RIYA × FUSABLE

Riya meets qualified pipeline.

I run paid media across Google, LinkedIn, Meta and Microsoft, but I don't stop at what the ad platforms call a conversion. I care about who qualified, what Sales accepted, what became pipeline, and what we learned along the way.

because a cheap lead isn't always a good lead :)

See my work ↗

P.S. Eric ; I found you through Exit Five. Seeing you experiment, build things and even win challenges for it made me think, “Okay, this might be my kind of team.” :)

A little context, then the work

good leads,
good questions ↘↙ follow the journey

TWO SIDES. ONE CONNECTED JOB.

The role, as I understand it

Fusable's clients

Own paid campaigns across paid search, social and programmatic ; from setup and targeting to optimization, testing, reporting and performance.

Fusable's own brands

Use paid media to generate qualified demand, then look beyond the initial conversion at lead quality, CAC, and progression through HubSpot and Salesforce.

own the media, but don't stop at the media metrics.

Case Studies

Results that speak for themselves

Case Study 1

Industry

User Research Platform

increase in click → MQL conversion rate

38%

decrease in cost per MQL

18%

MQL → SQL conversion rate

View detailed case study→

Case Study 2

Industry

EdTech SaaS - Authoring Tool

$5.1M

pipeline generated

763

SQLs generated

deals created

View detailed case study→

RIYA’S NOTEBOOK · STILL TESTING :)

A few things I can’t stop testing.

some good bets. some surprises. always something to learn ↘

A paid media marketer is known by the experiments they run and what they learn from them. Here’s what’s been keeping me curious lately.

TEST 01finding the right people

Meta Ads

Webinars, no-brainer offers and direct demo asks are all working in my Meta tests. What matters is calling out the ICP clearly, so the right people recognize that the message is for them.

TEST 02make it worth their time

No-brainer offers

Inspired by Alex Hormozi's approach: make the outcome clear, give buyers a reason to believe it, and reduce the time and effort needed to get value. I'm exploring how that translates into a useful B2B offer.

The inspiration: Hormozi's value equation ↗

TEST 03press play on demand

YouTube for demand generation

I'm running YouTube Ads as part of demand generation ; experimenting with how video introduces a problem, a point of view or an offer before the buyer is ready to act.

TEST 04a bigger screen, a new question

YouTube CTV + LinkedIn CTV

I'm also experimenting with YouTube CTV and LinkedIn CTV, exploring where connected TV fits into the wider paid media mix.

TEST 05closer to revenue

Acceleration for current opportunities

I’m experimenting with acceleration campaigns for current opportunities ; keeping relevant proof and messaging in front of buying teams to help move open opportunities closer to revenue.

THE CONNECTED PICTURE

Full-Funnel Paid Media Framework

Create demand, capture intent, and keep following the journey through qualification, pipeline and expansion.

The campaigns follow the buyer’s thinking.

The framework above shows how I connect campaigns across the funnel. To decide what each campaign should say, I start with the buyer: are they trying to learn, understand a problem, compare solutions, or make a decision?

That’s how I choose the message, offer and next step.

STAGE 1

"I want to learn"

I want to upskill, learn best practices, and understand industry trends.
I discover useful content from brands and start following the ones that consistently teach me something valuable.
I sometimes share strong content with colleagues when it feels relevant.

Best message: educate

STAGE 2

"We want a solution"

The problem is now important enough to impact a business objective.
The cost of doing nothing has become too high to ignore.
We know this cannot be solved internally or postponed much longer.

Best message: problem-solution

STAGE 3

"We want a solution like yours"

We understand the different options available in the market.
Your category looks like the right fit for the problem we are trying to solve.
We believe a solution like this could realistically work for us.

We're considering your solution. We're evaluating you as a real option and comparing you against alternatives.

Best message: proof

STAGE 4

"We want your solution"

We have identified, evaluated, and vetted the right vendors.
We believe you are the best option among the alternatives.
There is growing internal consensus among the key stakeholders.

Best message: differentiation

STAGE 5

"We are ready to buy from you"

We understand the total cost and expected timeline to impact.
We have a plan, internal owners, and enough infrastructure to move forward.
We understand the risks and have a mitigation path in place.

Best message: conversion

Takeaway

Buyer thinking tends to progress through fairly predictable stages, which is why I often use funnel models to structure how I measure and optimize marketing performance.

Funnels are not perfect representations of the buyer journey. Real journeys are messy and non-linear. But they still provide a useful framework for understanding how marketing activities influence buyers over time and where they are most effective.

