3 months is not a long time by any stretch of the imagination. 90 days. It's an infinitesimal amount of time. It's a mere moment in the big picture, isn't it? But if we told you that we could completely change the trajectory of a business in such a short time - would you believe us?
Success is like a mountain summit. Reaching the top takes dedication, innovation - and a willingness to exert a certain amount of pressure. It's not something that can be done alone. It takes a team. A team is comprised of individuals who share a desire to achieve, share a common interest, and motivate each other along the way. - it takes two willing, able - and committed partners!
We found this team at Aline - Learn Better. As partners, we were excited to ramp up their marketing efforts - while helping them better understand where their marketing budgets would make the biggest impact on their long-term strategy. All of this was done to inform their investment case and to ensure a sustainable start to their marketing strategy.
Say hello to Aline-Learn Better
“The adaptability - continuously adapting to the insights, was particularly important to us as a startup. Gaining the insight has given us the ability to move forward.”
- Innocent Mugenga, Aline's Co-Founder
The partnership between Aline and Pink Orange had been brewing for some time. The pioneering team at Aline first heard about Pink Orange through a mutual friend within an Ed(tech) incubator, and immediately knew that this was a team that they wanted to work with. After gathering their resources and securing investments, the team at Aline dived and dipped their toes into the digital marketing pool.
We began working with the Aline team in August 2022, with a single goal in mind: To prove marketability and interest in the product. A holistic, omnichannel approach was strategically designed to ensure that the collective goal was reached within 3 months.
The who
Aline - Learn better is a learning experience platform, that was created to validate informal learning. The team at Aline created a solution to a problem that we all face, and that is access to education that fits our schedule. Learning is primarily centered around a formal approach, i.e., in a classroom setting. While that approach isn’t a problem, it’s not always possible. Learning is something that we all do, daily - particularly as adults. Aline has created a knowledge-sharing platform that exists to acknowledge and validate the learning that we are already doing.
They’ve designed an intelligent learning system that has been created to guide its users through their informal learning journey in a customized, and easy-to-consume way. As a learner-centric platform, it provides users with a unified platform to access reputable and relevant information - according to what they want to learn.
The challenge
It’s all about the timing. Aline, the startup ed(tech) platform was facing a multifaceted challenge. They had the desire to create content that would facilitate an authentic online presence, resulting in waitlist signups using their limited resources- while also providing their greater investment team with enough actionable data that would serve as validation for further marketing efforts.
The overarching purpose of the collaboration was threefold:
- Establish an authentic online presence
- Reach a goal of 1000 waitlist signups
- Collect, analyze, and interpret data to inform future expansion for the startup
It’s in the challenge that we found the opportunity.
“One thing that was key with Pink Orange was the expertise within ed(tech). With other agencies, you have to spend quite a while digging into the platform. With Pink Orange we could start running as fast and as soon as possible.”
- Stephanie Darvill, Aline's Co-Founder
The solution
The first few weeks of our partnership were solely dedicated to designing a strategy that would help the Aline team reach its objectives within 90 days. After an initial brainstorming session, we dove right into creating detailed target personas, analyzing market trends, and designing a full-funnel strategy. We took a holistic approach to this campaign, strategically combining various forms of Google, Meta & LinkedIn ads with organic social content and lead nurturing.
This approach included the creation and distribution of a free email course, proving invaluable to the strategy. The 5-day email course campaign resulted in the addition of over 900 contacts, with an open rate of 20.7% - and a read rate of 83.3%.
This full-funnel approach was driven by the creation of relevant content that matched the strategic goals.
Since we value data, we also implemented HubSpot CRM into their overarching strategy, creating a centralized lead management system. We also created custom properties to keep track of where the traffic came from, and how they interacted with us.
While the initial market projection was set to remain in Europe, our team saw an opportunity within the South African market. The decision to test the market changed the trajectory of the campaign, ultimately leading to its success.
“It really felt like they were just an extended arm of our team. It wasn’t just a weekly update, and then we went about our business - it felt like we were a team, we were collaborating, and no question was too big or small. They weren’t afraid to challenge some of the decisions we made, making suggestions along the way.”
- Stephanie Darvill, Aline's Co-Founder
The numbers
Easily the best part of any campaign - the results. We are, after all, data-driven - this is how we produce results and demonstrate ROI for our clients.
We regularly monitored results throughout the 90-day campaign, allowing us to present innovative optimization approaches.
- CPL of 3.46 euros per lead, across markets like Sweden, the UK, and South Africa
- An overall clicks-to-leads conversion rate of 9.1%
- 1246 leads generated
- 13747 clicks, at an overall CPC of 0.31 euros per click
- 1,088,291 impressions
“The broad range of competencies that we got from the whole team and having that added to our little team felt like now we had the muscle to grow.”
- Innocent Mugenga, Aline's Co-Founder
These results prove that with the right strategy, combining paid & organic with content that resonates with a target audience, timing is merely an obstacle. Anything is possible.
What’s next?
The partnership between Pink Orange and Aline is ever-evolving, while new account and business growth opportunities are continuously identified. This reflects the first 3 months of the partnership, there is certainly more to come!
Now that we have initiated the campaigns, identified the markets & audience, established the brand's authority - and implemented a full-funnel attribution system - the team can continue to collect performance data, lead progression analysis and effectively build a timeless, sustainable, and holistic marketing machine!
Great things are on the horizon for the team at Aline - Learn Better!
