Ocean — 21.2x ROI
Ocean booked 20 meetings in a single month with a 37% reply rate from agencies that do prospecting for a living — the most prospecting-savvy audience in SaaS. The campaign was a live case study for Ocean’s own data quality: every response proved the product worked. Account executives were fighting over the leads because the quality was so consistently high.Total Spend
$1,800
Revenue Generated
$40,000
ROI
21.2x
Meetings Booked
20
Cost Per Meeting
$90
New MRR Added
$40,000
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Industry | SaaS |
| Company Size | 20-50 employees |
| Services Used | Cold Email + LinkedIn |
| Duration | 1 month |
The Challenge
Selling a prospecting data tool to agencies that do prospecting for a living is a unique challenge. These buyers know every trick and can spot lazy outreach from a mile away. The campaign had to be a demonstration of Ocean’s product value, not just a description of it — every response was proof that the data powering the campaign actually worked. Standard SaaS outreach that described data capabilities rather than demonstrating product quality through the campaign itself was failing with deeply knowledgeable prospecting professionals. Before Outbound System:- Standard SaaS capability descriptions falling flat
- No live demonstration of data quality in outreach
- Campaign not structured as product proof
- Generic messaging to deeply knowledgeable prospecting audience
- 20 meetings in a single month
- 37% reply rate from prospecting-savvy agencies
- Campaign itself became a live case study for data quality
- Account executives competing internally for the leads
The Solution
The campaign was structured as a live demonstration of Ocean’s data: every response proved the product worked. Prospect lists targeted agency leaders actively scaling outbound, identified through LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Findymail. Messaging directly challenged prospects’ current data quality rather than describing Ocean’s features.Cold Email
Structured as a direct challenge: “your current prospecting data is costing you meetings,” backed by specific performance comparisons on match rates, data freshness, and contact accuracy vs. traditional tools. Each email was proof-of-product.LinkedIn Outreach
Personalized messages to agency founders referencing their specific outbound approach and suggesting where Ocean’s data could measurably improve their results.Beyond the Meetings
- Market Intelligence: Response data from agency leaders revealed which data quality metrics (match rates vs. freshness vs. accuracy) mattered most to prospecting-savvy buyers, informing product marketing.
- Pipeline Insurance: Email and LinkedIn in parallel ensured agencies with sophisticated email filtering still saw Ocean’s outreach through LinkedIn content engagement.
- ICP Refinement: Agencies actively scaling outbound (hiring SDRs, posting about lead gen challenges) responded at the highest rates, identifying the strongest buying signals.
- Product Validation: The campaign itself was a live case study for Ocean’s data quality. Every response was proof of product — an asset no marketing collateral could replicate.
Campaign Timeline
Week 1: Challenge-Based Targeting
Agency leader targeting through LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Findymail. Challenge-based messaging developed around data quality comparisons vs. traditional tools.
Week 2: Campaign Launch
37% reply rate from the start. LinkedIn personalized outreach activated for agency founders. Immediate validation of challenge-based messaging.
Full Metrics Breakdown
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Total Spend with Outbound System | $1,800 |
| Campaign Duration | 1 month |
| Qualified Leads Generated | 26 |
| Cost Per Qualified Lead | $69 |
| Meetings / Calls Booked | 20 |
| Cost Per Booked Meeting | $90 |
| Show Up Rate | 85% |
| Revenue Generated (cash collected) | $40,000 |
| New MRR Added | $40,000 |
| ROAS (on cash collected) | 22.22x |
| Total ROI | 21.2x |
“Our account executives fight over OS leads.” — Dave Schneider, VP of Marketing at Ocean
Get Results Like Ocean
Ocean proved that structuring your campaign as a live product demo earns attention from even the most prospecting-savvy buyers. If you’re a SaaS company selling to an audience that knows outbound inside and out, the campaign itself has to be proof of value. See how our cold email service builds challenge-based messaging and our LinkedIn outbound reaches agency founders on their primary platform.Book a Strategy Call
See how challenge-based outbound would work for your SaaS pipeline — especially if your buyers know the game.