Case Study: Sastrify - From Zero Leads to 200 Qualified Prospects: Multi-Channel Demand Generation Strategy for Sastrify

1. Client Background

Sastrify is a B2B SaaS platform based in Cologne, Germany, that helps companies purchase and manage their software stack more efficiently. Their AI-powered solution provides IT, Procurement, and Finance teams with full visibility into software spend, automated tracking, compliance management, and intelligent negotiation support—addressing the growing challenge of SaaS sprawl and budget optimization.

When I began working with Sastrify, they were an early-stage startup with small operations and ambitious European growth plans. The company had one person leading growth who came from a product background with limited marketing experience. They had a solid product and an existing Webflow website, but lacked the marketing infrastructure, content strategy, and demand generation capabilities needed to scale rapidly in the competitive SaaS management space.

Sastrify's target customers were B2B companies across Germany and the broader European Union—specifically IT managers, procurement leaders, and finance teams struggling with software budget management, vendor negotiations, and compliance requirements.

2. The Challenge

Sastrify faced three interconnected challenges that prevented them from accelerating growth:

Insufficient Lead GenerationThe company needed to generate more qualified and relevant leads within Germany and across Europe. Without a systematic demand generation engine, they couldn't fill their sales pipeline with the volume and quality of prospects required to hit aggressive growth targets in a competitive market.

No Marketing Operations InfrastructureSastrify lacked the foundational analytics and marketing operations framework essential for data-driven decision-making. There was no clear system for:

• Tracking visitor behavior and conversion paths
• Measuring campaign performance across channels
• Understanding which marketing activities drove qualified leads
• Connecting marketing activity to sales outcomes
• Collecting and analyzing the right data points to inform strategy

Without this infrastructure, the growth lead was flying blind—unable to optimize spend, double down on what worked, or identify what needed fixing.

Missing Content Strategy & AssetsThe company had no content marketing strategy or high-value assets to attract and convert their target audience. In the SaaS management space—where buyers conduct extensive research before engaging sales—the absence of educational content, guides, and case studies severely limited their ability to generate inbound interest and demonstrate expertise.

3. Goals

The leadership team outlined clear objectives for our six-week engagement:

1. Build Marketing Infrastructure: Establish a complete analytics and marketing operations framework connecting their Webflow website, Google Analytics, HubSpot, and Google Tag Manager to enable data-driven optimization.
2. Launch Demand Generation: Create and execute a Google Ads strategy targeting high-value B2B companies in the European Union, focusing on keywords related to software purchasing, SaaS budget management, and procurement.
3. Develop Content Assets: Create 3-5 high-impact content pieces that would resonate with target audiences and serve as lead magnets for paid campaigns.
4. Generate Qualified Pipeline: Fill the sales pipeline with relevant European B2B companies ready for sales conversations or nurturing.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Number of marketing-qualified leads (MQLs)
• Cost per lead and cost per acquisition
• Sales-ready lead volume
• Marketing infrastructure completeness (tracking, attribution, reporting)
• Content download rates and engagement

4. Strategy & Approach

Given the compressed six-week timeline, I structured the engagement into three parallel workstreams:

Workstream 1: Marketing Operations & Analytics Foundation

I worked closely with the growth lead to build a comprehensive marketing infrastructure from the ground up. The goal was to create a system where every website visitor, lead action, and conversion could be tracked, attributed, and analyzed.

The framework connected four critical systems:

• Webflow Website: Already in place but needed proper tagging
• Google Tag Manager: To implement and manage tracking codes
• Google Analytics: To analyze visitor behavior and conversion paths
• HubSpot: To manage leads, automate nurturing, and track sales outcomes

This infrastructure would ensure that any visitor or lead generated from the website would be clearly tagged with source, campaign, and behavior data, then automatically pushed into the marketing and sales funnel with proper attribution.

Workstream 2: Content Strategy & Asset Development

I conducted competitive analysis of vendors and competitors in the SaaS management space to identify content gaps and opportunities. Based on this research, I collaborated with the growth lead to develop 3-5 pieces of high-value content designed to:

• Address specific pain points of IT, procurement, and finance buyers
• Demonstrate Sastrify's expertise in SaaS management
• Serve as lead magnets for Google Ads campaigns
• Support both early-stage education and late-stage conversion

The flagship asset became the "SaaS Buyers' Guide 2021 & Procurement Checklist"—an 11-step guide teaching best practices for improving SaaS procurement, negotiating contracts, and increasing savings. This comprehensive resource positioned Sastrify as a trusted advisor, not just a vendor.

