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The MIA Academy runs bootcamps where marketers build skills in product marketing, growth, GTM, and AI while working on real projects. Learn more about the bootcamp here.

Can you tell us a bit about your background, education, and how you got into marketing?

Correction - I got into content creation at 18, and even though I stopped making those videos after a few months, that early experience sparked my curiosity about content marketing.

In 2020, during the pandemic, it was my third year of uni as a Chemistry student, I came across a post from a friend who was starting a company and looking for interns, so I applied and joined as a content writer. That role eventually evolved into content marketing, and along the way, I got to learn a bit of everything: communications, client operations, and even sales at some level.

From there, things just flowed naturally. Every opportunity that came after was connected to content, marketing, or social media in one way or another. So even though my degree didn’t point me in this direction, I knew early on that I wasn’t interested in my university degree as much, and marketing became the space where I could really see myself grow.

👉🏽 Join the MIA Academy to learn product marketing, growth systems, GTM strategy, and AI workflows the practical way.

How do you define growth marketing?

I honestly see Growth Marketing as simply marketing. When you look at marketing through a growth lens, you’re thinking about the entire funnel: from awareness to activation, adoption, and retention. That perspective helps you build systems that produce desired outcomes by default.

Having a growth mindset means asking, “What happens next?” at every point. For example, when you send out this MIA issue. What happens next? You expect people to read.

What then happens? That they probably subscribe, or maybe it’s that they comment or share with others. What happens after that? That they join the community. Then what happens? That they pay for a resource

The journey is not always linear–people will jump steps or remain stuck on one step for too long. The most important thing is that you keep incentivizing people to take that next action

This is also why I don’t believe growth marketing should belong to just one person or team. Growth should be everyone’s responsibility. Whoever writes the copy, whoever designs the assets, whoever sets up the ads, should constantly think about the user journey and ask: What next?

It keeps you focused on moving people thoughtfully and effectively through the funnel from the first touchpoint to long-term engagement.

What are your key areas of expertise within marketing?

I’d describe myself as an M-shaped marketer, someone with depth in multiple areas but broad enough to collaborate across almost every part of marketing, which includes:

• Marketing Strategy & Growth - Growth Marketing, Product Marketing, Lifecycle Marketing, Go-To-Market (GTM) Strategy, Campaign Strategy, Demand Generation. This is where most of my depth lies, thinking end-to-end about the marketing funnel, from awareness to retention. I really enjoy mapping user journeys and spotting growth opportunities.

• Content & Brand Marketing - Content Strategy, Copywriting, Brand Positioning & Storytelling, Social Media Strategy, Community Building. Content was my entry into marketing, and it’s one of my strongest pillars. It made me understand how to tell stories that shape perception.

• Channel Marketing - I’ve also had hands-on experience managing channels and collaborations that strengthen brand presence across Email Marketing, Public Relations, Partnerships, Organic Social, and Events.

• Analytics & Insight-Driven Marketing - Data Interpretation, Funnel Analysis, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), A/B Testing.

Which marketing channels do you prioritize, and have you found to be effective?

Any channel that will help me stay green on my KPIs automatically becomes my priority. But over the course of my career in Content & Product, some of my holy grails are:

• Community-driven marketing. You’re able to meet your audience where they already are, whether that’s engaging where your target users are active and engaged or creating an owned community, from scratch by attracting the right people.

• Content (social, web, etc) has always been a key channel for me, and that probably comes from my background. When done right, content marketing compounds over time.

• Lastly, I’ve also had strong results with paid advertising, but I see ads as a scaling mechanism rather than a starting point. Paid campaigns work best when you already have something that’s performing organically.

What roles have you held in your growth and marketing career?

I began as a Content Writer and Strategist. From there, I worked as a Social Media Manager, and later as a Campaigns Manager. Over time, I transitioned into more specialized roles such as Content Marketer and Brand Storyteller. Eventually, my work evolved into Product Marketing and Growth Marketing. I’ve held roles like Product Marketing Manager and Product Growth Manager.

Which companies have you worked with?

• Koyo HealthTech – Koyo Health Tech – A UK-backed digital health technology company that connects people with qualified medical professionals. I currently serve as the Fractional Head of B2C Marketing, building our framework for user acquisition and retention.

• Fertitude – A reproductive health platform for women. Here, I led product growth and lifecycle marketing, helping scale user engagement and retention.

• Trameter – A travel-tech company helping travelers plan their trips in seconds. I led content marketing, building the creator program, and scaling content efforts.

• Zolt Digital – A digital storytelling agency, where I helped build a founder’s personal brand through content and community-led storytelling.

• Qilo – A health and wellness startup, I served as Brand Storyteller, launching campaigns and content that grew the community and drove sales.

• Uburu Health – A B2B healthtech company, where I managed social media for enterprise clients and helped shape the brand’s voice in the health data space.

• AIESEC in Nigeria – A leading youth-run organization. I was Marketing Campaigns Manager, leading large-scale campaigns that drove youth program participation across the country.

• SavofNs – A consulting agency. This is my first experience as a Content Writer and Communications Intern, where I learned the ropes of marketing, client operations, and community building.

Can you share a fun or interesting fact about yourself that most people don’t know?

I am very TYPE A in my approach to things. I can be high-strung and organized, especially when it has to do with my mind. I do masterminds weekly to help set the tone for the new week, I write a to-do list every day, I create saved folders for different things, etc. I’ve realised it’s the only way I can function. I may not stick to it always, but it gives me a sense of direction.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I honestly don’t have a lot of interests outside work. I host a community called Common Room. Every month, we gather to discuss our goals and plans and the challenges we’re facing on the journey, while offering support where needed.

Can you share a resource or template that has been particularly valuable in your work?

There’s a website I absolutely love - marketingexamples.com, it’s hands down one of the best resources out there for marketers. It’s run by Harry Dry, and what I really like about it is how practical and digestible everything is.

The site covers almost every aspect of marketing- conversion, acquisition, retention, referral, creative strategy, copywriting, and ads, but instead of long theoretical takes, it gives you real examples and mini case studies that you can actually apply. It’s the kind of resource you can read for five minutes and walk away with something actionable.

What advice would you give to someone starting their career in growth marketing?

The biggest advice I’d give is to start with the fundamentals. Before thinking about growth tactics or fancy job titles, take time to really understand the basics of marketing, things like behavioral psychology, research, storytelling, and data interpretation. Those core principles will shape everything you do, no matter which path you eventually take.

