| name | marketing-demand-acquisition |
| description | Creates demand generation campaigns, optimizes paid ad spend across LinkedIn, Google, and Meta, develops SEO strategies, and structures partnership programs for Series A+ startups scaling internationally. Use when planning marketing strategy, growth marketing, advertising campaigns, PPC optimization, lead generation, pipeline generation, or startup marketing budgets. Covers multi-channel acquisition (Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Meta Ads), CAC analysis, MQL/SQL workflows, attribution modeling, technical SEO, and co-marketing partnerships for hybrid PLG/Sales-Led motions in EU/US/Canada markets. |
| triggers | ["demand gen","demand generation","paid ads","paid media","LinkedIn ads","Google ads","Meta ads","CAC","customer acquisition cost","lead generation","MQL","SQL","pipeline generation","acquisition strategy","HubSpot campaigns"] |
| metadata | {"version":"1.1.0","author":"Alireza Rezvani","category":"marketing","domain":"demand-generation","updated":"2025-01"} |
Marketing Demand & Acquisition
Acquisition playbook for Series A+ startups scaling internationally (EU/US/Canada) with hybrid PLG/Sales-Led motion.
Table of Contents
Core KPIs
Demand Gen: MQL/SQL volume, cost per opportunity, marketing-sourced pipeline $, MQL→SQL rate
Paid Media: CAC, ROAS, CPL, CPA, channel efficiency ratio
SEO: Organic sessions, non-brand traffic %, keyword rankings, technical health score
Partnerships: Partner-sourced pipeline $, partner CAC, co-marketing ROI
Demand Generation Framework
Funnel Stages
| Stage | Tactics | Target |
|---|
| TOFU | Paid social, display, content syndication, SEO | Brand awareness, traffic |
| MOFU | Paid search, retargeting, gated content, email nurture | MQLs, demo requests |
| BOFU | Brand search, direct outreach, case studies, trials | SQLs, pipeline $ |
Campaign Planning Workflow
- Define objective, budget, duration, audience
- Select channels based on funnel stage
- Create campaign in HubSpot with proper UTM structure
- Configure lead scoring and assignment rules
- Launch with test budget, validate tracking
- Validation: UTM parameters appear in HubSpot contact records
UTM Structure
utm_source={channel} // linkedin, google, meta
utm_medium={type} // cpc, display, email
utm_campaign={campaign-id} // q1-2025-linkedin-enterprise
utm_content={variant} // ad-a, email-1
utm_term={keyword} // [paid search only]
Paid Media Channels
Channel Selection Matrix
| Channel | Best For | CAC Range | Series A Priority |
|---|
| LinkedIn Ads | B2B, Enterprise, ABM | $150-400 | High |
| Google Search | High-intent, BOFU | $80-250 | High |
| Google Display | Retargeting | $50-150 | Medium |
| Meta Ads | SMB, visual products | $60-200 | Medium |
LinkedIn Ads Setup
- Create campaign group for initiative
- Structure: Awareness → Consideration → Conversion campaigns
- Target: Director+, 50-5000 employees, relevant industries
- Start $50/day per campaign
- Scale 20% weekly if CAC < target
- Validation: LinkedIn Insight Tag firing on all pages
Google Ads Setup
- Prioritize: Brand → Competitor → Solution → Category keywords
- Structure ad groups with 5-10 tightly themed keywords
- Create 3 responsive search ads per ad group (15 headlines, 4 descriptions)
- Maintain negative keyword list (100+)
- Start Manual CPC, switch to Target CPA after 50+ conversions
- Validation: Conversion tracking firing, search terms reviewed weekly
Budget Allocation (Series A, $40k/month)
| Channel | Budget | Expected SQLs |
|---|
| LinkedIn | $15k | 10 |
| Google Search | $12k | 20 |
| Google Display | $5k | 5 |
| Meta | $5k | 8 |
| Partnerships | $3k | 5 |
See campaign-templates.md for detailed structures.
