Case: AIDA model applied in product launch strategy
Launching a new product is one of the most exciting phases of a startup life cycle. So many insecurities, an ocean of possibilities ahead filled with a lot of questions: is it going to work? Will people be interested in understanding more about it? How do I promote it in an efficient way? For a startup B2B, product launch strategies are a must and in this article, I am going to explore a case of product launch applying the AIDA model and relating it to all content and paid media strategies.
Happy reading!
Industry overview
The following case was conducted on a B2B IndTech startup, with 3 years of market experience. The startup was going through a process of re-positioning, aiming to be considered a reference for Artificial Intelligence projects and products for manufacturing. The startup was in a stage between an MVP and testing one specific product to identify market fit, as well as looking for opportunities to develop AI projects for manufacturers. At the moment, they were trying to generate leads with inbound strategies but the monthly average of qualified leads was around 2.
The product
This product would be the 3rd attempt of the startup portfolio to scale with inside sales and inbound strategies. The product optimizes maintenance schedules, utilizing artificial intelligence with algorithms created by the startup. The idea behind is to have a better usage of resources while creating the maintenance schedule for manufacturing, reducing the time of execution, increasing the productivity of the maintenance schedule planner, and reducing costs involved in the resources.
The AIDA Model
As explored before, the AIDA model guides us in identifying the stage each person is at before the buying process, from the moment they get in contact with the company, then the product, then create a desire of taking an action to get to know more about the opportunity.
The first thing we thought while designing the product launch based on the AIDA model was: what is our public for each of the steps of the model? What type of content this public would like to see, and how and in what channels?
These questions lead us to this planning:
Step 1 of the AIDA Model: Attention.
Objective: generate awareness of Artificial Intelligence for manufacturing, and catch the attention of curious people to understand more of what we do.
Public target: Society as a whole.
Persona: Human, 18-40 years old, interested in technology and industries;
Channels: Instagram, YouTube, Google Search, and LinkedIn;
Type of content: Videocast and interactive images;
Investment: Organic content, investments only to produce materials.
Content approach: explore the words innovation and artificial intelligence applied to manufacturing. Expose the benefits of using AI nowadays.
Step 2 of the AIDA Model: Interest.
Objective: generate interest in how to use Artificial Intelligence in industrial processes with real applicability.
Public target: people currently working in manufacturing industries.
Persona: Man, 25-40 years old, operations and maintenance manager;
Channels: Landing page, E-mail, Google Search, and LinkedIn;
Type of content: Storytelling pieces and interactive content;
Investment: Organic content, investments only to produce materials.
Content approach: explore the possibilities of applying AI to manufacturing with different outputs: predicting variables, predicting events, and finally, optimizing schedules. Explore the benefits of applying AI in industrial processes.
Step 3 of the AIDA Model: Desire.
Objective: make the user want to know more about how they can optimize their maintenance schedule with our solution and the benefits of doing it.
Public target: people currently working with operation and maintenance processes for manufacturing industries.
Persona: Man, 25-40 years old, maintenance manager;
Channels: Landing page, LinkedIn;
Type of content: Testimonials and technical content;
Investment: paid campaign in LinkedIn, using the InMail type of campaign.
Content approach: explore the benefits of optimizing schedules with our product and use of social proof (testimonials) of past and current customers.
Step 4 of the AIDA Model: Action.
Objective: generate a sales opportunity in our landing page form.
Public target: people currently working with maintenance processes for manufacturing industries.
Persona: Man, 25-40 years old, maintenance manager;
Channels: Landing page, LinkedIn;
Type of content: Technical content;
Investment: paid campaign in LinkedIn, using the InMail type of campaign.
Content approach: position the startup as an authority in the subject by explaining our pipeline with the technical approach at the same time linking the benefits from a business perspective – number and ROI.
The goal was 20 SQLs and luckily (or not, because a lot of strategies were in place), we managed to achieve it. By the end of the estimated time (1.5 months), we were able to generate 30 SQLs.
- 18 leads coming from inbound marketing, with paid media.
- 12 leads coming from outbound marketing, active prospection, and email marketing.
Having a clear plan with solid goals was crucial to having this strategy in place. The learning curve is absurd and it starts by the moment you study the product, goes by the moment you design the strategy, put it into execution, and continues during the evaluation of the whole execution process. As a head of marketing, I have so many personal and professional takeaways from this case. If you are interested in understanding what are those, stay tuned to our next content 🙂