This would mean you’re wearing a generalist hat for a while, but it helps you stay curious. When you understand how all the moving parts of marketing connect, it becomes much easier to specialize later and move fluidly across roles. That foundational knowledge also makes you a stronger leader down the line. Titles will change, tools will evolve, but the principles of marketing (understanding people and how they make decisions) never go out of style.

Give us two marketers that you would like us to interview in this newsletter

• Yvonne Nezianya – Marketing Manager at XSITE Capital

• Oluwanisola Eludoyin

🎓 Learn like a T shaped marketer. Operate like a GTM engineer.

Join the 12-week, execution-first bootcamp built on frameworks, templates, and playbooks used by 2,000+ marketers and founders in real GTM teams. Learn product marketing, growth, lifecycle, performance, and applied AI by shipping real work, not watching theory.

Join the Bootcamp

If you have a recommendation for who we should be speaking to, or who you would like to see in this interview series, reply with their names, marketing specialty, and how we can reach them (LinkedIn, Email, Phone, Home address 🙂).

You already recommend products, tools, and opportunities to people around you, whether you realise it or not. It happens in everyday conversations, WhatsApp groups, LinkedIn messages, and even when someone casually asks you for advice about how to grow their career or improve their skills. The difference now is that you can earn from those recommendations—up to ₦480,000/month, or ₦5.76M/year.

Since we officially launched the MIA Academy in January, something interesting has been happening. People who went through the bootcamp started telling their friends about it. Alumni shared it in WhatsApp groups. Coaches recommended it to mentees. Community members dropped the link in conversations without anyone asking them to. We didn’t build a referral engine. The community built one for us.

The MIA Academy Affiliate Program is our way of making that worth their while. If you’ve been recommending MIA products to people, you can now earn 40% on every sale that comes through your link. This article breaks down how the program works, what you can earn, and how to get started.

The MIA Academy runs bootcamps where marketers build skills in product marketing, growth, GTM, and AI while working on real projects.

How the MIA academy affiliate program works

The structure is simple. You apply to the program, get a unique Selar affiliate link, and share it with your network. Every time someone buys an MIA Academy product through your link, you earn 40% commission.

The earnings process is also designed to be fast and transparent. Your commission lands in your Selar wallet the next day, so you are not waiting for 30 or 60 days before you can access your money. There is no minimum payout threshold, which means you can withdraw to your bank account whenever you want.

Your affiliate link is not limited to a single product. It covers every product available on the MIA Academy store, so you do not need to generate different links for different offers. One link gives you access to promote everything, and all your activity is tracked within one dashboard.

Selar’s affiliate system handles the tracking itself. Your dashboard shows clicks, views, conversions, and total earnings in real-time. You get an email notification on every sale. There is also a 180-day cookie window attached to your link. This means that if someone clicks your link today and decides to buy four months later, the system still attributes that sale to you, and you still earn your commission.

You can include it in a LinkedIn post where you talk about your experience. You can also share it in a conversation with someone who is looking to learn marketing. If you prefer a more visual guide, there is a video walkthrough available that explains the full setup process step by step.

The math: what you can actually earn

A single Pro Bootcamp referral earns you ₦30,000 in commission. Refer 10 people in a month and that is ₦300,000. Maintain that consistently over a year, and you are looking at ₦3.6 million from referrals alone.

That is the simple headline number, but the real opportunity becomes clearer when you look at the full product catalog. MIA Academy serves two main audiences, with two main offers.

• For marketers in tech, the Pro Bootcamp is ₦75,000. Every referral earns you ₦30,000.

• For business owners, the Online Marketing Bundle is ₦45,000. Every referral earns you ₦18,000.

Now, because of the 180-day cookie window, the content and links you share today can continue generating sales months later. Over time, this creates a compounding effect.

Check out the MIA Academy, where modern marketers learn applied product marketing, growth, GTM, and AI skills taught through real execution, feedback, and systems you can use at work.

Who this is for

This program is best for people who already have a relationship with their audience and can speak from a place of trust.

• MIA Academy alumni and past product buyers – You went through the programs. You know what they deliver. You can talk about specific modules, specific outcomes, and specific things you built during the bootcamp. That credibility converts better than any ad copy. If you bought a handbook and it helped you set up your own ads, you can speak to that with specificity that no promotional email can match.

• Career coaches, mentors, and educators – If you work with people who are trying to break into tech marketing, land remote roles, or build structured skills, MIA Academy products are a natural fit for your recommendations. The bootcamp produces 12 portfolio pieces. The self-paced courses come with handbooks. These are practical tools you can point people toward and know they’ll get something concrete out of it.

• Content creators in marketing, tech, remote work, or personal development – If your audience overlaps with people trying to grow their marketing careers, transition into tech, or build their business online, MIA products solve real problems for them. You’re already creating content in this space. The affiliate link lets you earn when your recommendations convert.

• MIA community members – If you’re in the WhatsApp group, the LinkedIn community, or you’ve been reading this newsletter for a while, you probably already know people who would benefit from the bootcamp or the handbooks. Now you can share with a tracked link and earn from it.

How to get started

The whole setup takes less than 10 minutes.

• Step 1: Apply. Fill out the affiliate application form. It takes 2 minutes. You’ll get confirmation within 24-48 hours.

• Step 2: Get your link. Once approved, you’ll receive your unique affiliate link via email from Selar. You can find it anytime at selar.com/me/affiliatelinks.

• Step 3: Set up your dashboard. Your Selar affiliate dashboard tracks everything. Set up your bank details immediately so there’s no delay when the first commission comes in.

• Step 4: Access the resource kit. The Google Drive folder has promotional copy, creative assets, product one-pagers, and promotion playbooks. You don’t have to write anything from scratch.

• Step 5: Join the affiliate WhatsApp group. This is where affiliates share tips, get updates on new products, and ask questions directly.

• Step 6: Make your first share. Pick the product that fits your audience best and post within 48 hours. The sooner you start, the sooner the 180-day cookie starts working for you.

How to promote without being spammy

The golden rule: lead with value, not the link. Tell a story. Share a problem the product solves. Be honest about who it’s for. People buy from people they trust.

The content types that convert best are personal stories (“here’s how I used this to land a remote marketing role”), honest reviews (“I went through the MIA bootcamp, here’s the good and the bad”), how-to content (teach one concept, then point to the full program), and comparison posts (“MIA Bootcamp vs. free YouTube learning: which is worth your time?”).

WhatsApp is the highest-converting channel for Nigerian affiliates. Broadcast lists segmented by interest, status updates 3-4x per week, mixing educational content with product mentions, and DM conversations where you share the link as a genuine recommendation when someone asks about courses or career transitions.