My goal as a marketer is not to force buyers into rigid funnels, but to use them as a way to track performance, compare outcomes, and continuously reduce the gap between how buyers actually behave and how we measure marketing impact.

This is how the market split looks

The 95/5 framework is a reminder to work on both: buyers who aren’t ready yet, and buyers actively looking for a solution.

95%

Aren’t buying yet

Create demand with useful offers, thought leadership and problem awareness. Build familiarity before the buyer is ready.

Create demand →

Are actively looking

Capture intent with relevant search campaigns, clear proof and a useful next step. Turn that intent into qualified demand.

Capture demand →

Full Funnel

Tools I use

Google AdsLinkedIn AdsMetaMicrosoft AdsHubSpotSalesforceGA4GTMLooker StudioHockeyStackFactors.aiNotionZenABMG2Capterra

🎯💡⚡🚀✨📊

My Process

How I Work With Teams

Trust is at the core of how I work with teams and stakeholders.

When I meet with teammates or stakeholders, I'm not just there to talk about numbers. My goal is to build a real partnership.

"In performance marketing, there will always be days when the numbers don't immediately make sense. Not everything can be explained instantly with logic. Sometimes the right answer is simply: Let's test it, observe what happens, and learn from it."

I work with Sales, RevOps, creative and landing-page owners to understand what happens after the click: who qualified, what Sales accepted, and what became pipeline.

Great results come from great relationships ✨

I take our shared goals personally

When campaigns perform well, it's not just about hitting metrics. It helps the people behind those businesses grow in their roles, get recognized, and move forward in their careers.

No two brands are the same

Every brand has its own psychology, expectations, and challenges. I focus on understanding what each team and stakeholder needs and adapting my approach accordingly.

I believe in partnerships

Great results don't come from simply running ads. They come from building strong relationships, clear communication, and showing up with your best work every single time.

Let's talk about the next chapter.

I'd love to talk about bringing this approach to Fusable's clients and own brands.

Let's Connect on LinkedIn

Back to home

What is Demand Generation?

Demand gen channels include:

Thought Leadership

Paid Social

Outbound

Community

Partnership

ABM

SMM

Events

Among all demand gen channels, LinkedIn is by far the most important for B2B ; so let's dive deep into how I approach it.

LinkedIn Ads

How I Measure LinkedIn Ads Performance

Leading Indicators

Account ReachReach Within AccountsEngagement SignalsAvg Frequency

Leading to business outcomes

Lagging Indicators

SQLsPipeline InfluencedRevenue Generated

My Approach

I evaluate LinkedIn campaigns using both leading and lagging indicators. Leading indicators help me understand whether campaigns are successfully reaching and educating the right accounts, while lagging indicators show how that attention eventually turns into SQLs, pipeline, and revenue.

How I Target the Right Audience on LinkedIn

1st

Retargeting

2nd

CRM Data

3rd

Company List or Contact List

Intent / Signal-Based Data

(signals based on search behavior, job changes, etc.)

4th

Native LinkedIn Targeting

Start here

Then go here

How I Structure Content for Clients

When I plan LinkedIn Ads campaigns, I organize messaging into four strategic categories to educate buyers, explain the product, and build trust across all my campaigns.

Thought Leadership

Position the brand as a category expert.

Industry POV

Market Trends

Strategic Narratives

Problem Education

Help the audience understand the problems they're facing and why solving them matters.

Pain Point Breakdown

Problem Awareness

How-To Education

Frameworks & Playbooks

Product Marketing

Connect the product directly to the problem.

Solution Explainers

Product Capabilities

Use Cases

Before / After Impact

Social Proof

Build trust and reduce perceived buyer risk.

Customer Stories

Case Studies

Testimonials

Industry Validation

How I Structure Demand Generation

Prospecting (Cold Layer)

Objective: Brand Awareness

Messaging Used: Thought Leadership

Objectives: Engagement / Website Visits

Messaging Used: Problem Education

Retargeting (30-90 Days)

Objective: Website Visits

Product Marketing

Social Proof

Demo

Retargeting (180 Days)

Objective: Website Visits

Problem Education

Thought Leadership

Creative refresh every 45-60 days

Back to home

What is Demand Capture?

Demand capture focuses on buyers who are already searching for a solution.

Buyer Intent

Buyers Already Know the Problem

These users have already identified their problem and are actively searching for tools or vendors to solve it.

Not Demand Creation

The Goal Is Not to Create Demand

Demand capture does not try to convince people they have a problem. Instead, it focuses on capturing buyers who are already looking for a solution.