I also created the Amboss case study, showcasing how a real customer saved $250K on Google Workspace and other SaaS tools using Sastrify—providing crucial social proof for enterprise prospects.

Workstream 3: Google Ads Launch & Optimization

I owned and executed the complete Google Ads program from scratch, with laser focus on:

• Geographic targeting: B2B companies within the European Union (Germany priority)
• Keyword strategy: Software purchasing, SaaS management, budget optimization, procurement, vendor negotiation
• Audience quality: High-value companies likely to have significant SaaS spend
• Conversion optimization: Three-tiered approach to capture different buyer stages

Before launching campaigns, I identified three critical optimizations needed:

1. Homepage Messaging Refinement: The existing homepage messaging needed to be more relevant and impactful for B2B buyers—specifically IT managers, procurement leaders, and CFOs concerned with software spend control.
2. Landing Page Development: Created dedicated landing pages for the SaaS Buyers' Guide with clear value propositions, preview content, and frictionless conversion forms.
3. Campaign Structure: Architected campaigns with very high intent, high-value targeting to ensure low CPC and CPA while maintaining lead quality and sales pipeline relevance.

5. Execution

Timeline: 6 weeks intensive sprint

Week 1-2: Infrastructure & Foundation

• Audited existing Webflow website and marketing systems
• Designed comprehensive analytics framework architecture
• Implemented Google Tag Manager with event tracking
• Connected GTM to Google Analytics with custom events and goals
• Integrated HubSpot with website forms and tracking
• Created dashboards in Google Analytics and HubSpot for lead attribution
• Documented tracking taxonomy and reporting procedures
• Trained growth lead on analytics interpretation and optimization

Week 2-3: Content Strategy & Asset Creation

• Conducted competitive content analysis of 5-7 SaaS management competitors
• Identified content gaps and high-value topics
• Developed content strategy aligned with buyer journey stages
• Created "SaaS Buyers' Guide 2021 & Procurement Checklist":
  • 11-step comprehensive guide for buying SaaS software
  • Procurement checklist and contract canvas
  • Best practices for negotiations and vendor evaluation
  • Designed professional layout with branded templates
• Developed Amboss case study:
  • Documented $250K savings on Google Workspace
  • Highlighted additional SaaS optimization wins
  • Featured customer testimonial and specific outcomes
• Created 2-3 additional supporting resources
• Designed landing pages for each content asset in Webflow

Week 3-6: Google Ads Launch & Optimization

• Developed keyword research targeting European B2B SaaS buyers
• Created campaign structure with three conversion goals:
  • Tier 1: Demo request (sales-ready leads)
  • Tier 2: Content download (marketing-qualified leads)
  • Tier 3: Newsletter signup (early-stage nurture)
• Built ad groups around key themes:
  • SaaS procurement and purchasing
  • Software budget management and optimization
  • Vendor negotiation and contract management
  • SaaS spend visibility and control
• Wrote ad copy emphasizing ROI, time savings, and control
• Set up conversion tracking and attribution in analytics
• Launched pilot with $3,000 budget over one month
• Monitored daily performance and optimized:
  • Bid adjustments based on conversion rates
  • Ad copy testing and refinement
  • Keyword expansion and negative keyword additions
  • Geographic performance analysis
  • Landing page conversion rate optimization

Optimization Highlight: Homepage & Messaging Refinement

During the Google Ads setup, I identified that the homepage messaging needed to better resonate with B2B buyers arriving from paid search. I collaborated with the team to refine the value proposition, making it more outcome-focused and immediately relevant to IT, procurement, and finance decision-makers.

