SaaS LinkedIn Ads Case Study: Prelude's 260% Boost in Leads

Getting more trial signups from LinkedIn Ads sounds like a win. But those signups won't mean much if people never use your software.

That’s the problem Prelude Security faced as it moved toward product-led growth. It needed to attract people who would try its product and stick around.

Prelude brought in AdConversion to rethink its paid social strategy and reach the right prospects.

This SaaS LinkedIn Ads case study breaks down the targeting, creative, and measurement strategies behind Prelude's campaign. You'll also get practical tips you can test in your own LinkedIn campaigns.

‍

Main Objective: Drive SaaS Product-Led Growth With LinkedIn Ads

Prelude Security (now known as Origin) is a B2B SaaS cybersecurity platform that helps security teams test their existing defenses and identify security gaps. 

When Prelude teamed up with AdConversion, the company was making a pretty big change in its growth strategy. It was moving from a traditional sales-led approach to product-led growth (PLG).

Previously, Prelude’s lead generation strategy focused on getting prospects to book demos with sales reps. Now, the company wanted more people to try its software and start using it themselves.

And that changed what a successful lead looked like.

A trial signup was a good start. But Prelude needed to reach prospects who would actually log in, explore the product, and see enough potential to keep using it.

AdConversion reworked Prelude’s LinkedIn ad strategy to attract more qualified prospects, drive trial activation, and better track paid social's contribution to its sales pipeline.

‍

Step 1: Target Senior-Level Decision-Makers on LinkedIn

LinkedIn Ads can get expensive fast when you're reaching the wrong people. You might get plenty of clicks and trial signups, but those leads won't do much for your pipeline if they never use or buy your software.

Prelude was running into a similar problem. Its LinkedIn ad campaigns were reaching junior-level professionals who weren’t necessarily the best fit for its new product-led approach.

So AdConversion changed the prospects that Prelude was targeting.

‍

Target both decision-makers and product users

AdConversion moved away from junior job titles and focused more on senior-level decision-makers and people who would typically use Prelude’s platform.

Think about how cybersecurity software gets purchased. A security leader might approve the budget, but a security engineer could be the one testing the product and deciding if it's worth using.

LinkedIn lets advertisers narrow their audiences by job title, seniority, and professional skills. That makes it easier to reach both potential buyers and the people who would actually use your software.

The shift paid off. Prelude saw improved brand awareness, better conversion rates, and higher trial engagement, a good sign that its ads were reaching more qualified prospects.

If you're running LinkedIn Ads to support a PLG strategy, check which job titles generate trial signups and/or describe people who actually use your software. Use that information to refine your targeting instead of optimizing for lead volume alone.

‍

Step 2: Refine Geographic Targeting and Reallocate LinkedIn Ad Spend

Some regions bring in plenty of LinkedIn clicks but very few qualified leads. Others might generate less traffic but attract prospects who are more likely to try your software.

Spending the same amount in both markets doesn't make much sense.

That’s why AdConversion took a closer look at how Prelude’s campaigns were performing across different locations.

‍

Add more budget to regions that convert

LinkedIn’s Campaign Manager lets you review geographic performance, including clicks and conversions. That helps you spot which regions drive results and where your budget might be better spent.

For Prelude, AdConversion refined its geographic segmentation and moved more budget toward higher-performing regions. The changes helped improve engagement and conversion efficiency.

‍

Look beyond clicks and cost per lead

For your own campaigns, look beyond impressions and click-through rate (CTR). Compare cost per click (CPC), cost per lead (CPL), and conversion rates across regions.

Then check what happens after the signup. A region with a low CPL might look great on paper, but that won't mean much if those leads never activate their trials or become customers.

Just don't write off a region after a handful of poor results. Give your campaigns enough data before shifting your budget.

‍

Step 3: Test LinkedIn Document Ads and Video Ads

Getting the right people to see your LinkedIn Ads is only half the battle. You also need to give them a reason to stop scrolling and pay attention.

That's why AdConversion added document ads and video ads to Prelude's LinkedIn campaigns. Both ad formats gave prospects new ways to engage with the brand and get a better feel for what its cybersecurity platform could do. 