LinkedIn and Twitter/X work well for longer-form content. Write threads on marketing concepts or career transitions. Share lessons learned. Mention MIA products where they’re genuinely relevant. The newsletter link in your post helps, but the real conversion happens when your audience trusts that you’re recommending something you’ve actually used.

Instagram works for feed carousels, stories with polls or question stickers about marketing topics, and short Reels sharing a tip with “link in bio” at the end.

What you should never do: spam links in groups without context, make false income or job guarantees, cold-DM strangers with nothing but a product link, or bid on “MIA Academy” or “Marketing In Action” as paid ad keywords.

Why we built this

I built MIA with community input. Every bootcamp, handbook, and template was shaped by feedback from the people who used them. The affiliate program is the next step in that same direction: letting the community participate in MIA’s growth, not just its consumption.

The best growth channel for MIA Academy since January has not been ads, SEO, or content marketing. It has been people. Alumni who went through the programs and told their colleagues. Coaches who pointed mentees toward the bootcamp. Community members who shared the Selar link in WhatsApp groups.

None of them were paid to do it. They did it because they found value in the programs and wanted others to benefit too. The affiliate program formalizes that. It doesn’t change the behavior. It just makes the behavior worth something financially.

If you’ve been telling people about MIA Academy, now that recommendation pays. And the math is simple. Ten Bootcamp referrals is ₦300,000. Build that as a monthly habit and you’re looking at ₦3.6 million a year. Add a few bundle referrals and it grows from there.

Apply to the MIA Academy Affiliate Program and start earning from the recommendations you are already making.

📣 Share this with a founder or marketer on Twitter | LinkedIn | WhatsApp. It will only take 20 seconds.

MIA is trusted by 2,000+ marketers across Africa, the US, and Europe, helping you put marketing in action better, faster, and with context.

We’re building a village of marketers and founders who want to increase their odds of succeeding at marketing. You’re one of us. Share this newsletter with them.

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The MIA Academy runs bootcamps where marketers build skills in product marketing, growth, GTM, and AI while working on real projects. Learn more about the bootcamp here.

Can you tell us a bit about your background, education, and how you got into marketing?

I studied project management at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), and recently completed my master’s degree at the University of Lagos.

My marketing journey started unexpectedly when a friend introduced me to running ads for health products. I quickly discovered a genuine passion for creating landing pages, understanding audiences, crafting messages, and seeing measurable results. At the time, I was working as a station manager for Oando Retail, but by the end of 2019, I decided to pursue marketing full-time.

During the pandemic, I invested heavily in learning, taking digital marketing courses, and participating in the Digify Nigeria Bootcamp sponsored by Facebook, which gave me structure, confidence, and clarity in my career direction.

I began my professional marketing career at HT Limited, where I handled social media, paid ads, email marketing, website management, and strategy. Later, at Renmoney, I gained deep experience in digital marketing, media buying (OOH), performance marketing, and growth marketing, learning to combine creativity with data to drive campaigns that deliver measurable results.

👉🏽 Join the MIA Academy to learn product marketing, growth systems, GTM strategy, and AI workflows the practical way.

How do you define growth marketing?

For me, growth marketing is about driving sustainable business growth by combining experimentation, data, and a deep understanding of users. The best results happen when creativity and data intersect; data shows what works, while creativity uncovers new ways to amplify it.

I approach growth with a mindset of curiosity, agility, and relentless optimization: test fast, learn from failures, and scale what truly delivers value. To me, growth marketing isn’t just about channels or tactics; it’s about building systems and strategies that compound impact over time.

What are your key areas of expertise within marketing?

My expertise covers acquisition, engagement, and retention, where I combine strategy with hands-on execution across digital channels. I work across growth and product marketing, building funnels that turn attention into real results. My experience includes performance marketing on Meta, Google, TikTok, and programmatic platforms, alongside SEO, App Store Optimization (ASO), email and content marketing, and organic social.

I also focus on the fundamentals that improve performance, clear copywriting, conversion rate optimization, customer experience, and A/B testing. Behind the work is a strong grounding in behavioral psychology, branding and positioning, research, and data analytics, supported by tools like GTM, Google Analytics, Data Studio, AppsFlyer, and Adjust, as well as server-to-server tracking.

Which marketing channels do you prioritize, and have you found to be effective?

I’ve found that channel effectiveness depends on the business and marketing goal. For example, Meta and Google Ads work best for broad acquisition and intent-based conversions, while TikTok and organic social drive awareness and engagement. Email and lifecycle automation are most effective for retention and reactivation, and SEO/ASO consistently deliver long-term, cost-efficient growth.

Ultimately, I prioritize a data-driven, goal-aligned channel mix, focusing on the platform that best supports the desired funnel stage.

What roles have you held in your growth and marketing career?

I’ve worked across nearly every stage of the marketing function. My journey includes roles such as digital marketing executive, digital & performance marketer, growth marketer, performance marketing lead, digital marketing consultant, and, currently, marketing campaign manager.

This progression has allowed me to gain a 360° view of acquisition, activation, and retention, and develop both strategic and hands-on expertise across multiple industries.

Which companies have you worked with?

• PISI Mobile (B2B, AdTech/Advertising Technology) – A digital advertising and user acquisition platform serving banks, fintechs, betting, crypto, FMCG, and VAS brands. Worked on growth and acquisition campaigns, helping brands scale user acquisition through performance marketing and digital channels.

• OhentPay (B2C/B2B, Fintech/Remittance) – A cross-border payment app enabling Africans in the UK, particularly the Nigerian diaspora, to send money to Africa. Supported marketing efforts focused on driving adoption and growth among diaspora users.

• Renmoney (B2C, Fintech/Lending) – A Nigerian financial services company providing consumer and business loans, savings, and other financial products to salary earners, micro-business owners, and SMEs. Worked on digital marketing, media buying, and performance-driven campaigns to support customer acquisition and growth.

• All Talentz for PuroClean USA (B2B, Outsourcing/Digital Marketing) – Provided outsourced digital marketing support for property restoration brands in the U.S., targeting local restoration business owners and helping drive lead generation through digital channels.

• HT Limited (B2B, IT Solutions/Technology Distribution) – A technology solutions company providing IT hardware, enterprise support, and business technology services to organizations. Handled social media, paid advertising, email marketing, website management, and overall digital marketing strategy.

Can you share a fun or interesting fact about yourself that most people don’t know?

A fun fact about me, I can’t start my day without listening to music. It sets the tone for everything else. Also, I’m not one of those early adopters; I like to wait and see how new products or trends perform before using them.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Outside of work, I enjoy photography, and I’m part of my church’s media team, where I get to capture meaningful moments and tell visual stories. I also love relaxing with a good movie or watching football matches.

