Improved lead generation rates: Leadzai increased ROAS, generating over €200 million for clients
Enhanced ad campaign efficiency management: AI-driven generation of high-quality ads and leads enabled teams to focus on strategies
Global market adaptability: Google Cloud helped Leadzai to navigate the dynamic data privacy landscape worldwide
Reduce costs: Leadzai has all the necessary tools without spreading around across several different platforms
Promising Portuguese startup Leadzai leverages Google Cloud to power its AI platform, helping businesses drive impactful campaigns and maximize ROAS for SMEs with a “pay-per-result” model.
One of the key challenges in the advertising industry is ensuring that every dollar spent delivers the highest possible impact. But the question is: is it really achievable? Can small players—like SMEs—invest a significant part of their budget and efforts to make themselves known and effectively get results?
Yes. Since Leadzai was founded in 2017, this startup went the extra mile and improved the conventional ad campaign model by charging clients only when they deliver tangible business impact—that is, when they effectively secured a new customer. This “pay-per-lead” innovative approach helps enterprises optimize their advertising budgets and ensures a satisfactory return on advertising investment (ROAS).
But, how did Leadzai tackle this challenge? Since the beginning, they had a clear vision: they didn't want to become an agency that generated leads manually. They knew that technology had advanced to a point where the entire process of communication, marketing, and advertising could be automated and scaled while still creating impactful and engaging ads. Also, they didn’t want to become a tech company, but they knew they needed technology to automate as many processes as possible.
Therefore, to build their AI-driven customer acquisition platform from scratch, Leadzai required not only scalable and powerful computing resources, but also cutting-edge technology to remain competitive in an ever-changing landscape, and a reliable and robust infrastructure to ensure consistent operations and sustainable growth.
To meet these demands and for its advanced cloud computing, AI and machine learning capabilities, and extensive support for developers, Leadzai chose Google Cloud.
Leadzai, one of the most promising Portuguese startups today, has relied on Google Cloud as a key component of its growth journey. Starting with just four employees, Leadzai now supports over 10,000 SMEs in Europe, Africa, Latin America and the United States, generating over 200 million euros in digital ad ROAS for its clients.
Google Cloud has been essential for Leadzai’s rapid expansion into new markets. By hosting its entire infrastructure on Google Cloud, Leadzai ensures that its customer acquisition platform remains compliant with the complex data privacy regulations across various countries. “We can provision things wherever we need them to be, especially with increasing complexity in legislation and spearheaded by the European Union. So, I can have data where I need it to be, that’s easily deployable, and I don’t need to seek new suppliers now because I’m opening something—I don’t know—in Australia to be compliant with Australian data protection. Nothing has become easier from a legislation standpoint, but a huge part of our comfort with what we do and our compliance comes from working with Google Cloud”, explains João Aroso. In other words, this seamless integration has allowed Leadzai to reduce manual compliance efforts, saving them time, energy, and resources.
Google Cloud’s and Machine Learning tools have also played a significant role in optimizing Leadzai's internal operations. Its automated process provides a more effective solution, leading to significant improvements in campaign management efficiency. By automating manual tasks (some of them with Vertex AI), they can produce high-quality ads and leads at scale, which allows their team to focus on strategic initiatives. Indeed, technology has integrated so seamlessly into their workflows that it’s already part of Leadzai’s identity. “Google Cloud is completely embedded in our development team day-to-day. It’s everything we do and everything we are,” expresses João Aroso.
And regarding corporate identity, it’s worth mentioning that Leadzai understands technology merely as a means to an end, as its mission is to deliver affordable leads to their clients. So, profitability and continuous improvement are key drivers of their competitive edge. Through tools like BigQuery and Looker, Leadzai analyzes data to optimize their performance and take actions to maximize media efficiency.
In summary, Google Cloud technology has empowered Leadzai to challenge the traditional advertising model and drive positive change. By having a full suite being used wisely, every new customer that enrolls in their service and each lead they sell are powered by the most innovative technology. Leadzai’s story proves that it doesn’t matter if you’re new in the industry or if you have a small enterprise: with the right tools, breaking down barriers is possible.
Leadzai is an AI-powered customer acquisition platform that empowers businesses, especially SMBs, to grow online with a unique “pay-per-result” model. Our mission is to help the next 200 million businesses thrive effortlessly by improving their return on advertising investment and driving impactful digital marketing campaigns.
Industry: Media and Entertainment
Location: Portugal
Products: Google Cloud, BigQuery, Google Cloud AI & Machine Learning, Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), Google Workspace, Looker, Vertex AI