Enterprise B2B Case Study

How GrowthSpree Helped Goodera Cut Cost per SQL by 84%

From a 2/10 account spending on the wrong traffic to an SQL-first account that produced 460% more qualified enterprise leads on lower spend, then opened a new market in Europe.

−84%Cost per SQL
+460%Qualified SQLs
0 → 4Europe SQLs at Launch
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Goodera

Corporate volunteering and CSR platform

Founded
2014
Headquarters
San Mateo, California
Company size
201–500 employees
Sector
Corporate volunteering / CSR

Case study summary

GrowthSpree turned Goodera's 2/10 Google Ads account into an SQL-first account, cutting cost per sales-qualified lead by 84% and growing qualified leads 460% on lower spend, then opened a new market in France and Switzerland.

  • GrowthSpree cut Goodera's Google Ads cost per sales-qualified lead (SQL) by 84% while spending less.
  • Qualified SQLs per reporting period grew 460%, and the best period delivered 75% more SQLs than the one before at the lowest cost per lead yet.
  • The fix started with measurement: conversion tracking was rebuilt around HubSpot SQLs instead of YouTube views and form fills.
  • Impressions fell 52% by design, while click-through rate roughly doubled to about 10% and SQL conversion rate nearly doubled.
  • A localised France and Switzerland campaign produced four enterprise SQLs within days of launch.
Where they started

A 2/10 account counting YouTube views as wins, with 40%+ of spend on the wrong traffic.

What we changed

SQL-based tracking, hundreds of negatives, and budget moved to where US demand already converted.

Where they are now

84% lower cost per SQL, 460% more qualified leads on lower spend, and a new market in Europe.

Who is Goodera?

Goodera runs corporate volunteering and CSR programs for large enterprises: turnkey experiences employees can join anywhere in the world. Its buyer is a CSR, People or ESG leader, so a win is not a click or a form fill. It is a sales-qualified lead from a real enterprise account.

Client profile
CategoryCorporate volunteering and CSR / employee engagement platform (B2B)
Footprint500+ curated volunteering activities across 100+ countries
Target buyerCSR, People and ESG decision-makers at large enterprises, not individual volunteers
Priority marketsUnited States first, then Europe (France and Switzerland)
ChannelGoogle Ads (Search)
Only success metricSales-qualified leads (SQLs) tracked end-to-end in HubSpot

The audit scored the account 2 out of 10

GrowthSpree's opening audit scored Goodera's Google Ads account 2 out of 10. It was optimised for volume signals unrelated to pipeline, so budget flowed to the wrong people, the wrong places and the wrong actions.

What the audit found

40%+ of spend on individual-intent traffic that Goodera's work-email gate rejects
~88% of conversions from outside the target geography
40% of budget on mobile, which produced almost no qualified leads
~10% impression share on the search terms that actually mattered
Wrong conversion goals: YouTube views and subscriptions counted as wins
70+ campaigns live, about 90% of them dormant

82% of conversions came from a market getting 11% of spend

About 82% of Goodera's conversions came from the US, yet the US received only about 11% of spend. That mismatch became the strategy: concentrate budget where qualified pipeline already existed.

~82%of conversions came from the US
~11%of spend was going there

The four fixes, in the order we made them

We rebuilt the account from measurement up, because you cannot trust automated bidding until the conversion signal is clean.

1

Fix the foundation by tracking SQLs instead of views

Conversion tracking was rebuilt around real HubSpot sales-qualified leads, with end-to-end button, scroll and form events. YouTube views and subscriptions were removed as goals, so bidding optimised toward pipeline.

2

Stop the waste

Several hundred negative keywords blocked consumer, directory and team-building searches. A 1,400+ channel exclusion list removed irrelevant placements. About 90% of campaigns, all dormant, were paused, along with the mobile spend that never converted.

3

Refocus the budget

Spend was concentrated behind the proven US, desktop-led, qualified-keyword structure. A dedicated brand ad group captured cheap, high-intent branded demand cleanly.

4

Fix intent and landing pages

Theme-specific landing pages were built for each ad group to tighten message match, and match types moved from phrase to exact to protect lead quality.

