How Shiplify, a freight-data startup, built a high-efficiency paid engine that earned sales team buy-in and drove consistent self-serve pipeline, with costs falling year after year.
Shiplify had strong product-market fit with Tier-1 LTL carriers but needed to expand into shippers, brokers, and a self-serve subscription tier. Paid media had two jobs: acquire low-cost self-serve subscribers efficiently, and feed pipeline for higher-value enterprise conversations, all measured directly against revenue. The program needed to be built from the ground up, with no prior paid media infrastructure in place.
A program structured around intent and pain-point specificity could acquire self-serve subscribers cheaply while feeding genuinely qualified enterprise pipeline, and prove it against revenue. Done right, paid would not just hit volume targets, it would earn the rarest endorsement in marketing: a quota-carrying sales team vouching for its lead quality.
LeadCoverage built a Google-led paid program structured around intent and pain-point specificity, with four distinct campaign layers, all feeding a unified landing page and SDR follow-up tied directly to paid form fills.
A brand-terms campaign capturing 100% of Shiplify-specific search intent. It became the account's primary driver of volume and efficiency, protecting brand integrity and converting high-intent visitors at low cost.
The most granular and highest-performing campaign, segmented by specific delivery pain points, forklift fees, lift gate charges, loading dock issues, with ad copy tailored to each. This campaign produced the most qualified leads in the account.
Mid-funnel search targeting users researching linehaul rates, operational logistics tools, and tariff rules, capturing consideration-stage demand without competing against bottom-funnel brand terms.
A top-of-funnel awareness campaign using 35+ image assets across the Google Display Network to build brand recognition with logistics and operations audiences. Responsive search ads, dynamic UTM tracking, and 25-44 demographic targeting (70%+ of conversions) supported the whole architecture.
Efficiency metrics win budget, but sales buy-in wins programs. By structuring paid around intent and pain-point specificity, measuring everything against revenue, and driving costs down year after year, LeadCoverage built a paid engine that does not just generate leads, it generates the leads the sales team trusts most. For a self-serve-plus-enterprise SaaS business, that combination of low-cost acquisition and quota-carrying validation is the whole game.
