What is lead generation, and why does it matter for every service provider?
In digital marketing, lead generation is one of the most important client acquisition activities: it is the process in which a potential client „raises their hand” to show interest in your service. A lead can be, for example, a completed form, an email address or a phone number, anything that allows the provider to contact the prospect.
Lead generation is crucial because:
- it provides concrete client acquisition opportunities, not just visibility,
- it makes marketing investments measurable,
- it filters out (ideally) irrelevant prospects,
- and it lays the foundation for long-term client relationships.
For a service provider, every lead is a potential new contract, so lead generation is an investment rather than a cost, one that directly increases revenue, of course only if it's done strategically and consistently.
The Sales Agency story
(Pictured: the founder, Róbert Koch)
Sales Agency (contact: https://www.salesagency.hu/) was founded by sales expert Róbert Koch, and the agency quickly became one of the leading players in sales and client acquisition services in the Hungarian market. They are key strategic partners for us, as we have several joint projects, and we believe that sales and marketing are closely linked: without effective sales, marketing efforts don't achieve their goals either.
It is particularly important to us to bring them relevant prospects for their services continuously, steadily and cost-effectively.
The goal was not only to get as many leads as possible, but also to turn the ad spend into as many genuine, quality business meetings as possible, and from those as many signed contracts as possible.
The strategy: how did we build the lead generation campaign?
1. Focus on the Meta platform
The Facebook and Instagram ecosystem makes it possible to reach decision-makers and potential clients with precise targeting and wide reach. For Sales Agency we launched Meta lead form ads, where prospects could sign up directly on the platform. This reduces drop-off, as there's no need to click through to the website.
2. Defining a strategic target audience
In lead generation, the key is not to advertise to „everyone”, only to those who are truly relevant. We worked with several segments:
- Hungarian and international (UK, Spanish) markets
- decision-makers in the B2B sector,
- industry filters where Sales Agency's value proposition is strongest.
3. A/B testing: the key to continuous optimisation
- A lead generation campaign can never be static. For Sales Agency, A/B tests ran on several fronts:
- Creative test: comparing video and image ads; static images also performed surprisingly well here
- Copy test: trying out several ad texts, headlines and calls to action.
- Audience test: we measured different efficiency in different countries and segments.
- The point of testing is that the best-performing ad always gets the biggest budget, so the campaign keeps becoming more cost-effective.
4. The role of creatives
The visual creative is the first point where it's decided whether a prospect stops scrolling. For Sales Agency, video ads proved outstanding, as they conveyed the message quickly and created strong emotional engagement, but static image creatives also performed surprisingly well; it helped a lot that people saw the founder, sales expert Róbert Koch, in the static creatives too. The harmony of visuals, copy and targeting made the campaign truly convincing.
The results show in the numbers too
While running the campaign, we achieved the following results through Meta lead forms:
Total leads: 183 relevant Meta leads (Meta form submissions)
Total ad spend (in 3 countries): HUF 453,978
Average CPA (cost per lead, i.e. the cost of acquiring one lead): HUF 2,481
Total impressions: 105,652
Total reach: 22,079 people
Our client told us that more than HUF 5,000,000 of their revenue already comes from lead generation via Meta ads. So even rounding down, the Meta ads have returned at least 10x.
Some key figures by country:
UK market (T.2 ad set): 11 prospects from HUF 66,016 ad spend, at HUF 6,001 per lead
Spanish market: 19 leads from HUF 78,540 spend, HUF 4,134 per lead.
Hungarian market: 153 leads from HUF 309,422 ad spend, at HUF 2,022 per lead
The data clearly shows that with the right creatives, targeting and continuous optimisation, Meta ads are an excellent lead generation tool in the B2B sector too, delivering results cost-effectively.
Why did this lead generation succeed?
1.) We advertised based on a targeted strategy and knew who we wanted to reach.
2.) A/B testing: we always spent more on the best-performing creatives and texts, and switched off the ones that didn't work well.
Fun fact: the best performer (most prospects at the lowest price) wasn't a studio-recorded video but a simple „everyday” recording.
- Video creatives: they conveyed the value proposition quickly and clearly; people trust a video ad much sooner.
- International focus: Sales Agency reached several markets at once, diversifying its sources of client acquisition.
- Measurability: it was clear exactly which country, audience, creative and text delivered the best value for money.
Lesson learnt: lead generation is strategic, long-term building
This case study is a perfect example that lead generation is strategic building, not a one-off 1-2 week campaign. Those who keep testing, optimising (not only the ads but the offers too) and working with creative solutions can win far more relevant prospects at lower cost in the long run, making their marketing more cost-effective.
For Sales Agency, Meta ads proved that leads can be generated effectively and cost-consciously with Meta ads (Facebook, Instagram) in the B2B sector too. Behind the 183 leads there are potential client relationships, not just numbers, which can turn into contracts and business growth in the long run, and to our knowledge they have.
Would you like to outsource sales to professionals, or are you looking for sales training for your in-house team? https://www.salesagency.hu/ is the right place for you.