40%+Wasted spend removed
1,400+Channels excluded
~90%Dormant campaigns cut

What changed in the account

The most important change was what counted as a win. Once the account optimised for sales-qualified leads, every downstream decision (keywords, budget, geography, device and bidding) pointed the same way.

Account comparison
DimensionBeforeAfter GrowthSpree
Success metricYouTube views, form fills, engagementA qualified pipeline lead (SQL) in HubSpot
GeographyGlobal spray, ~88% of conversions off-targetUS-first, then a deliberate move into Europe
Bidding signalAutomated bids chasing engagement proxiesClean SQL signal the algorithm can trust
Account shape70+ campaigns, ~90% dormantA tight set of proven, theme-matched campaigns
Devices40% of budget on mobile with almost no SQLsDesktop-led, non-converting mobile spend cut
Query controlConsumer, directory and team-building trafficHundreds of negatives, exact match, 1,400+ exclusions
Landing pagesGeneric destination for every searchTheme-specific pages matched to each ad group

Cost per SQL down 84%, qualified leads up 460%

Cost per SQL fell 84% and qualified SQL volume rose 460% across three consecutive reporting periods, on lower spend. The best period delivered 75% more SQLs than the previous one at the lowest cost per lead yet.

Cost per SQL Fell 84%

Qualified SQLs Grew 460%

Indexed results by reporting period
PeriodCost per SQL indexQualified SQL volume index
Baseline100100
Period 229320
Period 316 (−84%)560 (+460%)

Fewer impressions, better clicks

−84%Cost per
sales-qualified lead
+460%Qualified SQLs,
on lower spend
~2×Click-through rate
(to ~10%)
~2×SQL conversion
rate from clicks
−52%Impressions, cut
deliberately
40%+Irrelevant, off-geo and
mobile waste removed

Who the new leads were

A lower cost per lead means nothing if the leads are weak. As the account matured, Goodera's qualified pipeline filled with Fortune 500 and large enterprise accounts, including a first tracked deal in motion.

Financial servicesGlobal banks and insurers
Healthcare & medical devicesMultinational healthcare brands
Hospitality & travelHotel and cruise groups
TechnologyEnterprise software and platforms
Energy & utilitiesLarge regional utilities
Consumer goodsHousehold consumer brands

Launching in France and Switzerland

Once the US campaigns were proven, GrowthSpree launched a France and Switzerland campaign with localised keywords, ad groups and creative. It went from zero to four enterprise SQLs within days of launch.

Speed to pipeline0 → 4 enterprise SQLs within days of launch, including multinational travel, marketing-technology and food-manufacturing accounts.
Share of pipelineThe new region became the account's #2 source of qualified pipeline soon after launch.
LocalisationMarket-specific keywords, ad groups and creative rather than a translated copy of the US account.
Data integrityGoogle's tagged conversions reconciled exactly with the leads recorded in the CRM.

What we switched off, and why

Not everything worked first time. These are the calls that shaped the result.

  1. Mobile spend.Mobile took 40% of the budget and produced almost no qualified leads. It was cut rather than optimised.
  2. Phrase match.Phrase-match keywords kept letting in consumer, directory and team-building searches, so we moved the important terms to exact match.
  3. Most of the campaigns.Around 90% of the 70+ live campaigns were dormant. We paused them instead of trying to revive each one.
  4. YouTube views as conversions.Counting views and subscriptions as wins had trained bidding to find the wrong people. Those goals were removed before any bid changes.

Why it worked

Measure the outcomeNot the noise

We refused to optimise toward anything that wasn't real pipeline. A clean SQL signal is the prerequisite for trusting automated bidding.

ConcentrateDon't spray

The account improved by doing less: fewer campaigns, fewer geographies, tighter keywords. Budget follows proof, and proof compounds when it isn't diluted.

Prove itThen extend it

Once the US model worked, Europe wasn't a gamble. It was the same playbook pointed at a new market, and it converted in days.

How to turn around a B2B Google Ads account

If your Google Ads account brings in clicks and form fills but not enterprise pipeline, this is the sequence we used for Goodera.

  1. Audit against pipeline

    Score the account on whether spend reaches the right buyer, geography and conversion action. Goodera's scored 2/10.

