AI Powered Digital Marketing – AFRIAI

Case Study: AFRIAI -UX Research and Design for an AI-Powered SEO & Digital Marketing Platform

Background

A digital marketing agency saw a growing need to streamline and improve SEO and digital marketing services for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). They envisioned an AI-powered platform that would simplify these tasks, making advanced digital marketing accessible and affordable. The platform’s core idea was to leverage AI to handle complex SEO and marketing tasks like keyword research, content optimization, trend analysis, and personalized campaign recommendations.

To achieve this, the I wanted a UX research and design process that would uncover user needs, prioritize essential features, and create an intuitive, effective, and competitive product.

Goals of the Project
  • Identify target user needs and pain points in SEO and digital marketing.

  • Design a user-centric platform that effectively utilizes AI to automate, simplify, and improve SEO and digital marketing processes.

  • Develop a product roadmap and prioritize features to ensure usability and maximize business value.

Preview of the screens design

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Mobile

Step 1: User Research

1.1 Research Goals

The main goal was to understand the current pain points, needs, and preferences of SMB owners, marketing teams, and freelancers in using SEO and digital marketing tools. Specific objectives included:

  • Understanding current SEO and digital marketing workflows.
  • Identifying features and automation tasks users desire.
  • Analyzing user experience with existing SEO/marketing tools to discover common frustrations and opportunities.

1.2 Research Methods

To achieve these objectives, we conducted:

  • In-depth Interviews: With 15 users, including business owners, freelance marketers, and marketing agency staff, to explore their goals, challenges, and expectations.
  • Surveys: Sent to 200+ people in the target audience to gather quantitative data on common tasks, tool preferences, and pain points.
  • Competitive Analysis: Reviewed competitor platforms to identify areas for differentiation and understand the standard user experience and feature sets.

    1.3 Key Insights

    Through this research, we uncovered the following insights:

    • High Need for Automation: Most users wanted to automate repetitive tasks like keyword research, content suggestions, and reporting.
    • Intuitive AI Suggestions: Users found existing AI-driven suggestions complex and often irrelevant. They preferred easily interpretable suggestions with clear, actionable next steps.
    • Dashboard Fatigue: Many users felt overwhelmed by data overload on dashboards. A simplified and customizable dashboard was highly desired.
    • Resource Constraints: SMBs and freelancers have limited time and budget, so affordability, efficiency, and easy onboarding were essential.
Step 2: User Personas and User Stories
  • Based on the insights gathered, we developed three main user personas.
Persona 1: Sarah, the Small Business Owner

Goal:
Increase online visibility and traffic without hiring a full-time marketing team.

Frustration: Current SEO and marketing tools are complex and time-consuming.

User Story for Sarah

“As a small business owner, I want AI-generated marketing recommendations to be simple and actionable so that I can implement them quickly and improve my online presence.”

Persona 2: Alex, the Freelance Marketer
  • Goal: Efficiently manage multiple client accounts with data-backed insights.
  • Frustration: Juggling multiple platforms to manage SEO, content, and performance reporting.

User Story for Alex

  • “As a freelance marketer, I want a unified platform where I can manage all my clients’ SEO and digital marketing needs, so I don’t have to switch between tools constantly.”
Persona 3: Jordan, the Marketing Manager at a Mid-sized Business
  • Goal: Generate regular insights and data to support high-level marketing strategies.
  • Frustration: Complex data presentations that require additional time to analyze and make actionable.

User Story for Jordan

  • “As a marketing manager, I want the platform to provide clear, data-driven insights that I can easily translate into strategic decisions for my team.”

Step 3: Defining Key Features

Using the insights and personas, we outlined the following features:

  1. AI-Powered Keyword Research and Content Optimization

    • The platform would analyze target audiences, industry trends, and competitor content to suggest relevant keywords and content improvements.

  2. Smart Recommendations

    • The AI would offer personalized recommendations for each user based on their unique industry, audience, and website performance data, with options to implement changes in one click.

  3. Performance Tracking and Reports

    • A simple, customizable dashboard that presents key metrics such as organic traffic, keyword rankings, social media engagement, and conversions. Exportable reports would be available for clients and stakeholders.

  4. Automated Reporting

    • Users could schedule automated reports for clients or internal teams, with simplified interpretations of complex metrics.

  5. Campaign Planning and Scheduling Tool

    • Allows users to create, schedule, and track content and SEO campaigns directly within the platform, with AI-driven insights on optimal publishing times and trending topics.

  6. Client Management System

    • Freelancers and agencies could use this to manage multiple clients, with separate, branded dashboards for each.

  7. Training and Support Hub

    • A section for new users and less-experienced marketers, providing guides on AI-driven SEO, digital marketing best practices, and video tutorials.
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