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When Performance Marketers
Think Like Product Marketers

ITILITE · Solify  ·  Performance Marketing  ·  2024

Two campaigns. Two industries. Both underperforming for the same reason — the PMM work hadn't been done before the campaigns ran. Here's what changed when it did.

Campaign 01
ITILITE — B2B SaaS, Travel & Expense Management.
Leads were coming in. Pipeline wasn't moving.

ITILITE helps finance and ops teams manage corporate travel and expenses. The campaigns were running, spend was going out, the algorithm was optimizing — but most leads weren't converting. The platform was rewarding any form fill, not qualified buyers.

The Problem
ITILITE · B2B SaaS · Travel & Expense Management
The funnel looked fine.
Out of 17 leads, only 2 demos are valid.
The machine was training on noise.
Low lead quality Algorithm trained on noise Mobile CX broken Wrong outreach tone Funnel leaking everywhere
Where the Funnel Stood: May
Valid Leads
35%
of total, 6 out of 17
Demo Bookings
50%
of valid leads booked
Meetings Done
67%
of demos, only 2 valid out of 17 leads
Two PMM Moves
01
Move 01 · Signal Quality
Stop Feeding the Algorithm the Wrong Input

Campaign goal was set to "max conversions", which sounds right until you realize the platform was optimizing for any form fill, including junk. Stripped all secondary conversion actions. Redefined conversion as qualified lead only. You're not just changing a setting, you're telling the machine who the product is for. The algorithm learns from what you reward it with.

Metric
Before
After
Valid lead rate
35%
74%
Ad spend
baseline
−18%
02
Move 02 · Destination Before Traffic
Fix the Landing Page Before Scaling the Spend

Mobile ads were running to a landing page not built for mobile conversion. Paused spend. Rebuilt the page. Mobile-first layout, value proposition in the first screen, single CTA, social proof above the fold. But before rebuilding blind, went through the call data to find who had converted on mobile before and what had worked for them. Rebuilt the entire page from that angle. Turned ads back on once the experience matched the intent.

Metric
Before
After
Demo bookings
3
12  (4×)
Meetings done
2
10  (5×)
Full Funnel: May → September
Every stage moved
in the right direction.
May
September
Valid Leads
35%
74%
Demo Bookings
50%
86%
Meetings Done
67%
83%
Signed Up
50%
60%
Campaign 02
Solify — Renewable Energy, Canada · 4 Provinces.
Budget was spent. Buyers weren't segmented.

Solify was running Google and Meta across Ontario, BC, Alberta, and Quebec. The campaigns were live — but the same ad was running to homeowners and commercial buyers alike. Every competitor led with cost savings. Nobody had claimed reliability. That gap was sitting there unclaimed.

The Problem
Solify · Canada · Renewable Energy · 4 Provinces
Leads were coming in.
Budget was being spent.
Same ad. Different buyer. Different intent.

Solify was running Google and Meta across Ontario, BC, Alberta, and Quebec. By standard performance metrics, the campaigns were functional. The PMM lens saw something else: the messaging wasn't mapped to a buyer, the same generic energy claims were running to homeowners and commercial buyers alike, and every competitor was saying the exact same thing. Nobody had claimed the reliability angle. That was the gap.

Generic messaging across all buyers No buyer segmentation Cost-led like every competitor 4 provinces, 1 creative Reliability angle (unclaimed)
The PMM Moves
Research before spend.
Buyers before campaigns.
🔍
Competitor Research → Found the Whitespace
Conducted in-depth competitor research to identify market gaps and define Solify's USPs. Every competitor led with cost savings, so we positioned Solify around energy efficiency, nature focus, and long-term value. Highlighted government collaborations and trees planted as credibility anchors. Then redesigned the website from scratch to match the new messaging before a single campaign ran.
Whitespace Strategy
02
👥
5 Personas Before Any Campaign
Two buyer types: homeowners and business decision-makers, each with distinct triggers, objections, and timelines. A homeowner evaluating solar is not the same buyer as a facilities manager sourcing energy contracts. The campaigns weren't treating them differently. They needed to.
+18% Engagement & Conversions
03
📹
Rebuilt Content Layer: UGC Over Brand Ads
Stopped generic brand ads. Scripted UGC video for paid, real people, real scenarios, built for trust and scroll-stop performance. UGC builds the credibility polished brand ads don't, especially for a product tied to a homeowner's biggest asset.
+21% CTR from UGC Creatives
📍
Region-Specific Creative Across Provinces
Rebuilt ad creative for each province's energy context and buyer behavior. Ontario homeowners: energy independence. Alberta commercial buyers: operational efficiency and long-term ROI. Quebec: bilingual creative, sustainability framing. BC: clean energy narrative tied to provincial policy. Then optimized bids. Not before.
−33.2% Lead Cost
Ontario · BC · Alberta · Quebec
Standard move: optimize bids. PMM move: fix who you're talking to and what you're saying, then optimize bids.
Solify Results
Lead Cost
−33.2%
across all four provinces
UGC CTR
+21%
vs. standard brand creatives
Conversions
+18%
engagement up across the board
The campaigns didn't improve
because of more budget.

Two different industries. Same underlying problem: performance campaigns running without a product marketing foundation. Most performance marketers see a CPL problem and optimize bids. The PMM lens asks upstream first: are we chasing the right signal, sending people to the right experience, saying the right thing to the right buyer? Answer those correctly and the performance numbers follow.

I run a lot more performance marketing, but these two are where the PMM thinking was the deciding variable.
Looking for a PMM who
thinks like this?
Open to full-time PMM and Growth Marketing roles.
Vinay Kumar · Performance Marketing · 2024