Can you share a resource or template that has been particularly valuable in your work?

One resource that’s been particularly valuable in my work is a UTM Tracker Sheet I created to monitor campaign performance across channels with precision. It helps standardize link tagging, improve attribution accuracy, and simplify reporting.

I also built a Performance Marketing Budget Sheet that tracks spend, CPA, ROAS, and pacing across multiple campaigns, making it easier to manage budgets.

What advice would you give to someone starting their career in growth marketing?

My advice for someone starting in growth marketing would be:

• Master the fundamentals first – Understand core marketing principles, data analytics, and customer behavior before diving into tools or channels.

• Experiment constantly – Growth marketing is about testing and learning. Run small experiments, measure results, and iterate quickly.

• Be data-driven – Track everything, analyze results, and let numbers guide decisions rather than assumptions.

• Stay curious and adaptable – The landscape changes rapidly. Continuous learning and agility are key to staying ahead

A strong mindset combined with hands-on experimentation is what separates good marketers from great growth marketers.

Give us two marketers that you would like us to interview in this newsletter

• Segun Adebanjo – Digital Marketing Lead at All Talentz

• Elizabeth Ogunseye – Product and Lifecycle Marketing Manager at Sterling Bank

🎓 Learn like a T shaped marketer. Operate like a GTM engineer.

Join the 12-week, execution-first bootcamp built on frameworks, templates, and playbooks used by 2,000+ marketers and founders in real GTM teams. Learn product marketing, growth, lifecycle, performance, and applied AI by shipping real work, not watching theory.

Join the Bootcamp

If you have a recommendation for who we should be speaking to, or who you would like to see in this interview series, reply with their names, marketing specialty, and how we can reach them (LinkedIn, Email, Phone, Home address 🙂).

I built a set of marketing agent skills for Claude based on how I actually do product marketing, GTM strategy, and growth work.

See demo:

Each skill is designed to help Claude reason like a marketer. It analyzes context, clarifies positioning, breaks down decisions, and produces outputs you can actually use, from strategy to execution.

Get the skills on GitHub: https://github.com/realjaymes/marketingagentskills

I am currently experimenting with vibe coding, and this is one of the projects I’m building with that knowledge.

This repo is the Claude skills version of the MIA Resources I have developed:

• Product Marketing Templates & Resources Library: 50+ Product & Growth Marketing templates, frameworks, and resources to execute marketing with clarity.

• AI Prompt Frameworks & Templates for Marketers: 50+ frameworks and templates that marketers and founders use to produce consistent, high-quality outputs from AI tools like ChatGPT Projects, Claude Projects, Gemini Gems, Custom GPTs & OpenAI Assistants.

The problem that agent skills solve is that every new ChatGPT/Claude project or custom GPT currently forces you to start from scratch. You have to manually recreate prompts, reupload knowledge files, and re-explain context each time. When you switch from one AI tool to another, none of that logic carries over, so you end up doing fresh customization just to get back to a usable baseline.

Agent skills move that logic out of individual prompts and into reusable reasoning patterns. Instead of rebuilding context per project or per tool, you define how the AI should think once and apply it across workflows, projects, and assistants. That makes AI setups more portable, more consistent, and far easier to maintain as your work becomes more technical.

These skills make it easier to unify and apply the knowledge and prompts from the knowledge files and custom GPTs/prompts. Get the skills on GitHub here.

PS: If you want to brush up on prompt engineering and custom GPTs, check out this workshop and recap article where I show you how to build AI workflows for ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude.

🔍 How to use this

The skills are grouped into two main areas:

1—Strategy & GTM Thinking Skills

Use these when you need clarity before execution.

Examples include: product positioning, product messaging, product launch and GTM, marketing ideas, product ideas, landing pages and SaaS pages, ICP and customer segmentation, case studies, experimentation, performance marketing, and lifecycle marketing campaigns.

2—Execution & Optimization Skills

Use these to turn decisions into action.

This includes: outbound GTM with Clay, workflow automation with n8n and OpenClaw, AI humanization, and vibe-coding marketing agents.

For every skill, Claude can:

• Analyze your situation and assumptions

• Ask the right clarifying questions

• Generate structured outputs you can directly apply

• Adapt recommendations based on your stage, market, and constraints

🧭 Why this exists

I created this for marketers like me who are getting their hands dirty with the technical side. People exploring GTM engineering, vibecoding workflows, and using AI to actually build, not just brainstorm.

If you have feedback or think there’s a skill that should be included, drop me a note on Twitter/X or LinkedIn.

The MIA WhatsApp Community is open. It’s where marketers like you network, share insights, give feedback, and gossip (what’s trending).

Also, don’t forget to check out the MIA Academy, where modern marketers learn applied product marketing, growth, GTM, and AI skills taught through real execution, feedback, and systems you can use at work.

We’re building an Annual Tech Events Calendar in Notion that helps you find the most relevant tech, startup, marketing, and ecosystem events across Africa, with room to expand across the globe over time.

This calendar gives you one source of truth for what’s happening each year, where it’s happening, and how to attend.

Many of these events are partnered with MIA, which means community members can get 10% to 20% ticket discounts when available.

🔍 How to use this

You can:

• Browse events by month, city, and country.

• Filter by event type (conference, summit, expo, festival).

• Find the registration link fast, without digging through old tabs.

• See where discounts apply, and what code to use (when available).

🧭 Why this exists

I created this for MIA subscribers and fellow marketing enthusiasts who—like me—are always looking to attend events for learning, relationships, and career momentum. The problem is discovery is scattered, and planning is messy.

This calendar turns event discovery into a simple system you can reuse every year.

If there’s an event you think should be included, drop me a note with the link and city. I’ll verify it and add it to the calendar.

The MIA WhatsApp Community is open. It’s where marketers like you network, share insights, give feedback, and gossip (what’s trending).

Also, don’t forget to check out the MIA Academy, where modern marketers learn applied product marketing, growth, GTM, and AI skills taught through real execution, feedback, and systems you can use at work.

When I started publishing newsletters, templates, and resources on marketing, I wasn’t trying to build a school. I just wanted to document how I worked, share what I was learning, and make execution feel less mysterious for people coming up behind me.

Over time, a pattern became impossible to ignore. After almost every framework or deep dive, I’d get messages that sounded encouraging on the surface, then quietly revealing underneath. People told me the content helped them think more clearly. They said things finally clicked. Then came the follow-up.

“I get this now, but I still don’t know how to actually do the work.”

