Driving International Business Growth in the B2B Educational SaaS sector
Prieto Bicandi, Saioa (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025122338910
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025122338910
Tiivistelmä
This research investigates how digital marketing and growth strategies can enhance customer conversion rates for Kindiedays, a Finnish EdTech company specializing in early childhood education solutions, with a focus on the international market, and especially Indian preschool market. The study is motivated by the growing demand for innovative, internationally recognized pedagogical approaches in India’s highly competitive private preschool sector, where owners and academic heads face persistent challenges related to admissions, staff retention, and curriculum modernization.
The research follows an action research design and addresses three main questions: (1) Who are the ideal customers for Kindiedays and why is customer research essential for driving growth? (2) How can iterative digital marketing and growth hacking techniques, using data analytics improve customer acquisition, conversions and business growth for a SaaS company? (3) How can the customer journey be optimized to increase conversions?
Data was collected using a mixed-methods approach: five online surveys, three semi structured interviews with Kindiedays team members, two written asynchronous interviews with prospects / ideal customers, three non participatory webinar observations, competitor benchmarking, passive observation and participation in online forums (LinkedIn, Quora, Reddit), analysis of ideal customer´s job descriptions for roles, the customer journey analysis of 9 real leads, and the analysis of digital performance data (Google Ads, GA4, Loyalistic CRM, monthly marketing reports, and WhatsApp interactions). Multiple experiments were conducted, including A/B testing of emotional vs. rational ad messaging, landing page CTAs (WhatsApp vs. call booking), automated multi-step nurturing campaigns, etc.
The findings indicate that emotional messaging outperformed rational messaging in driving engagement; WhatsApp emerged as a culturally aligned, low-friction communication channel that doubled meeting booking rates compared to call bookings; and automated multi-step email sequences proved more effective than single follow-ups. Recurring themes identified across surveys and interviews include cost sensitivity, the need for differentiation in a crowded market, the importance of trust, and varying decision-making dynamics between owners and academic coordinators.
The study concludes that sustainable market growth requires a customer journey tailored to local realities, low-friction entry points such as WhatsApp, and trust-based engagement strategies that balance both pedagogical and business-oriented value propositions.
The research follows an action research design and addresses three main questions: (1) Who are the ideal customers for Kindiedays and why is customer research essential for driving growth? (2) How can iterative digital marketing and growth hacking techniques, using data analytics improve customer acquisition, conversions and business growth for a SaaS company? (3) How can the customer journey be optimized to increase conversions?
Data was collected using a mixed-methods approach: five online surveys, three semi structured interviews with Kindiedays team members, two written asynchronous interviews with prospects / ideal customers, three non participatory webinar observations, competitor benchmarking, passive observation and participation in online forums (LinkedIn, Quora, Reddit), analysis of ideal customer´s job descriptions for roles, the customer journey analysis of 9 real leads, and the analysis of digital performance data (Google Ads, GA4, Loyalistic CRM, monthly marketing reports, and WhatsApp interactions). Multiple experiments were conducted, including A/B testing of emotional vs. rational ad messaging, landing page CTAs (WhatsApp vs. call booking), automated multi-step nurturing campaigns, etc.
The findings indicate that emotional messaging outperformed rational messaging in driving engagement; WhatsApp emerged as a culturally aligned, low-friction communication channel that doubled meeting booking rates compared to call bookings; and automated multi-step email sequences proved more effective than single follow-ups. Recurring themes identified across surveys and interviews include cost sensitivity, the need for differentiation in a crowded market, the importance of trust, and varying decision-making dynamics between owners and academic coordinators.
The study concludes that sustainable market growth requires a customer journey tailored to local realities, low-friction entry points such as WhatsApp, and trust-based engagement strategies that balance both pedagogical and business-oriented value propositions.