This is a detailed hypothetical scenario. It does not correspond to a real Praion client. Designed to illustrate how we'd work with a business of this kind.
Where this business stands
Let's hypothesise a B2B software company in Athens. Eight years in the market, 22 employees, an HR/payroll solution for mid-sized Greek companies. ~140 customers, ~€1.2M ARR, 15-20% growth per year for the past 3 years — but it's getting harder.
Current state:
- 70% of new customers come from referrals + outbound sales
- €1,500-3,000/month ad spend on LinkedIn + Google, with no clear attribution
- LinkedIn page with 1,200 followers, 1 post/week from the CMO doing it personally
- Blog with 8 articles written 2018-2020, no SEO strategy
- 4 conference appearances/year — high cost, questionable ROI
- Two competitors with 5x the digital footprint win deals this company would have won three years ago
What isn't working
6-9 month sales cycle, brand awareness decisive
B2B SaaS sales in mid-market has 6-9 month sales cycles with 4-7 stakeholders. By decision time, vendors heard repeatedly win. Vendors that show up only when sales reaches out lose.
Zero AEO presence
When an HR director asks ChatGPT «best HR software for a 50-200 person Greek company», the company doesn't appear. Two competitors do. That means every first-stage research starts behind.
Content without compounding
The CMO writes LinkedIn posts when there's time. Useful insights but scattered. Not turned into blog posts, downloadable resources, or ad creative. Lost compounding effect.
Lead gen without a funnel
Demo requests come from Google Ads but convert at 8% (industry average 22%). The landing page is technical, no social proof, no customer stories. The sales team gets unqualified leads and runs long calls before knowing if the opportunity is worth continuing.
Conferences as the only brand-building
4 conferences/year cost €25,000-30,000 (booth, travel, materials, sales team time). ROI hard to measure. Leads from conferences are qualified but few. Without parallel digital presence, the company is forgotten until the next conference.
What we'd do for this business
With the Sovereign package (€1,630/month + €3,500/month ad spend = €5,130/month total), the strategy aims to turn the company into a category leader in HR/payroll software for mid-sized Greek businesses — with 180 days as the initial horizon for demonstrable impact.
Pillar 1: Founder-led thought leadership content
Structured content engine around the CEO/CMO:
- 30 LinkedIn posts/month — daily, fully ghost-written by Praion in the founder's voice
- 2 long-form blog posts/month — deep dives on HR challenges, regulatory updates, payroll best practices
- 1 LinkedIn newsletter/month — «State of HR in Greek SMEs»
- Quarterly executive report — downloadable, gated for lead gen
All content built around specific topics where the company wants to become the authority.
Pillar 2: AEO content engine
Strategic targeting of AEO queries:
- 5 pages/month optimised on the website for queries like «HR software comparison Greece», «payroll automation EFKA», «GDPR compliance employee data»
- Comparison pages: «[Company name] vs [Competitor]» — direct, honest, well-researched
- Customer stories optimised for AEO retrieval — 8 detailed case studies in 6 months
- FAQ sections with schema markup on every critical landing page
Goal: when a decision maker asks ChatGPT/Perplexity about HR software, the company starts appearing in the mentions.
Pillar 3: Multi-channel paid with attribution
€3,500/month ad spend strategically:
- LinkedIn Ads — €1,800/month: Sponsored content + InMail to HR Directors, CFOs at 50-300 employee companies
- Google Ads — €1,200/month: High-intent keywords («HR software Greece», «payroll software automation») + competitor terms
- Retargeting — €500/month: Demo requesters who didn't close, blog readers who stayed >2 minutes
Full attribution setup with GA4 + LinkedIn Insight Tag + Google Ads conversion API. Every deal that closes can be traced back to the first touchpoint.
Pillar 4: Sales enablement content
Content the sales team uses daily:
- One-pager comparison sheets for each competitor (refreshed every 3 months)
- ROI calculator embedded on the website + standalone version for sales calls
- Industry reports synced with demand generation pieces
- Video testimonials (3-4/year, scripted and shot with production team)
Sales cycle shortens because prospects arrive informed.
Pillar 5: Monthly strategy call + KPI dashboard
45-minute monthly strategy call with the CMO covering:
- Attribution data review — which content brings qualified leads
- Content topic pivots based on sales feedback (which objections come up)
- Coordination with upcoming product releases or conference participation
Live access to KPI dashboard: pipeline contribution, MQL → SQL conversion, content engagement metrics.
Pillar 6: Priority response
SLA under 48h on all requests. In B2B with large deals in motion, speed is critical — if the CMO needs a custom slide for a board meeting, or messaging needs an urgent update after a competitor announcement, Praion responds fast.
What we could expect in 180 days
The following are realistic expectations based on B2B SaaS benchmarks and how this category of business usually responds to this strategy. Not guarantees. B2B sales cycles are long and affected by market conditions, product fit, and sales execution.
LinkedIn followers
From 1,200 to 4,500-6,500 (engaged audience, not vanity).
AEO mentions
From 0 to 15-25/month (Perplexity, ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews).
Inbound demo requests
2x-2.5x increase — from 8/month to 16-22/month.
MQL → SQL conversion
From 12% to 18-22% (because they arrive better informed).
Sales cycle
Down from 7 to 5.5-6 months on average.
Pipeline value attributable to digital
From €200K to €600K-900K.
Financial picture: Sovereign costs €9,780 for 6 months + €21,000 ad spend = €30,780 total investment. If €400-600K in qualified pipeline is created and converts to €100K-150K in new ARR (conservative 25% close rate), ROI is 3-5x in 6 months. And the assets being built (content, AEO presence, brand) continue to produce value afterwards.
Important caveats:
- 6 months is the minimum to see compounding. In months 1-3, the numbers can look like waste.
- Sales execution has to align. If sales doesn't follow up correctly, marketing can't fix it.
- Product-market fit has to be there. Marketing doesn't solve product problems.
Why this tier for this business
B2B SaaS in a competitive category needs breadth + depth + speed. Engine (€760) would give content rhythm but not the thought leadership scale needed for category leader. Atelier is excessive at this stage — no full embedded marketing department needed yet. Sovereign is the right point: 30 posts/month ensures daily presence, 8 Reels add video depth, 5 AEO pages/month build category authority, €3,500 ad spend is enough for multi-channel attribution, the monthly strategy call ensures alignment with business goals.
What stays with you
B2B brand-building is a compounding investment
The first 4 months feel slow. Months 8-12 change everything. Whoever stops at month 3 loses.
Thought leadership isn't «the founder writes on LinkedIn when there's time»
It's a structured content engine with ghostwriting, distribution, and repurposing. Otherwise it isn't thought leadership — it's a hobby.
AEO is the new SEO for B2B
Decision makers ask AI agents for vendor comparison before reaching Google. Whoever isn't there loses shortlists they'll never see.