The Core Message

The Message Is Simple

"You're looking for this solution. We provide it."

Efficiency Over Creativity

Demand capture is primarily an efficiency problem, not a creativity problem.

Success comes from:

Targeting the right searches
Minimizing wasted spend
Converting traffic efficiently
Sending qualified leads to sales

Goal of Demand Capture

Generate qualified pipeline at the lowest possible cost.

Campaign Structure

Demand capture campaigns typically fall into three major categories.

Brand Campaigns

These capture users already searching for your brand.

Examples

[your company name][product name][brand] pricing[brand] reviews

Purpose

Protect branded traffic
Prevent competitors from capturing high-intent searches
Convert already aware buyers

Competitor Campaigns

These target users evaluating alternative vendors.

Examples

[competitor name] alternative[competitor] vs [your product][competitor] pricing

Purpose

Capture buyers actively comparing vendors
Position your product as the preferred alternative

Generic Campaigns

Generic campaigns target solution searches where buyers are not yet aware of specific vendors.

These are often the largest source of demand capture traffic. They can be broken into three sub-categories.

Most Important

Category / Solution Keywords

These represent high-intent solution searches.

best CRM softwareCRM system for sales teamsSOC2 compliance softwarelearning management system

Signal: The buyer knows the category and is actively evaluating solutions.

Mid Funnel

Feature-Based Keywords

These represent buyers searching for specific capabilities.

CRM with email automationCRM with reporting dashboardLMS with SCORM support

Signal: The buyer knows the problem and is refining their requirements.

Top of Funnel

Problem-Based Keywords

These searches represent buyers exploring how to solve a problem, but not necessarily searching for a specific tool yet.

how to manage sales pipelinehow to track leadssales pipeline management

Single-word explorations:

SOC2CRMSCORM

These are usually used only after higher-intent keywords are exhausted because intent can be ambiguous and conversion rates tend to be lower.

What Happens After Launch?

Demand capture performance improves gradually as data accumulates. A typical timeline looks like this.

Week 0Setup

Before campaigns go live:

Set up conversion trackingBuild keyword listsWrite ad copyCreate landing pagesBuild initial projections

Goal: Ensure the account is ready to collect meaningful data.

Week 1Are People Clicking?

Are people clicking on the ads?

Click-through rate (CTR)Ad relevanceInitial CPC

Goal: Validate whether the ads are compelling enough to attract attention.

Week 1-2Are the Right People Clicking?

Validate intent quality: Keyword vs Search Term.

Are search terms aligned with the keyword intent?Are we attracting irrelevant queries?Are negative keywords needed?

Goal: Ensure the campaign is capturing relevant search intent.

Week 2-3Are We Capturing Enough Demand?

Evaluate Search Impression Share.

Are we showing up enough for important searches?Are competitors dominating the auction?

Goal: Determine if budget, bids, or quality score need improvement.

Week 3-4Are These People in Our ICP?

Not every lead is valuable. Evaluate fit with the Ideal Customer Profile using CRM enrichment, firmographic data, and lead scoring.

Target company sizeIndustryBuyer persona

Goal: Ensure that leads match your ideal customer profile.

Week 4-5Are We Getting Conversions?

Evaluate actual conversion performance.

Form submissionsDemo requestsTrial signups

Goal: Are these leads turning into qualified pipeline?

Optimisation

Three most important metrics that matter for Demand Capture.

CPC

Cost Per Click

Influenced by

Keyword competition
Quality score
Ad relevance
Bidding strategy

MQL CR

MQL Conversion Rate

Influenced by

Landing page relevance
The offer
Form friction
Alignment between ad and page

SQL CR

SQL Conversion Rate & Lead Quality

Influenced by

Attracting the wrong audience
Loose qualification criteria
Forms missing key qualification information
Lead routing that affects opportunity quality

Back to home

Case Study

User Research Platform

Company identity anonymized due to confidentiality.

Click → MQL conversion rate increase

38%

Decrease in cost per MQL

18%

MQL → SQL conversion rate

About the Company

A Y Combinator-backed B2B SaaS platform that helps product and marketing teams recruit research participants, conduct user interviews, run surveys, and analyze customer insights.

Industry

B2B SaaS - User Research

Business Model

Sales-led, high-value contracts

Target Customers

PMs, UX Researchers, Designers, PMMs

Avg. Contract Value

$35k-$40k (occ. ~$18k)

Goal

Increase qualified demo bookings from Google and LinkedIn Ads while maintaining positive ROAS and efficient cost per MQL, aligned with the company's enterprise sales process.

