The verdict in three sentences
On LinkedIn Ads, a B2B services firm in Amsterdam can book meetings with HR directors of large companies for roughly 700 EUR per meeting, provided it targets by job function and company size and uses native Lead Gen Forms. Clicks are expensive, 7 to 13 EUR, yet a single consulting engagement often covers the whole quarter's budget. This example follows a fictional but representative firm, not a real client, to show the numbers before and after.
Starting point and setup
Illustrative example: a 15 consultant HR advisory firm in Amsterdam Zuid sells workforce planning, pay equity audits (ahead of the EU Pay Transparency Directive) and executive search to companies with 250+ employees. Before the campaign, 85% of new clients came from referrals, with 2 new contracts a quarter.
| Item | Before the campaign | LinkedIn Ads setup |
|---|---|---|
| Main acquisition channel | Referrals, events | Sponsored content and Lead Gen Forms |
| Audience | Partners' personal networks | HR directors, CHROs, COOs, companies with 250+ staff |
| Locations | Amsterdam | Randstad, Antwerp, Brussels |
| Offer | General brochure | Free 45 minute pay transparency readiness check |
| Languages | Dutch | English and Dutch ad variants |
| Ad spend | 0 EUR | 12,000 EUR over 3 months, 4,000 EUR a month |
| Reporting | None | Weekly dashboard of forms and meetings held |
The final audience held about 45,000 profiles. Lead Gen Forms carried a GDPR (AVG) compliant consent line and a link to the privacy policy, and contacts were synced to the CRM within the hour.
Three month results
| Metric | Month 1 | Month 2 | Month 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spend | 4,000 EUR | 4,000 EUR | 4,000 EUR | 12,000 EUR |
| Average cost per click | 12.50 EUR | 10.20 EUR | 7.90 EUR | 9.85 EUR |
| Clicks | 320 | 392 | 506 | 1,218 |
| Lead Gen Forms submitted | 14 | 19 | 25 | 58 |
| Meetings held | 4 | 5 | 8 | 17 |
| Contracts signed | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Cost per meeting | 1,000 EUR | 800 EUR | 500 EUR | 706 EUR |
The falling cost per click came from three changes: excluding entry level and student profiles, swapping stock imagery for a real team photo, and adding a qualifying question ("company headcount") to the form. Form to meeting rate was 29%, which requires a call back within 24 hours.
Return on spend
Total quarter cost: 12,000 EUR spend, ad setup at 50,000 FCFA (about 76 EUR) and management at 17%, 2,040 EUR. Total: 14,116 EUR. The 5 contracts averaged 24,000 EUR, so 120,000 EUR in revenue at a 40% gross margin, about 48,000 EUR. Each euro invested returned about 3.4 EUR of gross margin, before any referral effect.
Mini case study
For the next quarter, the managing partner of this fictional firm, call her Sanne, weighs doubling spend. At 8,000 EUR a month, assuming cost per meeting rises to 850 EUR as the audience widens, she would get about 28 meetings over 3 months. At the observed rate of 5 contracts per 17 meetings, that is about 8 contracts, 192,000 EUR of revenue for about 28,200 EUR of total cost. The real constraint is delivery capacity: 8 extra engagements a quarter means hiring at least 2 consultants.
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FAQ
What is the minimum LinkedIn Ads budget in the Netherlands?
Plan for at least 3,000 EUR a month for 3 months. Below that you get under 300 clicks a month, too few to optimise B2B audiences.
Why use Lead Gen Forms instead of a landing page?
Forms are prefilled with name, job title and company, which often doubles conversion. Here 4.8% of clicks became a submitted form.
Are Lead Gen Forms GDPR compliant?
They can be, if you add a clear consent statement and privacy policy link and only ask for fields you need. Keep retention to around 12 to 24 months for unconverted leads and document it.
How long until first meetings?
First forms arrive within 1 to 2 weeks, first contracts after 6 to 10 weeks because HR buying cycles are long. Judge the campaign over at least 3 months.
Should we also invest in Google?
Yes, most HR directors check the firm on Google before the meeting. A complete Google Business Profile and a fast site build trust and can cut no show rates by 10 to 20%.
Get found by the buyers already searching for you. Start with a visibility audit at 100,000 FCFA (about 152 EUR, deducted from setup if you start within 30 days), then choose the right Traffic Engine plan, Presence 125,000 FCFA (about 191 EUR), Momentum 225,000 FCFA (about 343 EUR) or Flood 350,000 FCFA (about 534 EUR) per month, for more meeting requests and a weekly report: Traffic Engine. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