These weren’t beginners. Many had taken courses, followed the right people, and spent years consuming marketing content. What they lacked wasn’t intelligence or motivation. It was structure, repetition, feedback, and exposure to how real product and growth marketing actually runs day to day.

For a long time, I didn’t have the time to fix that gap. Now, I’m choosing to. This is why MIA Academy exists.

👉🏽 Join the MIA Academy WhatsApp Community, where modern marketers build real product, growth, and go-to-market skills through hands-on execution.

Product & Growth Marketing with AI Bootcamp

I’m running a 13-week program: Product & Growth Marketing with AI Bootcamp for Modern Marketers.

It’s a structured, end-to-end training experience designed to build real execution skill across product marketing, growth, lifecycle, GTM, and applied AI workflows.

This is not a course where you watch videos and feel smarter.

You will produce work. You will build artifacts. You will practice how modern marketing is done in real teams, with constraints, trade-offs, and feedback loops that force you to improve.

Here’s what you get inside the bootcamp:

• 50+ expert-vetted templates and frameworks you’ll use to execute real deliverables

• 40+ custom GPTs and AI-assisted marketing systems that speed up research, planning, writing, and optimization

• A clear structure across modules, lessons, and portfolio-style assessments

• Weekly live Q&A and ongoing async support

• A final deliverable that looks like a real portfolio, not a certificate

If you’ve ever said, “I understand this, but I still can’t do it,” this bootcamp is built for that exact gap.

Why this bootcamp is different from everything else out there

Most marketing programs are designed to scale content, not capability. They optimize for how many people can enroll, not how many people can actually execute by the end.

This bootcamp is intentionally the opposite.

I’m personally handling it because the outcome I care about cannot be delegated. The goal is not exposure to ideas. It’s competence. Judgment. The ability to take a messy brief, limited context, and real constraints, then produce work that holds up in the real world.

If you’re expecting a light-touch course you can breeze through on weekends, this won’t be a good fit (there are other self-paced programs for that). This is closer to how you’d learn inside a demanding team, except with clearer structure and tighter feedback loops.

What I’m actually teaching in this bootcamp

The focus is Product & Growth Marketing with AI, but not as separate disciplines.

In real teams, these things overlap constantly. Positioning affects acquisition. Activation shapes lifecycle. GTM decisions constrain growth experiments. AI sits inside all of it, whether teams admit it or not.

This bootcamp brings those pieces together into one execution system.

You’ll work through:

• Product marketing fundamentals that lead to real deliverables, not slide decks

• Growth strategy and experimentation that connects to funnels and outcomes

• GTM planning that reflects how launches, campaigns, and positioning actually happen

• Applied AI workflows that speed up research, planning, writing, and analysis, without replacing judgment

Everything is taught through the lens of doing the work. If it doesn’t lead to an artifact you can point to, it doesn’t belong here.

What you’ll produce by the end

This is the part most people care about, and the part most programs avoid being specific about.

By the end of the bootcamp, you won’t just “understand” product and growth marketing. You’ll have a portfolio of execution artifacts that show how you think and how you work.

That includes:

• Structured strategy documents you can walk through confidently

• Clear positioning and messaging outputs tied to real scenarios

• GTM plans that reflect prioritization, not guesswork

• Growth experiment designs with hypotheses, metrics, and learnings

• AI-assisted workflows you can reuse at work, not one-off prompts

All of this lives in a single, organized body of work. Something you can share with a hiring manager, a founder, or a team and say, “Here’s how I approach this.”

How the bootcamp actually runs

The structure is demanding by design.

The bootcamp runs for 13 weeks, with an expected commitment of about 2 hours per day. Some days will take less. Others will stretch you. That’s intentional.

You’ll move through:

• Recorded lessons to set context and frameworks

• Practical exercises that force application, not reflection

• Portfolio-style assessments that build on each other

• Weekly live Q&A and asynchronous feedback

• Ongoing access to templates, frameworks, and AI systems

You’re not learning in isolation. You’ll be sharing work, getting feedback, revising it, and improving it in public with people at a similar stage.

That loop is where most of the growth happens.

Does this kind of training make sense for you right now?

Leave a comment

Why AI is built into the work, not bolted on

AI is already changing what “good marketing work” looks like. Ignoring it doesn’t protect you. It just puts you behind.

In this bootcamp, AI is treated as a force multiplier, not a shortcut.

You’ll learn:

• Where AI genuinely saves time

• Where it introduces risk or shallow thinking

• How to design workflows that combine human judgment with automation

• How to avoid sounding generic while moving faster

The goal is not to turn you into a prompt collector. It’s to help you build systems you can rely on under pressure.

Internships and real opportunities are part of the equation

I’m committing to taking on a small number of interns from the highest-performing graduates of this bootcamp.

That’s not a marketing promise. It’s a filter.

People who show up consistently, do the work properly, and demonstrate strong execution will be considered for:

• Internship opportunities

• Ongoing collaboration

• Referrals and roles surfaced through MIA Jobs, which prioritizes proof of work over resumes

This is why the bar is high. Output matters here.

Who this bootcamp is for, and who it isn’t

This bootcamp is a good fit if:

• You’ve learned marketing concepts but struggle to execute end to end

• You want proof of work, not just certificates

• You’re willing to commit time and effort consistently

• You want direct exposure to how real product and growth work gets done

It’s not a good fit if:

• You want something passive or lightweight (there are other self-paced programs for that)

• You’re looking for motivation more than structure

• You don’t have the time to apply what you learn

Selectivity matters, because the experience depends on everyone taking the work seriously.

How to get in

There’s a short assessment you can take to determine fit. Based on your score, you may qualify for:

• A full scholarship

• Or a 40% discount on tuition

You can take the quiz here.

If you already know someone who would benefit from this kind of execution-focused training, share it with them. The right people tend to find their way in through referrals.

📣 Share this with a founder or marketer on Twitter | LinkedIn | WhatsApp. It will only take 20 seconds.

MIA is trusted by 2,000+ marketers across Africa, the US, and Europe, helping you put marketing in action better, faster, and with context.

We’re building a village of marketers and founders who want to increase their odds of succeeding at marketing. You’re one of us. Share this newsletter with them.

Most of my marketing career has been spent figuring things out alone.

I’ve been the first hire or solo marketer at multiple startups, and responsible for building the entire marketing function from scratch. Strategy, metrics, budgets, hiring plans, and execution playbooks for everything from SEO and content to paid ads, events, and lifecycle programs. Every decision had real consequences.