SEO Strategy
Technical Foundation Checklist
Keyword Strategy
| Tier | Type | Volume | Priority |
|---|
| 1 | High-intent BOFU | 100-1k | First |
| 2 | Solution-aware MOFU | 500-5k | Second |
| 3 | Problem-aware TOFU | 1k-10k | Third |
On-Page Optimization
- URL: Include primary keyword, 3-5 words
- Title tag: Primary keyword + brand (60 chars)
- Meta description: CTA + value prop (155 chars)
- H1: Match search intent (one per page)
- Content: 2000-3000 words for comprehensive topics
- Internal links: 3-5 relevant pages
- Validation: Google Search Console shows page indexed, no errors
Link Building Priorities
- Digital PR (original research, industry reports)
- Guest posting (DA 40+ sites only)
- Partner co-marketing (complementary SaaS)
- Community engagement (Reddit, Quora)
Partnerships
Partnership Tiers
| Tier | Type | Effort | ROI |
|---|
| 1 | Strategic integrations | High | Very high |
| 2 | Affiliate partners | Medium | Medium-high |
| 3 | Customer referrals | Low | Medium |
| 4 | Marketplace listings | Medium | Low-medium |
Partnership Workflow
- Identify partners with overlapping ICP, no competition
- Outreach with specific integration/co-marketing proposal
- Define success metrics, revenue model, term
- Create co-branded assets and partner tracking
- Enable partner sales team with demo training
- Validation: Partner UTM tracking functional, leads routing correctly
Affiliate Program Setup
- Select platform (PartnerStack, Impact, Rewardful)
- Configure commission structure (20-30% recurring)
- Create affiliate enablement kit (assets, links, content)
- Recruit through outbound, inbound, events
- Validation: Test affiliate link tracks through to conversion
See international-playbooks.md for regional tactics.
Attribution
Model Selection
| Model | Use Case |
|---|
| First-Touch | Awareness campaigns |
| Last-Touch | Direct response |
| W-Shaped (40-20-40) | Hybrid PLG/Sales (recommended) |
HubSpot Attribution Setup
- Navigate to Marketing → Reports → Attribution
- Select W-Shaped model for hybrid motion
- Define conversion event (deal created)
- Set 90-day lookback window
- Validation: Run report for past 90 days, all channels show data
Weekly Metrics Dashboard
| Metric | Target |
|---|
| MQLs | Weekly target |
| SQLs | Weekly target |
| MQL→SQL Rate | >15% |
| Blended CAC | <$300 |
| Pipeline Velocity | <60 days |
See attribution-guide.md for detailed setup.
Tools
scripts/
| Script | Purpose | Usage |
|---|
calculate_cac.py | Calculate blended and channel CAC | python scripts/calculate_cac.py --spend 40000 --customers 50 |
HubSpot Integration
- Campaign tracking with UTM parameters
- Lead scoring and MQL/SQL workflows
- Attribution reporting (multi-touch)
- Partner lead routing
See hubspot-workflows.md for workflow templates.
References
Channel Benchmarks (B2B SaaS Series A)
| Metric | LinkedIn | Google Search | SEO | Email |
|---|
| CTR | 0.4-0.9% | 2-5% | 1-3% | 15-25% |
| CVR | 1-3% | 3-7% | 2-5% | 2-5% |
| CAC | $150-400 | $80-250 | $50-150 | $20-80 |
| MQL→SQL | 10-20% | 15-25% | 12-22% | 8-15% |
MQL→SQL Handoff
SQL Criteria
Required:
✅ Job title: Director+ or budget authority
✅ Company size: 50-5000 employees
✅ Budget: $10k+ annual
✅ Timeline: Buying within 90 days
✅ Engagement: Demo requested or high-intent action
SLA
| Handoff | Target |
|---|
| SDR responds to MQL | 4 hours |
| AE books demo with SQL | 24 hours |
| First demo scheduled | 3 business days |
Validation: Test lead through workflow, verify notifications and routing.
Proactive Triggers
- Over-relying on one channel → Single-channel dependency is a business risk. Diversify.
- No lead scoring → Not all leads are equal. Route to revenue-operations for scoring.
- CAC exceeding LTV → Demand gen is unprofitable. Optimize or cut channels.
- No nurture for non-ready leads → 80% of leads aren't ready to buy. Nurture converts them later.
Related Skills
- paid-ads: For executing paid acquisition campaigns.
- content-strategy: For content-driven demand generation.
- email-sequence: For nurture sequences in the demand funnel.
- campaign-analytics: For measuring demand gen effectiveness.