Key Problems Identified

After auditing the ad account, CRM data, and user behavior, several structural issues became clear.

1. Campaigns Were Optimizing for the Wrong Conversion Event

Free trial signups had been set as a primary conversion event.

However, after analyzing CRM data and discussing with the team, it became clear that free trial users rarely converted into paying customers.

Because the company operated a sales-led enterprise model, most customers converted only after booking a demo and speaking with the sales team.

Optimizing campaigns for free trials meant Google Ads was learning from low-intent users rather than qualified buyers.

2. Reported Performance Looked Strong but Was Misleading

At first glance the numbers looked positive:

40-50 free trial signups
Around 3-4 demo requests

However, once free trials were excluded, the true cost per qualified lead was significantly higher.

Additionally, many demos came from brand campaigns or marketing events, which meant they were not purely driven by paid acquisition.

3. CRM Lifecycle Tracking Was Misconfigured

Lead stages were incorrectly classified in HubSpot. All form submissions were being labeled as SQLs, which made it difficult to understand true marketing impact.

We restructured lifecycle tracking to follow a proper funnel:

Prospect→Lead→MQL→SQL

This allowed the team to measure qualified pipeline rather than raw form fills.

4. Demo Form Friction Was Causing Drop-Off

The demo booking flow contained 4-5 steps with open-ended questions, requiring users to manually type detailed responses.

Hotjar recordings showed users dropping off during the form process, indicating unnecessary friction in the conversion path.

5. Campaign Structure Limited Optimization

Generic campaigns were grouped into two large campaigns, mixing multiple keyword themes. This limited the ability to:

Align ads with search intent
Optimize bids effectively
Improve relevance

What we did

Strategy & Execution

Fixing Conversion Signals

Removed Free Trial as a primary conversion event
Optimized campaigns toward Demo Requests and qualified leads

This ensured the algorithm optimized for revenue-aligned conversions rather than low-intent trial users.

Aligning Website Funnel with Sales Process

Even after removing free trials from tracking, the Free Trial CTA still existed on landing pages.

We ran an experiment removing this CTA and shifting the primary action to demo bookings, aligning the website funnel with the company's sales-led motion.

Simplifying the Demo Booking Experience

The demo form was redesigned to reduce friction:

✕ Before

Multi-step form
Manual open-ended responses
High drop-off

✓ After

2-step booking flow
Direct calendar scheduling
Fewer required fields

This significantly improved the demo completion rate.

Restructuring Search Campaigns

Campaigns were reorganized based on keyword themes:

User ResearchSurveysUsability TestingResearch CRM

This improved keyword → ad alignment, ad relevance, and optimization control.

Scaling Competitor Campaigns

Competitor campaigns were prioritized as an early growth lever. The product had a strong price advantage compared to competitors, making it easier to convert prospects already evaluating alternatives.

Actions taken:

Created dedicated competitor landing pages
Segmented competitor keywords into individual campaigns
Used HubSpot data to identify high-performing competitors
Paused underperforming segments and scaled those generating qualified leads

Improving Ad Relevance and CTR

Non-brand CTR was relatively low (around 0.5-1%). To address this:

Refined messaging based on search intent
Improved landing page structure
Aligned ads with keyword themes

Outcome

Results

After implementing these changes, the campaigns showed significant improvements in lead quality and acquisition efficiency.

1% → 4%

Click → MQL conversion rate

12% → 18%

MQL → SQL conversion rate

↓ 38%

Cost per MQL

These improvements helped ensure paid acquisition generated higher-quality pipeline aligned with the company's enterprise sales process, rather than low-intent trial traffic.

Back to home

Case Study 2

EdTech SaaS - Authoring Tool

$5.1M

pipeline generated

763

SQLs generated

deals created

About the Client

The company is a B2B EdTech SaaS platform that provides an AI-powered eLearning authoring tool used by enterprise Learning & Development (L&D) teams to create training content faster and more efficiently.

Target Audience

The primary audience for the product was L&D Managers and above ; including Directors, VPs, and Heads of Learning & Development who are responsible for managing training and learning programs within their organizations.

L&D ManagersDirectors of L&DVP of LearningHead of L&D

Goal of the Campaign

The company's ICP was divided into Tier 0, Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 accounts based on company size and potential revenue. The main focus of this campaign was to acquire more Tier 2 and Tier 3 customers, as these companies generally had a higher ACV and strong potential for enterprise deals.

