How to lower lead acquisition cost by 37% in two months
In March 2024, we started work for a furniture manufacturer from Pomerania trying to enter the Estonian market. Their campaigns generated leads, but each cost an average of 147.30 PLN, which given their margin was a result on the verge of profitability. At Baltic Growth Partners, we don't believe in magic, so we disassembled their strategy into parts to find real savings.
Starting point and campaign audit in March 2024
When we took over the advertising account on March 12, 2024, we saw chaos in the campaign structure. The client directed ads to all of Estonia, using very general keywords like office furniture or interior equipment. This caused ads to show to people looking for cheap desks for home, rather than companies needing 50 workstations. As a result, the budget was burning on clicks that never had a chance to turn into a large contract. We work on hard numbers, so we quickly calculated that 62% of traffic came from phrases completely unrelated to the B2B sector.
The analysis also showed that the landing page was translated by machine. Estonians are very sensitive to linguistic errors and lack of specifics. The page lacked furniture durability certificates and clear information on delivery time to Tallinn or Tartu. The average time spent on the page was only 14 seconds, which is a warning signal for the furniture industry. The client thought they had a product problem, while the problem lay in how and to whom they were showing it. Results matter, not promises, so instead of cosmetic changes, we proposed a total reset of the sales funnel approach.
In the first week of our actions, we focused on excluding negative phrases. We removed over 450 keywords that attracted retail customers. This allowed us to immediately stop a leak of about 340 PLN per day. We also changed the billing model of Google Ads to one that rewards conversions rather than just a click. This was the foundation for further steps that were to follow in April. The Baltic region has no secrets from us, so we knew we had to strike precisely at specific professional groups, not at a broad mass.
We work on hard numbers, so we quickly calculated that 62% of traffic came from phrases completely unrelated to the B2B sector.
Changing the target group – from mass to specific
In mid-April 2024, we implemented a new targeting strategy on LinkedIn and in the search network. Instead of targeting anyone who typed the word furniture, we focused on office managers, owners of companies employing 20 to 100 people, and commercial interior designers in the Harjumaa region. We organize sales from scratch, so we created dedicated audience lists based on company register data. Thanks to this, our ads started reaching people who actually make investment purchase decisions, not students looking for a cheap shelf.
The key move was introducing segmentation by office size. We prepared different messages for small startups from Tallinn and different ones for large logistics centers near Narva. These smaller companies needed flexibility and fast delivery (up to 10 business days), while large corporations asked about ergonomics and a 5-year warranty for 24/7 use. Such a precise strike allowed us to raise ad relevance by 44% in just three weeks. We saw the number of inquiries growing, even though we were spending the same on advertising as before.
Additionally, we introduced retargeting, but non-intrusive. Anyone who downloaded a PDF catalog from our site received an invitation after 3 days for a short online consultation with a technical advisor. This wasn't just a regular salesperson, but a person who could calculate workstation ergonomics. In this way, from building reach, we moved to building an expert position on the Estonian market. By the end of April, lead acquisition cost had already dropped to 112.40 PLN, which was the first signal that we were going in the right direction.
We organize sales from scratch, so we created dedicated audience lists based on company register data.
Communication without fluff – technical copywriting
In May 2024, we took the ads themselves to the workshop. We removed all empty adjectives. Instead of writing about high quality or modern design, we started providing parameters: 25 mm thick scratch-resistant tops, 100,000 cycle certified lifts, Delivery to office in 72 hours. An Estonian business customer values specifics and time saving. If they see that a desk will withstand 10 years of intensive work, they will send an inquiry faster than after reading a flowery description about a passion for creating furniture.
We also changed the photos in ads. Professional, catalog renders were replaced with photos from real implementations at customers in Poland and Lithuania. We showed furniture in natural light, in an office where people sit. This built authenticity that was missing in competition from China. We also added a short video (15 seconds) showing how easily our modular cabinets are assembled. The result? Click-through rate (CTR) in video campaigns jumped from 0.8% to 2.3%. This directly translated into a lower cost for each site visit.
The last element was matching contact forms. We shortened them from seven fields to four: Name, Company name, Number of workstations, and Phone. Removing the question about postal code and industry increased the number of sent forms by 19%. At Baltic Growth Partners we know that every extra step a customer has to take is a risk they will give up. Simplifying the purchase path is the easiest way to improve results without increasing the marketing budget. Focusing on site usability is the foundation of our activities in the Baltic region.
Final – hard data after 60 days of work
On May 14, 2024, we summarized two months of intensive actions. Lead acquisition cost (CPL) dropped from the initial 147.30 PLN to 92.80 PLN. That's a drop of exactly 37%. More importantly, the quality of these leads was significantly higher. In March, the client closed sales for only every tenth inquiry. In May, this ratio rose to 18% because salespeople received contacts from people realistically interested in large orders. Results matter, not promises – these numbers were the best proof of the effectiveness of the new strategy.
Over these 60 days, we generated 142 verified inquiries for the company from Gdansk. The average inquiry value was 18,400 PLN net. The investment in our consultancy paid off for the client already with the first finalized contract with an Estonian coworking network. We demonstrated that a foreign market doesn't have to be expensive if generic methods are stopped and data is analyzed instead. Our work allowed the client to safely plan the production budget for the next two quarters of 2024.
To summarize, the key to success was not increasing the budget, but its better distribution. Cutting retail traffic, precise targeting on LinkedIn, and specific, technical benefit language is a trio that always works in B2B. If your company also struggles with expensive leads, remember: we work on hard numbers. Don't look for innovative solutions; start by fixing the basics. That's where the biggest money usually escapes, which could be working on your growth.
Lead acquisition cost (CPL) dropped from the initial 147.30 PLN to 92.80 PLN. That's a drop of exactly 37%.