  2. Rebuild conversion tracking around CRM SQLs

    Remove views and engagement goals, track real form and on-page events, and import sales-qualified leads so bidding optimises to pipeline.

  3. Cut the waste

    Add consumer and job-seeker negatives, exclude irrelevant placements and channels, pause dormant campaigns and turn off devices that never convert.

  4. Follow the qualified demand

    Find the geography, device and keyword slice already producing SQLs and move budget behind it.

  5. Match every ad group to its own landing page

    Build theme-specific pages, tighten message match and move from phrase to exact match to protect lead quality.

  6. Capture brand demand cleanly

    Run a dedicated brand ad group so cheap, high-intent branded searches convert without polluting other campaigns.

  7. Prove it, then extend it

    Once the core market works, localise the same structure for a new region rather than starting from scratch.

Frequently asked questions

GrowthSpree cut Goodera's Google Ads cost per sales-qualified lead (SQL) by 84% and increased qualified SQLs per reporting period by 460%, on lower spend. Click-through rate roughly doubled to about 10%, SQL conversion rate from clicks nearly doubled, and a new France and Switzerland campaign went from zero to four enterprise SQLs within days of launch.

Track sales-qualified leads from the CRM as the Google Ads conversion, cut consumer and off-target traffic with negative keywords and exclusions, concentrate budget where qualified demand already converts, and match each ad group to its own landing page. For Goodera, an enterprise B2B platform, this cut cost per SQL by 84% and grew qualified leads 460% on lower spend.

GrowthSpree, a B2B SaaS and B2B tech paid acquisition agency specialising in Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads and Meta Ads, ran the Google Ads turnaround for Goodera. GrowthSpree optimises campaigns toward CRM-tracked qualified pipeline rather than raw lead volume.

Goodera is a corporate volunteering and CSR platform that runs turnkey volunteering programs for large enterprises, with 500+ curated activities across 100+ countries. Its buyers are CSR, People and ESG leaders at enterprise companies.

The opening audit scored the account 2 out of 10. Over 40% of spend went to individual-intent traffic that Goodera's work-email gate rejected, about 88% of conversions came from outside the target geography, 40% of budget went to mobile traffic that produced almost no qualified leads, impression share on the most important terms was about 10%, YouTube views and subscriptions were counted as conversions, and 70+ campaigns were live with about 90% dormant.

Automated bidding optimises toward whatever you count as a conversion. If views, engagement or every form fill count as wins, Google finds more cheap, low-intent traffic. Importing sales-qualified leads from the CRM as the conversion trains bidding to find real enterprise buyers, which is what cut Goodera's cost per SQL by 84%.

GrowthSpree added several hundred negative keywords covering consumer, directory and team-building searches, built a 1,400+ channel exclusion list, paused about 90% of campaigns that were dormant, cut mobile spend that never converted, and tightened match types from phrase to exact. Together these removed over 40% of wasted spend.

Impressions fell 52% on purpose. Tighter keywords, geographies and devices meant ads stopped showing to people who would never buy. Reach halved, but click-through rate and SQL conversion rate both roughly doubled, so qualified leads grew 460%.

The qualified pipeline filled with Fortune 500 and large enterprise accounts across financial services, healthcare and medical devices, hospitality and travel, technology, energy and utilities, and consumer goods, including a first tracked deal in motion. Individual company attribution is held in Goodera's CRM.

Once the US campaign structure was proven, GrowthSpree launched a France and Switzerland campaign with localised keywords, ad groups and creative. It produced four enterprise SQLs within days of launch, became the account's second-largest source of qualified pipeline shortly after launch, and Google's tagged conversions reconciled exactly with the CRM leads.

Yes. It suits B2B companies selling to senior enterprise buyers where most search traffic is consumer or individual intent. The core moves are CRM-based SQL conversion tracking, aggressive negative keywords and exclusions, concentrating budget where qualified demand already converts, intent-matched landing pages, and expanding to new markets only after the model is proven.

Is your Google Ads account paying for the wrong traffic?

We cut Goodera's cost per SQL by 84% by fixing what counts as a win. Let's audit what your account is really optimising for.

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