How GrowthSpree Scaled Hatica's Paid Acquisition for Engineering Analytics MQLs
An engineering analytics platform needed a predictable demand engine for high-quality MQLs from CTOs, VPs Engineering, and Directors of Engineering. Across 10 months of phased paid media on LinkedIn + Google Ads, a tightly governed ~$15.7K spend turned into 127 MQLs, 8.5× lead volume growth, and a 47% YoY drop in cost per lead — with 60%+ of leads coming from Director+ personas.
Key Takeaways
GrowthSpree partnered with Hatica to build a structured, full-funnel paid acquisition engine across LinkedIn and Google Ads — designed to surface engineering decision-makers in the US, UK, Germany, and India and convert them into MQLs at sustainable CPLs. Across 10 months, the program transitioned Hatica from experimental paid efforts to a predictable, insight-backed performance system.
- 127 MQLs delivered from a ~$15.7K spend across January–October 2025.
- 8.5× lead volume growth — from a baseline of 6 leads in January to a peak of 19 in August.
- 47% YoY CPL drop — average CPL of $123, with August hitting a program-low $84.
- 60%+ of leads from Director+ personas: Directors of Engineering, CTOs, VPs Engineering, DevOps Managers.
- 2.4× demo conversion rate + 78% lift in landing page active time + 36% CTR lift.
- Creative refresh every 14–18 days = 22% higher CTR and 19% lower CPL than stale ads.
The Mission
Hatica builds an engineering analytics platform that helps engineering leaders — Directors of Engineering, CTOs, VPs, and DevOps Managers — measure velocity, prevent burnout, and ship faster through actionable engineering metrics, developer productivity insights, and software engineering KPIs. The mission for this 2025 program: build a predictable demand engine that consistently generates high-quality MQLs from these senior personas — not just clicks, not just impressions, but pipeline-ready leads aligned to the SQL motion.
The Challenge
When GrowthSpree took over, Hatica's paid campaigns were limited in scale, fragmented in targeting, and lacked the optimization discipline required to compete for engineering leaders' attention. LinkedIn CPL was running above $280 with minimal qualified conversions. Landing pages were losing mobile visitors in under 20 seconds. Creatives were running stale for 4–6 weeks. There was no granular view of how a LinkedIn click became a demo, became an SQL. The campaign needed a complete operating system.
What We Were Up Against
Our Strategy
We built a structured, four-pillar paid acquisition engine — Audience Calibration, Creative Experimentation, Full-Funnel Measurement, and Channel Discipline — anchored on a clean TOFU → MOFU → BOFU funnel split. Each persona got its own LinkedIn segment, every creative got a 2-week shelf life, and every click was instrumented from first touch to SQL.
Build a predictable demand engine for high-quality MQLs — not awareness vanity metrics.
Reach Engineering Managers, Directors, CTOs, VPs, and DevOps leads with persona-tuned creative.
Install full-funnel measurement (UTMs + GA4) across CTR → Demo → SQL stages.
Sustain CPL under $120 with disciplined creative refresh and country-level optimization.
The GrowthSpree Framework
Audience Calibration. We segregated LinkedIn personas into Engineering Managers, Directors of Engineering, CTOs, and VPs Engineering — each as its own campaign with its own creative angle. This collapsed audience overlap, sharpened bidding, and made every dollar trackable to a persona.
Creative Experimentation. We tested thematic visuals — "Data-driven Engineering," "Velocity vs Burnout," "Metrics that Matter," "Engineering Analytics Simplified" — and rotated ad sets every 2 weeks to combat frequency fatigue. The refresh cadence alone delivered 22% higher CTR and 19% lower CPL.
Full-Funnel Measurement. We introduced granular UTM taxonomy and GA4 integrations so every click flowed visibly across CTR → Demo → SQL stages. For the first time, Hatica could see which creative, which persona, and which geo was actually generating SQL pipeline — not just MQL volume.
How GrowthSpree Saved the Day
Persona-Level Audience Calibration
Segregated LinkedIn personas into Engineering Managers, Directors of Engineering, CTOs, and VPs Engineering. Each persona got its own campaign, its own creative angle, and its own bidding strategy — collapsing audience overlap and making every spend dollar trackable.
Creative Experimentation Cadence
Rotated thematic creatives every 14–18 days — "Metrics That Matter," "Velocity vs Burnout," "Engineering Analytics Simplified," "Data-driven Engineering." The discipline lifted CTR 22% and cut CPL 19% versus stale 4–6 week ads.
Full-Funnel UTM + GA4 Measurement
Introduced granular UTM taxonomy and GA4 integrations to instrument every click from CTR → Demo → SQL. The visibility unlocked iteration speed — we could kill underperforming creative in days, not weeks, and double down on the assets driving real pipeline.
The Four Pillars That Made It Work
How a disciplined 10-month sprint moved Hatica from experimental paid efforts to a predictable performance system.
Restarted LinkedIn Ads post-holiday with sharp "Engineering Analytics" creative, layered Google Ads in March for intent-driven keywords, and redesigned the landing page in April. Active time on the LP jumped from <20s to 36s — a 78%+ lift in engagement that compounded across every downstream metric.