Channels:

• Website (Webflow)
• Google Ads (Search)
• Google Analytics (Analytics & Attribution)
• HubSpot (Marketing Automation & CRM)
• Google Tag Manager (Tracking Infrastructure)
• Content Marketing (Guides, Case Studies, Checklists)

6. Results & Outcomes

In just six weeks, Sastrify achieved transformational results across three critical areas:

Marketing Infrastructure: Complete Analytics Framework

Built a sophisticated, enterprise-grade marketing operations system connecting website, analytics, tag management, and marketing automation. This infrastructure delivered:

• Complete visitor tracking: Every website interaction tagged with source, campaign, and behavior data
• Lead attribution: Clear understanding of which channels and campaigns drove conversions
• Automated lead flow: Seamless handoff from website to HubSpot with proper tagging for sales follow-up
• Performance dashboards: Real-time visibility into campaign performance, conversion rates, and ROI
• Data-driven optimization: Foundation for continuous improvement based on actual performance data

This system transformed Sastrify from making marketing decisions based on intuition to making them based on data—a critical competitive advantage in an early-stage startup where every euro of marketing spend must be justified.

Lead Generation: 150 Leads from $3,000 Pilot

The Google Ads pilot delivered exceptional results, generating 150 total leads in the first month:

• 30 sales-ready leads: Direct demo requests from qualified prospects ready for immediate sales conversations
• 80 marketing-qualified leads: Content downloads (primarily the SaaS Buyers' Guide) from prospects in active research mode requiring nurturing
• 40 early-stage leads: Newsletter signups and other low-friction conversions for long-term nurture

Lead Quality & Pipeline Impact:The leads were highly relevant for Sastrify's business—B2B companies across Germany and Europe with significant SaaS spend and procurement challenges. The sales team was able to immediately engage the 30 sales-ready leads, with several converting to opportunities in the first few weeks.

Cost Efficiency:

• Average cost per lead: ~$20 (exceptionally low for B2B SaaS in Europe)
• Cost per sales-ready lead: ~$100 (outstanding efficiency for qualified demos)

These economics proved that the targeting strategy, content assets, and landing page optimization worked—enabling Sastrify to confidently scale ad spend.

Content Foundation: Flagship Lead Generation Asset

The "SaaS Buyers' Guide 2021 & Procurement Checklist" became Sastrify's primary lead generation engine, delivering:

• 80+ content downloads in the first month
• Positioned Sastrify as a thought leader in SaaS procurement
• Provided educational value that built trust before sales conversations
• Created a reusable asset for ongoing campaigns (Google Ads, LinkedIn, email, SEO)

The guide's success validated the content-first approach to demand generation in the SaaS management space—buyers wanted education and frameworks before they wanted sales pitches.

European Market Entry:The campaign successfully launched Sastrify's business growth across Europe, generating qualified leads from Germany, UK, Netherlands, France, and other EU markets. The geographic diversification proved the product's pan-European appeal and set the foundation for international expansion.

7. Key Takeaways

Infrastructure Before Scale: You Can't Optimize What You Can't Measure: Sastrify's dramatic results in just six weeks came from building the measurement foundation first. By implementing comprehensive analytics and attribution from day one, we could immediately identify what worked, kill what didn't, and optimize aggressively. Startups often skip this step and run campaigns blind—wasting budget on guesswork rather than data-driven decisions.

In B2B SaaS, Education Drives Demand: The "SaaS Buyers' Guide" outperformed direct conversion ads by massive margins. Why? Because B2B buyers don't wake up searching for "SaaS management software"—they wake up with problems like "How do I reduce our software spend?" or "What should I know before negotiating with Salesforce?" By leading with education and frameworks, Sastrify attracted prospects earlier in the buying journey and built trust before asking for demos. This content-first approach generated more leads at lower cost than product-focused ads ever could.

Six Weeks Is Enough to Build a Foundation, Not Perfect It: The compressed timeline forced ruthless prioritization. We focused on: (1) infrastructure that enables optimization, (2) one flagship content asset executed excellently, and (3) one paid channel proven to work. This "thin vertical slice" approach delivered immediate results while creating the foundation for future expansion to LinkedIn, SEO, email, and additional content. Startups don't need perfect marketing—they need proven channels and infrastructure to scale them.

Low CPA Comes from Targeting Discipline: The $20 cost per lead and $100 cost per sales-ready lead came from extreme targeting discipline. By focusing exclusively on high-value B2B companies in the EU using high-intent keywords, we avoided the "spray and pray" trap that inflates CPAs. Every targeting decision asked: "Will this company actually buy Sastrify?" This ruthless focus on quality over volume delivered economics that enabled rapid scaling.

The lesson: When you build measurement infrastructure, lead with education, focus on one channel executed excellently, and maintain targeting discipline, you can launch a European demand generation engine in six weeks—not six months.

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