Google Search Ads Keyword Planning for B2B SaaS Founders

Running example: Throughout this guide, we'll reference FellowshipFunnels, a drag-and-drop platform that lets B2B marketers build automated email + LinkedIn drip sequences to warm leads until they're sales-ready.

Target audience: demand-gen marketers & RevOps teams.

Use this Keyword Planning template to follow along. It currently has real data for our running example here.

1. Frame the battlefield

The table below shows different campaign themes at a glance so you can see where today’s non‑brand focus fits into the wider arsenal.

2. Seed keywords: “What would my ICP actually type?”

Now that you know where non-brand sits in your arsenal, time to build the foundation.

Most teams start with product features ("marketing automation platform").

Smart teams start with buyer language. Two mental models drive this:

• Jobs‑to‑be‑done lens – write the outcome, not the feature.
  Example: “set up an email drip in HubSpot” often beats “marketing automation software”.

• Adjacency for low‑volume niches – step earlier in the buyer’s journey.
  ClearFeed example: instead of just “Slack‑based support” (tiny volume), we found “Zendesk‑Slack integration” which had 10× searches and still captured the right users.

FellowshipFunnels starter list

• b2b email drip software

• lead nurture tool / lead nurturing platform

• email sequence software for saas

Tip: Paste each seed into Google; scrape Autosuggest & "People also ask" for more.

Next step: Take your 8-12 seed keywords and size the actual search demand. Volume without intent is vanity, but intent without volume is futility.

3. Size the pond (search volume & CPC)

Your seed list is ready. Now validate there's actual search demand behind these phrases – and that clicks won't bankrupt you.

Open Tools → Planning → Keyword Planner → Discover new keywords.

Be sure to:

• Check country and language.

• Dump up to 10 seeds at once – Google clusters better when it sees context.

• Export to CSV or Google Sheets – the file always includes Avg. Monthly Searches, Competition, and Low/High top‑of‑page bids.

Quick sanity metrics (customise to your own numbers):

* Niche SaaS often tops out at 200–300; 50 is a practical floor.
† Acquisition means different things depending on your tracking setup. If your funnel converts 10% of clicks to sign-ups, and 25% of sign-ups to paying users, your overall conversion rate is 2.5%. That means:

• You need 40 clicks to get 1 customer

• If your target CPA is $100, your max CPC = $100 ÷ 40 = $2.50

Always back-calculate your allowable CPC from CPA using your real funnel math – don’t guess or rely on shortcuts.

Action step: Export your keyword data and apply the volume/CPC filters.

4. Bucket by search intent - fast & free

Keyword Planner doesn’t tag intent, so roll your own.

ChatGPT keyword intent tagging:

1. Copy your keyword column into ChatGPT and use this prompt:

Tag each keyword as BOFU, MOFU, TOFU, or Irrelevant for lead‑nurture SaaS buyers. For known providers, override funnel stage as 'Competitor'. Table should only contain keyword and funnel stage.

2. Paste the tagged list back and use VLOOKUP to merge into Sheets.

Check the ‘ChatGPT - Intent’ sheet for the raw output from ChatGPT and ‘KW planner - Intent (ChatGPT)’ column for vlookup in the keyword planning template for an example.

Action step: Tag your entire list by intent. BOFU keywords get priority.

5. Build tightly themed ad groups (Exact‑match only)

Intent-tagged keywords in hand, time to group them for maximum ad relevance. Loose grouping kills Quality Score; tight grouping amplifies it.

Principle: one clear promise per ad. Limit to 10-15 exact‑match keywords that share the same wording + intent.

ChatGPT keyword grouping:

1. Copy your keyword column into ChatGPT and use this prompt:

Given this list of paid search keywords, group them into the **minimum number of tightly themed ad groups** based on the core product or solution intent. 

- **Ignore modifiers** like “best,” “top,” “free,” “paid,” or “[year]” unless the business objective is to split by pricing or offer (otherwise, treat “free,” “best,” etc. as the same as the parent theme).
- **Combine variants** like “software,” “tool,” “platform,” and “solution” if they point to the same user goal, unless context clearly separates them (e.g., CRM vs. standalone tool).
- **Separate only when intent is clearly different**, such as “CRM with drip” vs. “standalone drip tool.”
- **If a keyword includes an adjacent category** (e.g., “CRM,” “email marketing,” “automation”) that changes the main intent, use that as a new group.
- **Output a two-column table:**  
  | Keyword | Theme (Ad Group) |

Don’t split keywords just because they have different modifiers or order; group for relevance, not just surface similarity.

2. Paste the tagged list back and use VLOOKUP to merge into Sheets.

A snippet of the results below. Refer to the keyword planner template for more.

At this stage, you’d keep only the ad groups that reflect your core promise; scrap the rest. Then give your leverage-heavy clusters their own campaign, and therefore their own budget, so money flows where impact multiplies, not where clicks drip away.

That’s the play: structure first, spend second, and free your brain for strategy instead of spreadsheet babysitting.

Iterate like an operator

Once Campaigns launch, the real work begins, turning data into decisions.

• Weekly: Mine the Search Terms report → harvest new BOFU queries, add losers as exact negatives.

• Monthly: Move budgets from low-performance ad groups to rising stars.

• Quarterly: Re‑run Keyword Planner to catch shifts in language.

First‑principles recap

1. Start at the user’s job, not your jargon.

2. Size real demand before writing ads.

3. Strip noise early so Quality Score compounds.

4. Match every promise to a page – highest chance of demo.

5. Grow by adding precise levers, not by widening tolerance.

You now have a minimal, force-multiplier setup that trades brute spend for precision clicks. Pull this lever correctly, and tiny B2B budgets can still move enterprise-grade revenue. Leverage over labor.