ad by job title, function, seniority and company size. That precision costs more per click, so getting the audience wrong costs more too.
Audiences Built on Interests
The campaigns targeted broad interests and missed the HR directors and finance leads who actually make the decision.
One Format, Tried Once
Single image ads sent people to a long form on the website, and most of them left before finishing it.
No Link to the CRM
Nothing connected a click on LinkedIn to a deal in the CRM, so nobody could say which campaigns produced real opportunities.
What the Wider Data SaysPublished numbers from outside Scale Oxford that explain why the work was done in this order.
- 300
members is the smallest audience LinkedIn will run an ad to, and it suggests at least 50,000 for results.
SourceLinkedIn Help, audience size - 5%
of business buyers are in the market for a given product at any one time. The other 95% are not buying yet.
SourceLinkedIn’s B2B Institute and Ehrenberg-Bass, reported in Marketing Week
03OUR WORK
What We Did: Tracking and Audiences Before Budget
We started with tracking. The LinkedIn Insight Tag went onto the website with the Conversions API beside it, and form leads were connected to the CRM so each one could be followed through to a deal. In the same week we sat down with the sales team and agreed what counts as a qualified lead, which turned out to be narrower than marketing had assumed.
The audiences were rebuilt by job title, function, seniority and company size, around the person who signs the contract and the people who influence them. The long website form was replaced with LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms that ask only what sales needs to follow up. Our in-house design team turned a practical guide for HR directors into a document ad, every ad went out in at least two versions, and the client approved everything before launch.
Campaigns launched on a controlled budget. As the data came in we cut whatever wasn’t producing qualified leads and moved the money to the audiences and ads that were. Once that was steady we added retargeting for people who had engaged with the ads, and an account list of the companies the client most wanted to win.
04RESULTS
The Results: What Changed in the Pipeline
Results for Sage, January–August 2026 (8 months): 263% more qualified leads, 52% lower cost per qualified lead and £1.86M pipeline created from LinkedIn.
These figures come from LinkedIn Campaign Manager and the client’s CRM for the period shown. A lead counts only once the sales team accepted it as worth a call, and pipeline is the value of the opportunities those leads became. The campaigns carry on to the same weekly rhythm, with budget following whichever audience produces pipeline most cheaply.
- 263%More qualified leadsLeads the sales team accepted as worth a call
- 52%Lower cost per qualified leadAd spend divided by qualified leads
- £1.86MPipeline created from LinkedInValue of the opportunities LinkedIn leads turned into
- Client
- Sage
- Sector
- B2B software, HR
- Market
- United Kingdom
- Period
- January–August 2026 (8 months)
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06QUESTIONS
LinkedIn Ads Case Study: Frequently Asked Questions
- Are LinkedIn Ads worth it for B2B software companies?
Often, yes, when one customer is worth enough to pay for the clicks. LinkedIn costs more per click than Meta, but it is one of the few places Scale Oxford can reach buyers by job title, seniority and company size. For low-priced consumer products, Meta or TikTok usually reach buyers for less.
- How long before LinkedIn Ads bring in leads?
Campaigns usually go live within the first few weeks, once tracking and audiences are set up and you have approved the ads. The first leads tend to follow soon after, and Scale Oxford brings the cost per qualified lead down over the following months as budget moves to what works.
- How much does LinkedIn Ads management cost?
Scale Oxford charges a fixed monthly fee for LinkedIn Ads, set by how much you spend on ads and published on our pricing page. Your ad spend is paid to LinkedIn separately, and we take no percentage of it.
- What does Scale Oxford need from us to start LinkedIn Ads?
Scale Oxford needs admin access to LinkedIn Campaign Manager, the ability to add the Insight Tag to your website, and a connection to your CRM. Most important is time with your sales team to agree what a qualified lead is, because every report is built on that definition.
- Who runs the campaigns and makes the ads?
Scale Oxford’s paid social specialists run the campaigns, and our in-house design team makes the images, video and documents at no extra cost. One of our co-founders co-manages the account, and you can reach the team on Slack.
- How do you know which LinkedIn campaigns produce sales?
Scale Oxford sets up the LinkedIn Insight Tag and the Conversions API together and connects your form leads to the CRM. Each weekly report then shows the qualified leads and opportunities every campaign produced, alongside what was spent.
- What is a LinkedIn Lead Gen Form?
A Lead Gen Form opens inside LinkedIn already filled in from the member’s profile, so a decision-maker can ask for a call or download a guide without leaving the feed. It usually brings in more leads than a website form. Scale Oxford keeps them to the few questions your sales team needs answered.
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