Epicode, an EdTech startup in the field of education and technology, emerged as a remarkable case study of digitalisation in a microenterprise. Born during the peak of the pandemic in 2020, Epicode aimed to revolutionize the world of coding and digital professions. By offering remote courses and masterclasses, as well as facilitating job placements for its students, Epicode quickly gained traction in the market.

When Epicode approached Secret Key, a digital marketing agency, they faced significant challenges. As a newly established brand without any marketing or business metrics, Epicode needed to validate its business model, generate key lead generation and client acquisition metrics, and convert leads into enrolled students. The agency recognised the immense potential of Epicode and quickly developed a marketing plan and funnel to generate the minimum required course enrolments.

Through a comprehensive approach rooted in analysis, strategy, and marketing data-driven methods, Secret Key implemented various activities to achieve the desired outcomes. They optimised landing pages for higher conversion rates, developed captivating creatives, executed paid advertising campaigns on platforms like Google Search, Facebook, and Instagram, and utilised email marketing automation for lead nurturing. The integration of business intelligence with the sales CRM enabled monitoring of the customer journey from end to end.

The initial focus was on validating the angles of paid advertising campaigns and optimising the user interface and user experience (UI/UX) of landing pages. Secret Key conducted numerous experiments and extensive user interaction analysis to identify the most effective pain points, gains, keywords, lead acquisition strategies, and demographic characteristics. In just a few weeks, Epicode witnessed exceptional results, with a substantial volume of enrolment requests and sold-out classes.

With the impressive outcomes achieved within a short period, Epicode garnered significant market interest. Within months of its inception, 30 prominent Italian angel investors subscribed to a 1 million Euro investment round, further validating the company's success. The collaboration between Epicode's internal marketing team and Secret Key facilitated continuous improvement in various aspects of brand communication, including advanced data modeling, new ad creatives, valuable lead magnets, enhanced storytelling on social media, and content production for SEO and lead acquisition purposes.

The scaling phase involved increasing the budget for paid advertising, expanding advertising channels, and utilising offline conversions for more potent campaign performance analysis. With meticulous scaling strategies, Epicode managed to maintain excellent lead performance metrics, acquire more leads of higher quality, and achieve sustainable cost per acquisition rates. The combined efforts of the product, marketing, and sales teams enabled Epicode to secure a second substantial investment round, further propelling their national and international market expansion plans.