Two B2B companies spend £200K on the same LinkedIn campaign. One achieves 6.2x ROAS, the other 1.8x. Here’s why.
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) is a simple ratio: how much revenue you generate for every £1 spent on advertising. In consumer campaigns it’s easy to track, but in B2B with long sales cycles and multiple stakeholders, the picture is complex. Boards and finance teams still demand a clear number — one that proves marketing is pulling its weight. Improving ROAS in B2B isn’t about quick hacks. It’s about targeting the right accounts, delivering coherent creative, and ensuring attribution integrity so spend translates into qualified pipeline and defensible revenue. For a complete framework, see our ROAS: The Complete B2B Marketing Guide.
To improve ROAS in B2B right now, focus on three levers: precise audience targeting with ICP and ABM signals, coherent ad copy aligned to outcomes, and closed-loop attribution that links spend to booked revenue. Together, these ensure every £1 of ad spend drives measurable, board-ready results.
1. Audience Targeting with ICP + ABM Signals
In B2B, wasted spend usually starts with broad targeting. Unlike consumer campaigns, where sheer reach can drive results, enterprise sales cycles demand precision. Your ads must reach the right accounts at the right time — otherwise even strong creative won’t convert into pipeline.
The most effective teams start with a well-defined Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). This means mapping not only firmographics (industry, size, region) but also technographics, buying triggers, and stage-of-journey signals. When ICPs are layered with account-based marketing (ABM) signals — intent data, job function, or even past engagement history — ROAS lifts sharply because spend is directed where deals can actually close.
Practical steps:
- Tier accounts into A/B/C groups by fit and intent.
- Align channel strategy: LinkedIn for high-ACV, search for in-market signals, display for awareness.
- Ringfence 10–15% of budget for testing new cohorts or refining signal mixes.
Expect meaningful uplift in the qualified pipeline within 4–6 weeks of refining ICPs and layering ABM signals.
Organisations that use intent data are nearly 3x more likely to have a “very successful” GTM strategy (Ascend2 and Intentsify: The State of Intent Data for Go-to-Market Teams).
See how ROAS is calculated step-by-step in our ROAS Formula Explained Guide.
2. Ad Copy and Creative Coherence (Board-Ready, Data-Driven)
Even the best targeting falls flat if your ad copy and creative fail to resonate. In B2B, where multiple stakeholders scrutinise every interaction, consistency and clarity are non-negotiable. Every ad should read as if it belongs in the board pack — precise, data-driven, and directly tied to value.
What coherence means in practice:
- Ads should follow a simple arc: problem → proof → next step.
- Copy and creative must align tightly with the landing page headline and first-screen content.
- Structural tests (e.g. message architecture) outperform cosmetic tweaks (like button colour).
This is more than a design principle; it’s a performance driver. Gartner found that ABM programmes using personalised messaging improved account engagement by 28% and ad click rates by 20%. Similarly, the Content Marketing Institute reports that 53% of B2B marketers see case studies — a form of proof-driven content — as their best-performing asset. Both underscore that tailored, coherent messaging drives stronger engagement and measurable revenue impact.
Practical steps:
- Audit your current campaigns for message-page mismatches.
- Standardise trust signals (load speed, security badges, minimal form fields).
- Invest in testing bold value propositions, not just copy tweaks.
Messaging tests typically show engagement shifts within 2–3 weeks of campaign launch.
3. Tracking, Attribution, and Closed Loop
ROAS in B2B lives or dies on the integrity of your tracking. If you can’t connect spend to real revenue, you’re optimising blind. And it’s a common pain point: 35% of ABM programmes cite measuring success as their top challenge (Foundry, 2023). The cost of poor tracking is significant — 54% of teams report wasted resources and 49% cite missed revenue opportunities when attribution fails.
Closed-loop attribution addresses this by tying ad spend directly to pipeline and booked revenue. It requires stitching together platform data, analytics, and CRM records so every opportunity can be traced back to its marketing source. More importantly, it means sending that revenue data back into the platforms, so algorithms optimise for business outcomes rather than vanity metrics.
To understand how your results stack up, explore our analysis of ROAS benchmarks in B2B marketing.
Practical steps:
- Lock one attribution model and lookback window that matches your sales cycle, and document it for consistency.
- Measure payback period: finance teams look for CAC payback within 6–12 months as proof that marketing is driving sustainable growth (Ziggy: Bring your marketing Budget).
- Track funnel efficiency: aim for benchmarks such as a 21% MQL-to-Opportunity rate and 20% Opportunity-to-Win rate to spot where value is created or lost (Ziggy: Bring your marketing Budget).
- Integrate data sources: 61% of high-performing GTM teams fully integrate intent data, versus only 8% of low performers — proving integration is a success marker (Ascend2 and Intentsify, 2023).
- Align sales and marketing: 78% of aligned teams use integrated tools, leading to shorter sales cycles and stronger pipeline conversion (Atlassian, 2024).
Done right, attribution becomes more than reporting — it’s a control system for spend. It makes budget allocation defensible to boards and finance teams, and it ensures every £1 of ad spend is working toward revenue, not vanity metrics.
Closed-loop systems usually take 2–3 months to build, but once in place, finance-ready ROAS is continuous.
Conclusion
Improving ROAS in B2B marketing isn’t about quick fixes. It requires precision targeting with the right ICP and signals, coherent creative that reinforces your value, and closed-loop attribution that proves spend translates into pipeline and revenue. Together, these three levers turn ROAS from a vanity metric into a defensible business driver.
A zero-waste approach — validating and enriching every record before it enters your funnel — ensures cleaner attribution and more efficient budgets. Platforms like LEADSCALE® ENGINE apply these principles in practice, but the concept stands as a best practice for any B2B team.
For a broader strategy view, visit our Complete ROAS Guide for B2B marketers.
FAQs
Focus ad spend on your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and accounts showing ABM intent signals. This precision reduces wasted impressions and ensures campaigns reach buyers most likely to convert into revenue.
Focus ad spend on your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and accounts showing ABM intent signals. This precision reduces wasted impressions and ensures campaigns reach buyers most likely to convert into revenue.
Yes. Clear, coherent ad copy aligned with landing pages improves engagement and conversion rates. Personalised messaging and proof-driven content, such as case studies, consistently make ad spend more efficient.
Attribution determines which campaigns get credit for revenue. Without closed-loop tracking, results are distorted and budgets wasted. Consistent models and integrated data make ROAS accurate and defensible for boards.
Connect ad platform, analytics, and CRM data so every deal can be traced back to spend. Then send booked revenue back into ad platforms. This lets algorithms optimise for real outcomes, not vanity metrics.
Position-based or data-driven models usually give the fairest picture in long sales cycles. They credit early and late touches, not just last click. The key is consistency: keep your model fixed, log any changes, and pair it with a lookback window that matches your cycle length.