The only way I could keep up was by obsessively documenting what worked. I studied how senior marketers approached similar problems, learned from frameworks shared by people like Brian Balfour, Emily Kramer, and Julian Shapiro, and translated those ideas into systems I could actually use. Over time, those systems became my own playbooks, which eventually turned into the MIA newsletter.

For many people, those frameworks are enough to move forward. For others, depending on where they are in their careers, something else is needed. Practice. Feedback. Repetition. Context.

MIA Academy was built to support marketers to fill that missing layer. MIA Academy exists, to help marketers move from consuming ideas to building real, reusable skills through hands-on execution.

👉🏽 Join the MIA Academy WhatsApp Community, where modern marketers build real product, growth, and go-to-market skills through hands-on execution.

Learning marketing is not the same as being able to do the work

Learning marketing has never been easier.

There are courses, threads, playbooks, podcasts, and frameworks for almost every problem you can think of. You can learn positioning, growth loops, lifecycle marketing, and GTM strategy without leaving your desk. That access is valuable and it works.

But understanding something and being able to execute it under real constraints are not the same skill.

Real work is messy. Budgets are tight. Timelines are unrealistic. Stakeholders disagree. Data is incomplete. And most of the time, there’s no clear “right answer.” You’re making trade-offs with imperfect information and living with the consequences.

This is where many marketers feel the gap. Not because they don’t know what good looks like, but because knowing doesn’t automatically translate into confident action when the context shifts.

What changes as you move from beginner to operator to owner

Learning needs change as your responsibilities change.

As a beginner, the biggest challenge is orientation. You’re trying to understand how marketing works at all. What channels exist. How strategy connects to execution. What good output looks like. At this stage, structure and examples matter most.

As an operator, the challenge shifts. You know the basics, but now you’re accountable for outcomes. You’re expected to make decisions, prioritize work, and explain your reasoning. The same framework you once studied now needs to be applied to a specific situation with real constraints.

As an owner, whether you’re a founder or a GTM lead, the problem becomes system design. You’re no longer just executing. You’re deciding how work gets done, how teams operate, and how success is measured. You need judgment more than instructions.

The mistake most learning products make is treating these stages as the same. MIA Academy is built on the assumption that they are not.

Frameworks give direction, but practice builds judgment

Frameworks matter. They help you avoid obvious mistakes. They give you language to reason about problems. They create a shared mental model across teams.

But frameworks alone don’t build judgment.

Judgment comes from applying those frameworks repeatedly. Seeing what works, what breaks, and why. Learning how context changes outcomes. Understanding when to follow the framework closely and when to bend it.

This is why two people can study the same material and end up with very different results. One has reps. The other doesn’t yet.

The MIA newsletter and templates provide direction. For many people, that’s enough to move forward. For others, especially at transition points in their careers, direction needs to be paired with practice and feedback.

The missing layer is not more information

When people feel stuck, the instinct is often to look for more content.

Another course. Another framework. Another explanation.

But the missing layer is rarely information. It’s the conditions required to turn information into skill.

Those conditions are simple, but hard to recreate alone:

• Practice on realistic problems

• Feedback from people who’ve done the work

• Repetition across different scenarios

• Exposure to how decisions are made, not just the outcomes

Without these, learning stays theoretical, even when it’s well understood.

Where do you feel most stuck in execution?

Leave a comment

Choosing the right learning path based on where you are now

MIA Academy exists for the moments when someone realizes they need more structure around execution. When they want guided practice. When they want feedback. When they want to build confidence by doing the work, not just understanding it.

Different stages require different layers. The Academy adds the execution layer for those who need it.

Not everyone needs the same level of support.

Some people benefit most from self-paced courses and handbooks that help them build fundamentals. Others need live environments where they can apply frameworks, get feedback, and refine their thinking in real time. Some need ready-to-use templates and AI workflows they can plug directly into their work.

MIA Academy is structured around these differences. You choose the learning path that matches your current stage, not where you think you “should” be.

There’s no single correct entry point. Only the one that fits where you are now.

From learning to opportunity: how execution becomes proof of work

The final shift happens when execution turns into evidence.

When you’ve applied frameworks to real scenarios, built artifacts, and worked through trade-offs, you don’t just have knowledge. You have proof of work. Things you can explain, defend, and reuse.

This is where learning connects to opportunity.

MIA Academy is designed as a learning-to-career system. As people build execution skill, they also build visible proof of competence. That proof becomes leverage for better roles, better decisions, and better outcomes. Through MIA Jobs, that execution signal connects directly to founders and teams looking for people who can actually do the work.

That’s the full loop. Learn. Apply. Document. Repeat. Then turn execution into opportunity.

Join the MIA Academy

If you’re unsure whether to begin with a bootcamp, a self-paced course, or a resource library, you don’t have to guess.

Answer a short set of questions about your role, experience, and goals. Based on your responses, you’ll get a clear recommendation on which MIA Academy program fits you best right now.

Take the 3-minute quiz and get your recommended learning path.

📣 Share this with a founder or marketer on Twitter | LinkedIn | WhatsApp. It will only take 20 seconds.

MIA is trusted by 2,000+ marketers across Africa, the US, and Europe, helping you put marketing in action better, faster, and with context.

We’re building a village of marketers and founders who want to increase their odds of succeeding at marketing. You’re one of us. Share this newsletter with them.

Share Marketing In Action

I launched MIA as a newsletter in May 2024, and it was born out of my own frustrations. In the last 7+ years, I’ve been the first marketing hire (or solo marketer) at nine different startups. When you’re in this position, the responsibility falls entirely on you to build everything from scratch:

• Setting up the marketing function and strategy

• Defining OKRs and success metrics

• Establishing budgets for campaigns

• Outlining team roles and hiring needs

• Creating execution playbooks for marketing projects and tasks e.g. landing pages, paid ads, events (physical and virtual), co-marketing, SEO, content, lifecycle marketing, etc.

The way I navigated this was by leaning heavily on documentation and research. I studied how senior marketers before me had solved similar challenges, and I built on their systems and models. Early in my career, I relied a lot on templates from HubSpot, and as I grew in marketing, I began learning from advanced frameworks shared by leaders like Brian Balfour, Emily Kramer, and Julian Shapiro.

Over time, I combined these influences into my own custom playbooks and resources, which eventually led to launching the Marketing In Action (MIA) Newsletter. Today, MIA is everything you need to put marketing into action—templates, frameworks, community, data, insights, case studies, ideas, martech and GTM tools, with the MIA Academy to build real product, growth, and go-to-market skills through hands-on execution.