Tier 0

1-99 employees

Tier 1

99-1,000 employees

Tier 2Focus

1,000-10,000+ employees

Tier 3Focus

10,000+ employees

Campaign Strategy

The campaign was structured into three layers based on engagement level. The goal was to gradually move accounts through the funnel by first educating them about the problem, then introducing the product, and finally encouraging them to book a demo.

🧊

Cold

Educate about the problem

Build awareness around L&D inefficiencies and the cost of outdated authoring workflows.

🔥

Warm

Introduce the product

Position the platform as the solution through social proof, thought leadership, and product messaging.

🎯

Hot

Drive demo bookings

Retarget engaged prospects with direct CTAs, case studies, and demo offers to convert.

This layered approach helped ensure that prospects interacted with the brand multiple times across the buying journey.

Targeting Strategy

With the help of the RevOps team, we created two main account lists that were set up as separate campaigns:

Tier 2

1,000-10,000 employees

Tier 3

10,000+ employees

Job title targeting

L&D ManagersL&D DirectorsVP of LearningHeads of L&D

Exclusions

Competitor companies
Existing customers
Irrelevant job titles
Non-converting industries
Retargeting audiences

Cold Layer - Awareness

In the cold layer, the goal was to educate the audience and highlight the problems faced by L&D teams.

At this stage, we did not promote the product directly.

We used the following campaign objectives:

Website Visits

Used for:

Single image ads
GIF ads

These campaigns were optimized for landing page clicks. Manual bidding was used to maintain better control over spend.

Brand Awareness

Used for: Document ads

During testing, we compared Reach vs Impressions optimization.

We found that when optimizing for Reach, LinkedIn showed ads multiple times to the same people. When optimizing for Impressions, the ads were able to reach more people across more accounts, while still maintaining healthy frequency.

Since the goal was to maximize account coverage, optimizing for Impressions performed better.

Frequency Cap Testing

We tested different frequency caps:

4 impressions 5 impressions 7 impressions per 7 days ✓

Eventually, 7 impressions per week gave the best balance between reach and cost.

Warm Layer - Retargeting (90 Days)

The warm audience included users who had already interacted with the brand.

This included:

People who visited key website pages in the past 90 days
Users who engaged with cold-layer ads
People who viewed document ads or videos

We also refined this audience using filters such as:

Seniority: CXO, VP, Director, Senior Manager
Company size filters

The goal here was to introduce the product and build trust.

Hot Layer - High Intent (30 Days)

The hot audience included users who had shown strong engagement signals in the last 30 days.

These users were targeted with conversion-focused messaging designed to encourage demo bookings.

Messaging Strategy

🧊 Cold Layer

In the cold layer, messaging focused on highlighting the pain points faced by L&D teams.

Single image and GIF ads clearly called out the problems our ICP experiences in their day-to-day work.

For document ads, we went deeper into explaining the problem.

💡 Key Insight

We noticed that 6-7 page document ads had the highest view retention, so we kept the content within that range.

At this stage, the product was not mentioned.

🔥 Warm Layer

In the warm layer, messaging shifted towards introducing the product and building credibility. We used several types of content:

Customer Videos

These were authentic videos recorded during company events and activities where customers shared their experience using the product.

Product Tour Ads

These showed the product interface and demonstrated how easy it is to use. Ease of use was an important differentiator for our ICP.

Product Value Ads

Single image ads highlighting key product features and how they solve common L&D challenges.

Thought Leadership Ads

These campaigns shared insights and perspectives related to learning and development. They performed well and helped strengthen brand credibility.

🎯 Hot Layer

In the hot layer, messaging focused on social proof and conversions.

We used:

Customer testimonial ads
Success stories
Clear "Schedule a Demo" CTAs

These ads were designed to convert highly engaged prospects into sales conversations.

Alignment With Outbound

A key part of this campaign was close collaboration with the outbound sales team.

Every week, engagement signals were shared with the sales team through RevOps and HockeyStack. These signals helped SDRs prioritize outreach to accounts that were already showing interest.

Additional signals used by the outbound team included:

Past customers who moved to new companies (identified with help from the CSM team)
ICP users who recently joined a new company
De-anonymized website visitors

Because many prospects had already seen the ads, sales outreach often felt more familiar and relevant, which improved response rates and conversations.

Results

The campaign ran from January 2025 to December 2025.

$460,456

Total Spend

763

SQLs Generated

Inbound + Outbound

$5.15M

Pipeline Generated

Deals Created

$309,257

Revenue Generated