Campaign period: April 2025 – December 2025
Total webinars promoted: 6
Goal: Attract high-quality decision-makers to SEO webinars and convert them into long-term clients.
Topdog.nu, a leading Swedish SEO agency, approached us to run high-precision paid campaigns to attract qualified decision-makers (CEOs, CMOs, e-commerce managers, and heads of digital) to their expert-level SEO webinars.
Since Topdog sells high-ticket SEO services, direct selling is ineffective at first contact. Instead, the strategy centered on delivering value upfront through free, high-quality educational webinars. This builds trust, demonstrates expertise, and naturally moves the audience toward becoming clients.
Traffic from Facebook campaigns increased by 374%; key events from Facebook campaigns rose from 208 to 1,002 (+381%); direct traffic increased by 20%, and key events from direct traffic increased by 385%.
Strategy
We followed a full-funnel paid acquisition system built on three core principles:
- Precision audience targeting.
- Continuous creative testing.
- CRM-based lead quality validation.
Rather than optimizing purely for cost per lead, the focus was on attracting commercially relevant decision-makers who could realistically convert into long-term clients.
Testing
We launched broad C-level audiences, included managers, tested multiple age brackets (25–65), and ran different creative angles, from formal SEO messaging to trend-driven AI hooks.
The managers segment initially showed the lowest CPA. However, after reviewing the leads in the CRM, it became clear that many were junior specialists, competitors, or individuals without real decision-making authority. For that reason, we removed this segment, along with the underperforming age group below 30. Instead of chasing lower costs, we stopped spending on segments that didn’t bring real business value and reallocated the budget toward the audiences that consistently converted into qualified leads.
Audience segmentation
To reach the right decision-makers, we built multiple audience layers:
- C-level job titles: CEO, CMO, COO, Head of Digital.
- Age filter: narrowing to 30–55 to ensure seniority and higher buying power.
- Remarketing audience: people who attended previous webinars.
- Lookalike audience: based on CRM data of high-quality leads.
In addition, if a participant attended the webinar more than twice, the client proactively initiated direct communication to better understand their needs and explore potential collaboration opportunities. This allowed the marketing efforts to transition naturally into personalized sales conversations.
Creative approach
The first contact with potential participants took place through carefully crafted advertising creatives. They were designed not to sell services directly but to deliver value upfront and position Topdog as a trusted expert. We tested multiple formats to identify what resonates most with the decision-maker audience:
- Carousel images.
- Static banners.
- AI-generated visuals (for standout design).
- Different hooks and value propositions.
One of the most effective visual concepts featured Topdog’s branded AI-generated dog, placed in multiple contextual scenarios relevant to the webinar topic. These banners immediately stood out in the feed while remaining recognizable and brand-consistent. The AI-generated dog became a visual anchor: memorable, differentiated, and strongly associated with the webinar series.
Through continuous testing, we found several hooks that consistently outperformed others:
- Urgency-driven messaging.
- The impact of AI on traffic and rankings.
- Fear of losing visibility or competitive position.
- Clear, structured takeaways with tangible business value.
The most effective creatives balanced authority with curiosity. When strategic credibility was combined with a sense of urgency, engagement and conversion rates increased noticeably. In short:
Authority + Curiosity + Distinctive Visual Identity = Performance.
Meta Channel Performance: Facebook & Instagram Ads
After excluding the managers segment, removing the under-30 age group, reallocating budget toward high-converting decision-makers, and intensifying creative testing, we achieved the following results:
- Conversion rate remained stable at 33% despite narrowing the audience, while overall lead quality improved.
- Acquisition costs decreased by 13%.
- Budget efficiency increased through smarter allocation toward high-converting segments.
- Creative performance improved through continuous testing and optimization.
It is important to note that campaign performance also depended directly on the webinar topic. Webinars focused on popular topics related to artificial intelligence and AI-driven changes in SEO were more popular than those on technical SEO. For this reason, comparing the results of the first and last webinars would not be fully appropriate, as audience demand and interest levels differed. Therefore, the purpose of this case study is not to compare individual webinar results but to demonstrate the importance of promoting expert-driven educational content within a structured marketing funnel in order to attract high-quality B2B leads.