The lesson here is that documentation is leverage. When you take the time to capture what you’re learning—whether through notes, templates, or frameworks—you’re not just solving problems for yourself, you’re creating resources you (and others) can reuse and improve over time.

Sharing that documentation is equally powerful. It turns individual lessons into collective knowledge, builds trust within communities, and often opens doors you didn’t even know existed. That’s why I started Marketing In Action—to move from just “figuring things out” to building a community of knowledge that others can learn from too.

What went well this year?

We’ve seen a lot of growth.

Here are some of the wins we recorded in 2025:

1,000+ active subscribers and 37.6k views.

To picture this visually, this is what 1,000 people look like. A packed theater, with no empty seats.

We have readership across 86 countries, primarily Nigeria (46%), United States (32%), United Kingdom (5%), India, Canada, Ireland, Germany, and other global markets (22%).

Our audience is spread across 7 regions; Africa, North America, Europe, Asia, South America, Oceania, Caribbean & Central America.

200 engaged community members on WhatsApp

After much deliberation considering options like LinkedIn Groups, Slack, and Telegram, we launched a WhatsApp Community. It’s where we share, learn, network and gossip.

Published 41 newsletter issues.

Specifically, we published 12 interviews with marketers, 5 marketing playbooks, 8 marketing case studies, 10 product showcases, and 4 podcasts.

These were some of the best reads:

https://www.marketinginaction.x

It turns out that you really love our growth case studies.

2.9 average search position, 10 domain rating, 124 backlinks, 39 referring domains.

Our work earned us referrals, recommendations, backlinks, a few collaborations, and press mentions, all of which helped boost our search rankings and backlink profile.

We’ve launched the MIA Academy.

MIA Academy is where modern marketers build real product, growth, and go-to-market skills through hands-on execution. What we’re trying to accomplish with the academy is simple: Reduce the gap between learning marketing and doing marketing.

If you’re ready for this kind of intense, execution-focused experience—or know someone who is—please share this with them. There’s a short quiz to take right now for a chance to get a full scholarship to the MIA Academy program!

The first cohort starts on February 2, 2026.

Join the Bootcamp!

We hosted our first event.

I delivered a virtual workshop on building prompt systems, human-sounding AI writing, and real GTM use cases for marketers and founders. You can read and watch the replay here.

Collaborated with 2 brand sponsors.

A few brands reached out to feature on our Product Showcase series, as they were looking for high-quality, long-form product reviews with an engaged audience. They left us with glowing reviews.

If you want to collaborate or feature your product in this newsletter and within our community channels, check out our media kit, and shoot me an email.

What didn’t go so well this year?

I don’t think we did half bad. The only thing we didn’t do this year was launch on Product Hunt, but that’s okay.

What next for MIA in 2026?

We’ll build on the existing momentum, and that also means:

Hosting MIA’s first Physical Event.

Marketing & Chill is going to be MIA’s signature community hangout where Africa’s most curious marketers, founders, and creators come together to connect, learn, and vibe in real life. The goal is to have the meetup in March. Register in advance. You will love it.

Publishing the State of Marketing in African Tech Report.

Marketers across Africa often struggle to find reliable data to benchmark their performance. We’re fixing that with a new multi-industry project—the State of Marketing in African Tech.

It will cover SaaS, FinTech, Web3, Healthtech, Edtech, HRtech, Agritech, Ecommerce, Energytech, Marketplaces, Entertainment Tech, Creators, and Agencies.

If you work in any African tech industry, take the 5-minute survey here.

Launching more tools, templates and resources.

We’ll be launching a number of resources, including: AI Tools, Marketing Products, and Notion Templates. You’ll find all launches here.

As a valued member of the MIA community, you get 20% off all MIA handbooks and templates when you use the code: MIA Community.

Here are some of the products we’ve launched from the MIA Academy:

🧩 Product & Growth Marketing Templates & Resources

Get access to 50+ Product & Growth Marketing templates, frameworks, and resources to execute marketing with clarity. Get access here.

🤖 AI Prompt Frameworks & Templates for Marketers

Get the frameworks and templates that 200+ marketers and founders use to produce consistent, high-quality outputs from AI. Prompting engineering techniques for every AI tool and platform.

📘 Growth Marketing Handbook for Growth Marketers

Master Growth Marketing across AARRR metrics, ads, onboarding, content, and more with the Complete Growth Marketing Handbook.

Thank you for being part of this journey—reading, sharing, and supporting Marketing In Action.

Wishing you a Happy New Year!

—James

Most marketers did the same thing when ChatGPT went mainstream. We opened a new chat, typed a generic input, and hoped magic would happen. Sometimes it did. Most times, it spat out something that sounded polished, confident, and painfully generic. The problem was never that AI “couldn’t write.” The problem was that we treated a system like a one-off trick.

In this live MIA workshop, I walked through how I moved from vibes-based prompting to building proper prompt systems. We talked about communication basics, the five ingredients of a strong prompt, and why “garbage in, garbage out” still applies when your interface talks back in full paragraphs. Then we layered on the nine-step prompt framework, agent flows that think in sequences, and real examples from positioning, messaging, and landing page projects. If you want AI to sound more like you and less like AI, this session is for you.

Full recap here:

Key Takeaways

1. Prompt engineering is communication, not magic

Most marketers do not have a “prompt problem.” They have a communication problem. The output you get still follows the old rule: garbage in, garbage out.

In the workshop we reframed prompting as a simple communication exercise. Be explicit about what you want, who you are, who the audience is, and what “good” looks like.

When you treat prompts like briefs instead of wishes, your AI tools start behaving more like collaborators than slot machines.

2. Five ingredients make prompts more reliable

Good prompts share the same backbone.

• Clarity: clear task and outcome, not “help me with content.”

• Context: who you are, what you are working on, why it matters.

• Constraints: length limits, tone rules, “avoid this, do more of that.”

• Continuity: building on previous steps and chat history.

• Consistency: reusing structures and variables so you can move faster.

Once you start writing with these five in mind, you get less fluff, fewer hallucinations, and results that feel closer to your real voice.

3. Remove the “AI accent” from your writing

AI outputs often expose themselves with certain habits. Over-dramatic constructions. Awkward em dashes. Overused phrases that sound like a generic keynote.

In the session, we walked through common tells, then used an “AI writing humanizer” project to score and clean drafts.

The goal is not to hide that you used AI. The goal is to ship copy that feels like a person wrote it, with specific details, grounded examples, and simple sentence structures.

4. The 9-step prompt framework

Behind my 40+ custom GPTs is the same skeleton.

• Role: who the model should act as.

• Task: what it should do right now.

• Goal: the outcome you care about.