Spend ramped from $980 in January to $2,050 in April. Leads grew steadily: 6 → 8 → 10 → 13. CTR climbed 27% in February alone after keyword testing for "developer productivity." Google Ads delivered 2 SQLs in its first month from the "Engineering KPIs" campaign.
Star insight: The April landing page redesign was the highest-leverage move of the first half. Lifting active time from 20s to 36s wasn't a vanity metric — it was the compounding signal that fed every CTR, CPL, and demo conversion improvement downstream.
Concentrated spend on the highest-converting persona segment with the LinkedIn_CTO_EM_Europe_May campaign — the best campaign of H1 by every metric. Leads jumped to 17 in a single month at a $134 CPL, even as bidding pressure climbed. The "Velocity vs Burnout" carousel emerged as the top mid-funnel creative.
By May, the audience calibration framework was paying compound dividends. CTOs and Engineering Managers in Europe had been seeded across Q1 awareness creative and were now ready to convert on BOFU offers. This was the first month where the funnel acted like a system, not a set of disconnected campaigns.
Star insight: Persona-level campaign architecture is what made May possible. Generic "engineering leader" targeting would never have converted CTOs and Engineering Managers in Europe at the same CPL — they each needed their own creative, their own offer, and their own bid strategy.
Doubled down on creative experimentation. "Metrics That Matter" and "Beyond Velocity" launched in July and boosted conversion materially — CPL dropped from $141 (June) → $108 (July) → $84 (August). In August, new ad copies for DevOps personas drove a 2.3× rise in Google conversions, opening a second persona lane alongside Director+.
The creative refresh cadence (every 14–18 days) was now operating like clockwork. The data was clear: above an average frequency of 2.1, CTR dropped 30%. By rotating assets before fatigue hit, the program kept CTR stable and CPL falling — exactly the inverse of what most B2B campaigns experience at scale.
Star insight: Frequency discipline is a CPL lever. Most B2B SaaS campaigns lose CTR as spend scales because frequency creeps up. Hatica's program proved the opposite is possible — but only when creative refresh is treated as non-negotiable, not optional.
September: excluded low-quality geographies and focused spend on US + EU — driving CPCs down and protecting CPL at $90 even with lower spend. October: launched the ABM pilot — a targeted motion on top of the paid engine. Form opens climbed 18%, signalling that the paid engine had warmed enough audience for ABM to convert against.
By Q4, the paid engine was no longer the only motion — it was the foundation underneath an ABM layer. Country exclusion in September cleaned the data; the ABM pilot in October started building 1:1 motion on top of warmed-up Director+ personas. Both moves are the foundation for global expansion in 2026.
Star insight: Paid is a warming layer for ABM, not a competitor. The 18% lift in form opens during the October ABM pilot only happened because nine months of disciplined paid had already familiarized Director+ personas with Hatica's brand.
The Results
Jan–Oct 2025
Growth vs January
10 Months
From a baseline of 6 monthly leads to a peak of 19 in August, 47% YoY CPL reduction, 60%+ of leads from Director+ personas, 2.4× demo conversion lift, 78% increase in LP active time, and a 36% CTR lift — all on a tightly governed ~$15.7K spend.
Performance Breakdown
How a phased, full-funnel engine turned experimental paid into a predictable MQL machine.
| Creative | Format | CTR | CPL | Key Insight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Metrics That Matter" | Image | 1.21% | $88 | Top CTR in Q3. Strongest resonance with Director+ audience. |
| "Engineering Analytics Simplified" | GIF | 1.10% | $97 | Consistent performer across all 3 best-performing regions. |
| "Velocity vs Burnout" | Carousel | 0.92% | $132 | Engaged EM-level users; strongest mid-funnel asset. |
| "Data-driven Engineering" | Video | 0.84% | $156 | High watch-through rate; best TOFU awareness asset. |
Top Engineering Personas We Reached
High-intent MQLs came from senior engineering leaders across four key geographies:
What Made It Work
The strategic lessons behind a repeatable, scalable engineering analytics paid engine.
Persona-level campaign architecture
Segmenting LinkedIn into Engineering Managers, Directors, CTOs, and VPs — instead of generic "engineering leader" targeting — was the single most leveraged structural decision. It collapsed audience overlap, sharpened bidding, and made every dollar trackable.
Creative refresh is a CPL lever
Rotating creative every 14–18 days correlated with 22% higher CTR and 19% lower CPL. Above an average frequency of 2.1, CTR dropped 30% — making short shelf-life rotation one of the highest-leverage moves in the entire program.
Director+ personas convert at the highest ROI
60%+ of all MQLs came from Director of Engineering, CTO, VP Engineering, and DevOps Manager titles. Spending up to reach these personas paid back through both higher demo conversion (2.4×) and tighter ROI alignment with the SQL pipeline.
Mobile LP optimization is non-negotiable
60%+ of traffic was mobile, but mobile was also the lowest conversion zone at the start. Redesigning the landing page in April lifted active time from <20s to 36s — a 78% lift that compounded across every downstream metric for the rest of the year.
The Final Outcome
Hatica exited Q4 2025 with a repeatable, scalable paid acquisition engine — 127 MQLs, 8.5× lead growth, 47% YoY CPL drop, 60%+ of leads from Director+ personas, and an ABM pilot warming the next motion. The marketing engine is now predictable, scalable, and primed for global expansion. Here's where the program is headed next.
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