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VWO, one of the earliest and most well-known experimentation platforms in SaaS, was spending heavily on paid media, but the returns weren't keeping up.
Pipeline efficiency was low, ROAS was weak, and the account needed a rethink. Over two quarters in 2025, we restructured their entire paid engine and brought CP-Opp down by 50%.
Here's how.
About VWO
VWO is a digital experience and experimentation platform that helps businesses improve website and app performance through data-driven testing and personalization.
It allows teams to run A/B tests, analyze user behavior with tools like heatmaps and session recordings, and create personalized experiences to increase conversions. Their platform combines testing, analytics, and feature experimentation into one unified solution used by marketers and product teams.
VWO's Challenges
When we onboarded VWO, the account had scaled rapidly. Monthly spend had grown roughly 5x in 4 months.
While that fueled top-line growth, it also introduced a series of efficiency problems that were eating into performance.
Brand Keyword Overspend
The branded term "VWO" accounted for nearly half of the brand budget despite very low auction competition. This pushed CPCs higher and left little room to invest in incremental growth areas.
Regional Fragmentation
Previously consolidated national campaigns had been split into four regional ones. The intent was better control, but it resulted in reduced data density, slower learning for Google's algorithms, and higher CPCs and CPLs.
Mixed Keyword Intent
Broader, exploratory terms dominated spend, while high-intent keywords, which accounted for roughly half of conversions, weren't getting enough budget.
Limited Keyword Coverage
Many ad groups were built around smaller sets of generic keywords with limited search volume. The account was missing high-intent variations, restricting scale on efficient queries, and leaving qualified demand on the table.
Portfolio Bidding Skewing Spend
The portfolio bid strategy was pushing budget toward campaigns generating lower-quality MQLs, impacting overall lead efficiency.
Low Lead-to-Qualified Lead Ratio on PMax
Performance Max was driving volume, but conversion quality remained a concern, with a weaker progression from lead to qualified lead.
TripleDart's Strategy: Quarter by Quarter
Q3’25: Campaign Restructure
The first step was analyzing 12 months of data: trends, strategic changes, and their downstream impact on performance.
Unified Campaign Structure
Testing and Insights campaigns had been split into four US regions (East, West, South, North). Consolidating them back into a single US campaign gave the algorithm enough MQL volume to learn from and improved CPC control.
Match Type and Keyword Strategy
The newly restructured campaigns didn't have enough historical data for Broad Match to optimize from, so we shifted to Phrase and Exact match.
To compensate for tighter match types, the team expanded keyword coverage by mining search term reports and running fresh keyword research to increase demand capture.
Bidding Strategy Overhaul
The Portfolio Budget strategy had been skewing spend toward poor-quality campaign groups, inflating lead volume while dragging down qualified lead rates.
We replaced it with campaign-level bidding and restored spend control.
Experiment Launches
Several experiments went live to capture incremental demand:
- A dedicated competitor campaign to increase coverage on relevant terms previously buried in a larger campaign group
- Broad Match + Qualified Lead + tCPA campaigns to capture demand beyond exact and phrase match
Testing and Insights Restructure
We combined Testing and Insights into unified US campaigns. Portfolio budgets came off for tighter control, and experimental DSA and dedicated campaigns launched for incremental MQLs.
As a result, CPL dropped, and lead volume grew significantly.
Brand Campaign Revamp and PMax Scale
Brand campaigns got a full revamp for improved CPC and efficiency, and PMax campaigns took priority over Insights campaigns.
We closed September with record hand-raisers, qualified demos, and meetings booked, driving peak marketing contribution for FY25.
Q4’25: Funnel-Driven Precision
This is where things got surgical. We shifted focus from volume to efficiency metrics and pipeline ROI.
Landing Page Optimization
We built a new Optimizely landing page for improved conversion rates, alongside personalized landing pages for all secondary competitor long-tail keywords.
Regional Expansion on Branded Terms
Campaigns scaled to regions with high demand and competitor activity on branded terms, including Argentina, Mexico, and Chile, to avoid losing high-intent leads in markets where auction intensity was higher on VWO's branded terms.
Demand Generation Activation
Demand Gen campaigns went live, driving high-intent leads at a cost per hand-raiser comparable to search campaigns.
Quadrant-Based Keyword and Country Categorization
We did deep campaign-level analysis at the keyword and country level to identify where to cut inefficiencies.
Everything got bucketed into four quadrants:
- High Lead / Low Opportunity
- Low Opportunity / High Lead
- High Lead / High Opportunity
- High Opportunity / Low Lead
From there, budget allocation shifted to favor the working cohorts.
Experiment Launches
- DSA: Generated incremental leads while maintaining CPL similar to Search campaigns
- tCPA: Controlled CPCs and improved CVRs, achieving a stronger CPL
Budget Reallocation Based on Funnel Ratios
We redistributed spend based on Lead-to-Meeting Booked and Meeting Booked-to-Opportunity ratios.
Insights spend scaled down and moved to Testing cohorts, PMax, and experiments.
Brand Spend Optimization
About a third of the overall brand budget was allocated, delivering a cost-to-pipeline ratio that outperformed the industry benchmark.
Beyond a certain threshold, scaling wasn't driving incremental results; it was inflating CPCs and paying a premium for top search slots. So spending came down where it made sense.
Results
Over two quarters, the transformation showed across the pipeline:
TripleDart's Team
- Basavaraj, PPC Lead
- Dhiyanesh, PPC Analyst
- Sabari, Account Management
Conclusion
With VWO, it came down to tightening campaign structures, cutting wastage on keywords and cohorts that weren't converting, and reallocating budget based on what the funnel data was telling us.
At TripleDart, we work with B2B SaaS companies to build paid engines that are efficient and scalable. If your campaigns need that kind of attention, we should talk.
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