Paycor is a platform built to help leaders recruit, manage and develop high-performing teams through technology that supports everything from payroll to performance management. The SaaS brand needed to scale their primary indicators of pipeline growth, marketing qualified leads (MQLs) and first-time appointments with sales reps (FTAs), but already had a mature digital program in place. With their existing digital strategy reaching a plateau, Paycor challenged Monks to unlock new avenues for scalable growth.

Standard display tactics on the Google Display Network had been relatively effective for the brand; engagement was strong and the campaigns helped maintain visibility with remarketing audiences, but cost-per-click (CPC) was relatively high. To really scale, we turned to AI. Unlike traditional display tactics, Google’s Demand Generation product could learn, adapt and scale outcomes faster if given the right inputs.

Our team designed a two-part Demand Gen strategy tailored to Paycor’s goals. We started by running prospecting campaigns focused on competitor audiences to attract new, high-potential users. Then we layered in remarketing to re-engage users who had already shown interest but hadn’t yet converted. Both campaigns used a mix of static imagery and messaging pulled from top-performing Search ads, but video quickly became a standout performer.

We tested a range of video formats, from 30-second feature clips to five-minute product tours. The long-form videos drove the highest engagement and view-through rates, helping build interest and familiarity with Paycor's offering. The shorter videos were stronger at driving direct conversions. This combination formed an integrated creative system that guided users from awareness to action within the same campaign environment.

To build early traction, we launched with a Max Clicks bidding strategy to give Google room to gather data and optimize delivery. Once the campaigns were capturing enough engagement volume to shift out of the algorithmic learning phase, we shifted to Maximum Conversion Value to align spend with deeper-funnel results. We also implemented a tailored value-based bidding structure that reflected Paycor’s business goals. To align with these goals, we dynamically weighted MQLs based on company size and historical close-rate trends. FTAs and Opportunity Created conversions were given higher, fixed values to reinforce the quality of those users, while early-stage leads were excluded to sharpen the algorithm’s focus on revenue-ready prospects.

When we looked at performance side by side, the difference between the Demand Gen and traditional GDN campaigns was immediately clear: we saw a 2x increase in average lead value, a 90% increase in appointments, and a 20% improvement in cost per opportunity. These improvements reflect the stronger intent and relevance of the audiences we reached through AI-powered targeting and a dynamic value-based bidding structure that mapped directly to Paycor's business priorities. By focusing on signals that aligned with revenue potential, we quickly outperformed legacy display tactics and validated Demand Gen campaigns as a scalable approach to drive pipeline for Paycor.

Paylocity, a leading HCM SaaS built to make work simpler, has been working with Monks since 2023. Since Paylocity serves brands from 35-person SMBs to teams of 25k employees, the value of each lead and time to sale varies greatly. They struggled to connect leads to their eventual business value, making it difficult to optimize campaigns for high-quality conversions.  This hindered their ability to measure Google Ads’ revenue impact and confidently drive leads in every buyer segment without sacrificing quality. Paylocity partnered with Monks to solve this challenge and unlock the full value of their ad spend.

To help Paylocity bridge the gap between the initial click and the business outcome they’re accountable to (first-time appointments with sales, FTAs), we helped upgrade the data integration with their CRM. Our team drove the strategic planning and technical implementation, using Enhanced Conversions for leads and Google Data Manager. This increased the number of match keys used (specifically Google click IDs or “GCLIDs,” email addresses, and phone numbers) and resolved data-formatting issues. These improvements made it possible to differentiate a high-quality lead from a low-quality one within the ads platform and lean into value-based bidding (VBB), bidding directly against SQLs to achieve more FTAs.

The improved data connections allowed Paylocity to recognize a greater proportion of its sales-qualified conversions in Google Ads. The brand saw a 62% lift in conversion value of leads from Google Ads, a 61% higher conversion rate from marketing qualified lead (MQL) to sales qualified lead (SQL), and a 19% gain in first-time appointments (FTA). For the first time, the brand could make better decisions about scaling ad spend, confident that a higher lead cost would drive more business value. This critical insight gave Paylocity a more complete picture of the funnel than they could get from other media investments.