Impact on Brand Search and Other Channels
Running webinar campaigns in Meta Ads created a measurable halo effect across multiple acquisition channels, extending far beyond direct registrations.
Meta Ads became the main driver of conversions. Traffic from Facebook campaigns grew significantly, with sessions increasing from 889 to 4,220 (+374%) and key events rising from 208 to 1,002 (+381%).
First, webinars significantly increased brand demand in organic search, as branded queries for “Topdog” grew by 45%, and click-through rate increased by 31%. This means stronger brand recognition and trust among the target audience.
Generic queries related to “SEO” also generated 109% more clicks, suggesting that webinar topics stimulated broader demand for expert SEO knowledge. Moreover, searches for “Christian Rudolf” — the webinar speaker and CEO of Topdog — more than doubled (+112%), demonstrating how educational content strengthens both the company’s reputation and the personal brand of its experts.
The impact was also clearly visible in direct traffic (+20%), which is often the strongest indicator of brand awareness. The number of returning direct users increased by 67%, while average engagement time grew by 57%, meaning users returned to the site after interacting with webinar content and spent more time exploring it.
This translated directly into business outcomes: key events from direct traffic increased by 385%. Basically, many users came back later to engage with the brand or take meaningful actions.
Overall, the total number of key events across the website increased by 326%, demonstrating that webinar promotion functioned not only as a lead-generation tool but also as a powerful demand-generation mechanism. In other words, expert-driven webinars did more than attract registrations; they strengthened brand visibility, increased organic discovery, and improved the performance of multiple marketing channels simultaneously.
Why This Campaign Worked
1. Strong product & expert presenters
Topdog delivers high-quality education, and Christian Rudolf is a highly respected SEO expert. No amount of marketing can compensate for a weak product, and here, the product amplified the marketing results.
2. Creative testing & optimization
We continuously tested:
- Hooks and angles.
- Color palette and visual elements.
- AI-enhanced creatives.
- Placement and timing.
This allowed us to reduce acquisition costs while increasing conversion stability and improving overall lead relevance.
3. Quality over quantity
Instead of maximizing sign-ups, we focused on attracting engaged decision-makers. This led to higher attendance rates, better lead quality, and stronger conversion potential.
4. Strategic audience design
Segmenting by age group, job title, and remarketing history enabled us to reach exactly the right people.
Strategic conclusions
- Testing: The highest-performing ads were not always predictable. Continuous testing of creatives, audience segments, placements, and messaging angles allowed us to identify what truly resonates with decision-makers in a competitive market.
- Sales competence: For high-ticket services, marketing creates opportunity, but credibility and expertise close deals. The alignment between ad messaging and webinar delivery significantly strengthened performance.
- Holistic funnel alignment: The success of this campaign was not driven by ads alone. It was the result of coordinated targeting, creative positioning, landing page alignment, CRM validation, and follow-up strategy.
- Long-term ROI over short-term metrics: While immediate results were strong, the greatest value comes from post-webinar nurturing, follow-ups, and converting participants into long-term SEO clients.
Bottom Line
Instead of simply generating webinar registrations, our primary goal was to transform Topdog SEO into a sustainable and commercially relevant acquisition system for senior decision-makers. By refining targeting, removing low-quality segments, narrowing the age range to 30–55, reallocating budget toward high-converting audiences, and continuously testing creatives, we stabilized conversion performance at 33% while improving overall lead quality and reducing acquisition costs.
That is, Meta Ads became the campaign’s strongest source of conversions. Facebook traffic increased significantly, with sessions growing from 889 to 4,220 (+374%) and key events rising from 208 to 1,002 (+381%). At the same time, webinar promotion also boosted other marketing channels, while branded searches for “Topdog” increased by 45%. The impact was also visible in direct traffic and user engagement: returning direct users increased by 67%, while the total number of key website events grew by 326%, showing that webinars not only generated registrations but also drove deeper engagement with the brand.
Over the course of optimization, the campaign evolved from broad testing into a precise and scalable growth model. The result was a more efficient funnel, stronger audience alignment, and more meaningful sales opportunities. And if you are looking to build a predictable client acquisition system for your business, Livepage is ready to help.
