How ColdIQ + AirOps Built $9.6M in Pipeline from One ABM Campaign

When AirOps first came to us, they weren’t struggling. 

They were plateauing.

They’d built an incredible AI content platform trusted by brands like Webflow, Ramp, Carta, and LegalZoom. Their product helped companies dominate AI search results and refresh content that actually ranked. But their growth engine had hit a ceiling.

For almost a year, their monthly pipeline hovered around $536K. Solid, but not explosive. The marketing team had already tested outbound, traditional ads, and email. Nothing broke through.

That’s where we came in.

Foundation: Why AirOps needed a different playbook

AirOps had a world-class product but a Tier 1 audience: marketing executives, growth leaders, and CMOs at top SaaS brands. These weren’t people who’d click “Book a Demo” from a cold email.

They were busy. They were targeted constantly. And they didn’t respond to the same tactics everyone else used.

We had one goal = build an Account-Based Marketing (ABM) engine that engineered interest, without relying on outbound or cold outreach.

So instead of chasing inboxes, we decided to design a buying journey around them.

Our combined foundation looked like this:

• Tech stack: AirOps platform + Clay + LinkedIn Ads + HubSpot CRM
• Budget: $136,000 total ad spend
• Timeline: 90 days
• Goal: Move from <$600K pipeline/month to >$2M pipeline/month

The challenge: From cold outbound to warm intent

AirOps had an outbound process that worked fine for mid-market deals. But when we aimed higher (into the enterprise layer), the same approach hit walls.

Cold outreach to CEOs and CMOs? Ghosted.

Generic demo ads? Ignored.

Webinars without trust built first? Under-attended.

We realized we weren’t fighting for attention; we were fighting for trust.

These leaders didn’t need to learn what AirOps did. They needed to believe AirOps was already part of their world.

That meant replacing “book a demo” with something far more human.

The Process: Building the $9.6M Playbook

We designed a 4-part ABM campaign that flipped the script on traditional SaaS acquisition. Every stage was about meeting the buyer where they already were and staying there until they were ready to act.

Step 1: Building Tier 1 audiences with Clay

Clay became our secret weapon.

Most people know Clay for outbound prospecting, but we turned it into a targeting engine for paid media.

Using Clay, we built hyper-qualified account lists filtered by:

• Website traffic trends (so we knew who was scaling)
• Tech stack compatibility (AirOps integrates best with content-led SaaS)
• ARR and growth rate
• Recent funding rounds

This gave us a living, breathing audience of companies ready to spend.

We pushed those directly into LinkedIn Ads. No CSVs, no manual uploads.

The result? AirOps ads didn’t just show up randomly. They reached exactly the companies most likely to convert.

Step 2: Thought leadership ads (80% of budget)

We ditched traditional ad creative almost entirely.

No “Get a demo.”

No “See the platform.”

Instead, we ran ads that looked (and felt!) like content.

80% of the budget went toward thought leadership posts from the founder, team members, and even customers.

When you’re targeting brands like Webflow, HubSpot, or Stripe, every click costs $$$. But trust built through relatable, valuable content is free (and priceless).

These ads included:

• Short clips of the founder explaining how AI search is changing marketing
• Employee posts about what they were learning using AirOps internally
• User-generated content (UGC) from clients sharing their wins

It humanized the brand and positioned AirOps as the teacher in the space, not the salesperson. Within weeks, we saw engagement spike, especially from executives.

Step 3: Replacing “Book a demo” with mini-demos & webinars

Here’s the truth:

Nobody wakes up excited to “book a demo.”

So we threw that CTA out the window.

Instead, we created mini-demo videos – 15-second GIFs or 30-second clips showing small, satisfying product moments. Think:  “How AirOps refreshes content automatically” or “How one client boosted AI visibility by 60%.”

We paired these with live and on-demand webinars featuring industry experts talking about problems, not products.

Webinars like “The New SEO Playbook for AI Search” pulled in hundreds of ICP attendees: CMOs, Heads of Content, and Growth Managers.

By the time they saw the product, it wasn’t new to them. They already trusted it.

Step 4: Relentless retargeting

The real magic came after the first click.

Every time someone interacted (clicked, watched, or engaged), we followed them everywhere.

LinkedIn. YouTube. Display. Native ads.

We layered in retargeting sequences that blended thought leadership with light product education.

The goal wasn’t to push. It was to stay top of mind.

We heard this line repeatedly in sales calls:

“Your ads were following me everywhere.”

That’s how we knew it worked.

The results: From $536K → $2.9M monthly pipeline

Within 90 days, AirOps’ pipeline exploded:

That’s a 5x pipeline increase in just 3 months.

And that’s not all.

Across the full campaign:

• 182 deals entered the pipeline
• $9.6M total pipeline generated
• $543K closed revenue
• $136K in ad spend
• 4x ROI on marketing investment

But the real win wasn’t just the numbers. It was the momentum.

For the first time, AirOps had an acquisition system that scaled with precision.

No spam.

No cold outreach.

Just a well-engineered buying experience.

Why it worked

After dozens of ABM campaigns across SaaS, this one stood out because it combined precision targeting, educational content, and relentless sequencing.

Here’s why it worked so well:

1. It started with the right audience. Using Clay meant every dollar went toward Tier 1 accounts – companies already showing intent.
2. It built trust before pitching. Thought leadership content turned AirOps from a vendor into a voice worth following.
3. It lowered the barrier to engagement. Mini-demos and webinars gave value upfront. No heavy asks, just easy entry points.
4. It stayed present without being pushy. Smart retargeting turned awareness into familiarity, and familiarity – into trust. 

Lessons we learned

Even with the right strategy, execution was everything.

Here are the takeaways we now apply to every campaign:

• Don’t assume more data = better targeting. The key was useful filters, not endless variables. ARR + growth rate + funding gave us 80% of the results.
• Creative is the real differentiator. The same ad spend with average creative wouldn’t have moved the needle. Storytelling and authenticity made people stop scrolling.
• Retention is part of acquisition. Following up with high-value viewers through email nurtures turned clicks into customers.
• Don’t skip CRM integration. Every engagement synced directly into HubSpot, so the sales team knew exactly when (and why) to reach out.

The takeaway

When AirOps leaned into ABM with ColdIQ, they didn’t just get a better campaign. They got a growth engine.

In three months, we transformed their outreach model from cold emails to an orchestrated, high-trust system that consistently attracted Tier 1 accounts.

And it all started with one idea:

“If you can’t reach the CEO’s inbox, engineer the journey around them.”

This campaign became the benchmark for how we now run ABM at scale, because when strategy meets execution, pipeline follows.

Summary:

ColdIQ x AirOps = proof that when data meets creative precision, even Tier 1 buyers start the conversation.

If you want to build an ABM engine that turns Tier 1 accounts into real pipeline (just like we did with AirOps) – book a GTM Strategy Call with ColdIQ today. Let’s design your next multi-million-dollar growth breakthrough.