Orbit Irrigation, a trusted brand in home watering systems, typically sees demand spike in the warmer months, while Q4 has traditionally been slower. Orbit partnered with Monks to build a seasonal Amazon Ads strategy that turned Q4 from a quiet period into a meaningful growth opportunity. Instead of scaling back, we used the off-season to boost brand visibility and lay the groundwork for a high-stakes product launch.

To set the foundation, we optimized 50+ product detail pages, refreshed Orbit’s Amazon Brand Store, acquired early customer reviews and ensured inventory was positioned to meet demand. From there, we used insights from Amazon Marketing Cloud to rebuild Sponsored Ads and DSP campaigns around real shopper behavior. To increase visibility, we expanded keyword coverage and used variation testing to group similar SKUs under a single parent listing. This helped capture more long-tail search traffic, while high-intent retargeting kept Orbit top of mind during key holiday moments.

Orbit’s new approach set a higher bar for seasonal planning. Q4 sales increased 30% compared to the previous year, with a 391% revenue surge in their top product category and a 15% lift in conversion rates. New-to-brand purchases remained above 70%, while Amazon DSP emerged as a top driver of performance. That momentum continued into January, where the new product launch achieved a 4.5x return on ad spend, proving that strategic groundwork during slower months can lead to strong results when demand returns.

Monks’ vigilant approach ensured that as consumer demand returned, Orbit was not just ready to respond but positioned to accelerate—maintaining share of voice, protecting search rank, and investing in audience engagement when others paused. By rethinking seasonal investment and leaning into full-funnel planning, Orbit not only saw a stronger-than-ever off-season but also created momentum for an even more successful on-season.

Trimble has partnered with Monks since 2020 to acquire customers for SketchUp, a 3D design software for SMBs. On a mission to turn ideas into reality with accessible modeling solutions, SketchUp was aiming for global growth. Through our close partnership, we continually improved product-led sales for five years with consistent data-backed experimentation.

With the successful scale of SketchUp's customer acquisition program, Monks and Trimble have continued to deepen their partnership across additional software products. We're applying our full-funnel expertise to build deeper digital maturity across their entire organization, furthering their goal of powering an interconnected world of work.

As black-box algorithmic campaigns take over digital platforms, creative is the most critical lever to fuel new performance gains. The modern digital landscape requires all ad creative to be quantifiable, tested at scale, audience-specific and channel-native. To deliver on this, our performance creative experts work hand-in-hand with media strategists and AI technology to rapidly produce and optimize new assets according to your business goals. Our solutions combine agile development, iterative testing, generative AI, and human ingenuity to deliver the most effective and relevant message to your target audience and unlock efficient growth for your brand.

Text-to-image technology gets our creative in market faster, unlocking multiple benefits in the creative process. In addition to cutting down time spent on concepting and approvals with AI-generated mockups, the technology also speeds up QA with automated content checks based on your brand guidelines, testing taxonomy, and ad platform requirements.

Even the biggest brands have challenges maintaining fresh asset libraries, with long timelines and high cost to shoot new content. Generative AI allows us to get scrappy with existing content and create modularity. From new backgrounds to alternating models, localization to platform-native aspect ratios, the opportunities are endless.

Our performance creative experts are embedded with our media strategists to put data-driven testing at the beginning of the development process, rather than retrofitting tests onto existing brand work. We start with custom learning agendas based on historical performance and your business goals, then bake in our testing dimensions to the creative concepts themselves, from visuals to value props to tone and more. We generate a tailored ad taxonomy to analyze results in aggregate, then fuel iteration quickly. Every decision is data-driven, while keeping your brand’s voice center stage.

Our creative strategists form an agile bridge between your brand designers and your advertising experts, whether in-house or outsourced. Your creative team benefits from extended capacity, combined with deep knowledge of performance media best practices, while your media marketers can ramp up their testing velocity without sacrificing quality or learnings. ROI is our north star as we adapt your brand concepts and traditional media assets into bespoke digital iterations for each stage of the funnel and each ad placement. We are equally fluent in “art director,” “media buyer,” and “data analyst”—our cross-functional expertise seamlessly integrates us into your team to benefit your bottom line.