‍

Give prospects something useful to read

LinkedIn document ads let people preview guides, reports, and case studies directly in their feed. You can give away the full document or use LinkedIn lead gen forms to collect contact details before sharing it.

For a cybersecurity audience, that might be a guide to testing security controls or a case study showing how another team uncovered gaps in its defenses.

Prelude's document ads achieved a 10% engagement rate, twice the industry average.

Show the product in action with video ads

Some products are easier to understand when you see what they can do. That's where video ads come in.

For example, one of Prelude's video ads focused on ransomware attacks. It showed how the platform safely simulates a real attack, so security teams can see what might happen if ransomware hit their systems.

Instead of just listing product features, the ad showed prospects how their own defenses might hold up against an attack.

‍

Build a bigger retargeting audience

Document and video ads give you more opportunities to reach people who've already shown interest in your content. 

LinkedIn lets you retarget prospects based on document ad engagement and video views. So, once someone has interacted with your content, you can follow up with an ad that encourages them to take the next step.

Boosting Prelude’s retargeting audience from 2,500 to 5,500 people (a 120% increase) gave AdConversion a much bigger pool of engaged prospects to reach.

Try the same approach in your own targeted campaigns. Retarget people who've engaged with your content before asking them to sign up for a trial. They've already shown some interest, so you're not starting from scratch.

‍

Step 4: Improve Trial Activation Tracking and LinkedIn Ads Attribution

LinkedIn might show you hundreds of trial signups, but not what happens after those people sign up.

Prelude needed to know what its LinkedIn ad campaigns were actually delivering, from product logins to sales opportunities. 

So AdConversion improved Prelude's conversion tracking to get a clearer picture of what happened after the sign-up.

‍

Track trial engagement and pipeline conversions

The problem with optimizing for sign-ups alone is that you might end up spending more on campaigns that bring in people who never use your software.

AdConversion wanted to see which leads from its LinkedIn pages went beyond the initial sign-up and showed genuine interest in Prelude's product.

That meant looking at trial engagement and pipeline progression alongside lead volume, rather than treating every sign-up as an equally valuable conversion.

For your own campaigns, compare the number of trial signups with how many people actually log in and become sales opportunities. That gives you a much better idea of which campaigns deserve more of your budget.

‍

Track the actions that matter in HubSpot

To get that visibility, AdConversion aligned Prelude's conversion tracking with events defined in HubSpot.

The team focused on three actions:

• Trial sign-ups
• Product logins
• Booked meetings

Now Prelude could distinguish people who simply signed up from those who went on to use the software or book a meeting.

If you're using HubSpot, you can take this a step further by sending supported conversion events to LinkedIn through its Conversions API. That gives you more information about what happens after someone clicks your ad.

And when you can connect those actions to your LinkedIn campaigns, it's easier to see what's bringing in qualified prospects and what's just generating sign-ups.

‍

Key Results from Prelude's SaaS LinkedIn Ads Case Study

Prelude's revamped paid social strategy delivered some impressive results:

• 260% increase in paid social leads quarter over quarter: Most of that growth came from LinkedIn, following the changes to targeting, geographic segmentation, and ad creative.
• 38% lead-to-opportunity conversion rate: Paid social became Prelude’s top-performing acquisition channel, with more than a third of its leads progressing into sales opportunities.
• 10% document ad engagement: Prelude’s document ads achieved twice the industry average, showing that the new format was getting prospects to interact with its content.
• 120% growth in the retargeting audience: The audience grew from 2,500 to 5,500 people, giving Prelude a much larger pool of engaged prospects to reach with follow-up advertising.

And that 38% lead-to-opportunity rate is a big deal.

Prelude wasn't just bringing in more leads. Paid social also brought in prospects who moved further into the sales pipeline.

‍

Wrapping Up

Prelude’s LinkedIn Ads case study shows why getting the right leads matters just as much as getting more of them.

By refining its targeting, testing new LinkedIn ad formats, and improving conversion tracking, Prelude grew its paid social leads while keeping an eye on what happened further down the funnel.

The lesson for your own campaigns is simple: focus on reaching people who are likely to use your software, and track what they do after signing up.

If you're looking to get more out of your LinkedIn Ads, have a quick chat with AdConversion to see how they can help.