• Audience: who this is for.

• Style: tone, pacing, point of view.

• Constraints: word limits, no-go patterns, structure rules.

• Inputs and variables: fields you will keep swapping in and out.

• Example output: a sample that shows “this is what good looks like.”

• Formatting: headings, bullets, tables, or sections you want.

Once you set this up once, you can clone it for blog posts, landing pages, onboarding emails, and more.

5. Think in agent flows instead of single prompts

We also explored “agent mode,” where you stop asking for one-step outputs and start describing sequences.

For example: “research five competing SaaS launches, extract positioning angles, summarise patterns, then draft a launch blog post, LinkedIn post, and email”.

A good agent prompt thinks like a checklist. Research, summarise, create, refine. That mental shift turns AI from a writing assistant into an operations partner that can handle more of the grunt work.

6. Projects, custom GPTs, and assistants keep context alive

Instead of starting from zero every time, we walked through how to use projects, gems, and assistants to store your prompts and knowledge files.

In practice, that means: your brand docs, examples of “good” copy, and prompt frameworks all live in one place.

When you open that project, the model already understands your world. From there you can spin out custom GPTs for public use or connect assistants to tools like Clay, Notion, or internal dashboards through APIs.

7. Real GTM use cases make it stick

Frameworks only matter when they survive contact with real work. We applied everything to a startup called Komfot Health.

Using deep research, we pulled together customer insights, market context, and competitor analysis, then fed that into prompt projects for positioning, messaging, landing pages, lifecycle campaigns, and case studies.

The result was a full product marketing stack driven by AI but shaped by human judgment. You can run the same play for your own product with your own research.

8. Build your own prompt library, not just a folder of chats

Finally, we ended on process. Instead of scattered chats, build a prompt library: a simple index of your best frameworks, links to associated custom GPTs or projects, and examples for each use case.

Over time this turns into an internal “AI playbook” for your team. New hires do not start from scratch. Freelancers can plug into your system. And you spend more time refining prompts that already work than chasing new tricks every week.

Soundbites

1. “Your prompt is a brief, not a wish.”

2. “If your instructions are fuzzy, your AI will be too.”

3. “Most AI copy fails, not from bad models, but from lazy prompts.”

4. “Clarity, context, and constraints will outwork any clever phrase.”

5. “The nine-step prompt framework frees you from starting from zero.”

6. “Agents are just prompts that think in sequences instead of sentences.”

7. “Projects and custom GPTs are how you give AI a memory.”

8. “You can not fix bad positioning with a better prompt.”

9. “A good prompt library is a growth asset, not a nerdy side project.”

10. “AI should sound like you on your best writing day, not like a corporate blog.”

🧩 Get the full AI prompt library.

Get access to 40+ Custom GPTs and AI-assisted marketing systems that’ll help you get better results, every single time. Get access here.

If you want to collaborate or feature your product in this newsletter, check out our media kit, and shoot me an email.

MIA is trusted by 2,000+ marketers across Africa, the US, and Europe, helping you put marketing in action better, faster, and with context.

We’re building a village of marketers and founders who want to increase their odds of succeeding at marketing. You’re one of us. Share this newsletter with them.

Share Marketing In Action

The difference between getting “okay” results from AI and getting the work you’re actually proud to use usually comes down to one thing—the prompt you give it.

AI isn’t lazy; it mirrors your clarity. Without direction, even the smartest model behaves like that new intern who’s capable but wandering.

Over the past few months, I’ve been testing ways to fix that. I’ve built more than 40 AI workflows powered by prompt frameworks that now sit at the center of how I work. They help me automate real marketing tasks, including positioning, copy, GTM planning, and even competitor research, without losing tone or intent.

Everything I’ve learned lives inside one system: the AI Prompt Library, a complete playbook that marketers, founders, and operators can use to brief AI like a teammate, and not a tool.

In this issue, I’ll share the frameworks behind it: the 9-Step Prompt Framework, how Agent Mode changes the game, and why Prompt Variables make scaling effortless.

And if you’d rather see it in action, join the live webinar where I’ll build real workflows step-by-step. Attendees get the Free MIA Community Version of the AI Prompt Library to follow along.

👉🏽 Join the Marketing In Action WhatsApp Community, where MIA Newsletter subscribers network, and gossip (what’s trending).

Why your AI outputs sound generic

Most marketers think they have an “AI problem.” What they actually have is a briefing (prompting) problem.

AI can’t guess your context; it only reflects it. For instance, if your prompt says, “Write a blog post about our product,” you’ve given it zero insight into audience, tone, or goals. That’s why most outputs sound like bland press releases.

A good prompt has five elements:

• Clarity: Your request must be explicit and outcome-oriented.

• Context: AI needs to know who you are, what you do, and why you’re asking.

• Constraints: Give limits like word count, tone, style, audience, and examples.

• Continuity: Tie your prompt to previous steps or documents so AI builds on existing logic.

• Consistency: Use repeatable formats and variables.

If your prompt lacks any of these five elements, it doesn’t matter how good your model is; your output will drift. The best AI workflows start by turning messy requests into structured communication.

The 9-Step Prompt Framework

Once you understand the anatomy of a good prompt, you can apply this Universal Prompt Formula (a structured approach that forces clarity and repeatability).

It works like this:

• Role: Who the AI should act as.
  “Act as a senior B2B SaaS product marketer specializing in conversion copywriting.”

• Task: What it should do, step-by-step.
  “Write a 500-word blog post with a hook, three insights, and a call-to-action.”

• Goal: Why you want it done.
  “The goal is to educate SaaS founders about using AI workflows for marketing.”

• Audience: Who it’s speaking to.
  “Early-stage B2B SaaS founders and growth operators.”

• Style & Tone: How it should sound.
  “Conversational, analytical, and story-driven, like Marketing In Action.”

• Constraints: What to avoid or limit.
  “No generic phrasing, avoid ‘next-gen,’ keep it under 600 words.”

• Inputs & Variables: What changes each time.
  [product name], [feature], [benefit], [target persona], [goal]

• Example Output: Show what “good” looks like.

• Formatting: Tell it how to present results.
  “Use markdown headers and short paragraphs.”

Think of this as your blueprint for every great prompt. Each component tells the AI exactly what it needs to do, why it matters, and how it should think.

The full AI Prompt Library goes for a small price, but I pulled out a few pages from the 40+ templates and workflows so you don’t miss out completely. Consider it my way of saying thanks for reading—you can download it here for free.

Agent Mode: when AI starts to think like a strategist

Modern models like ChatGPT, Gemini, GitHub Copilot, Lovable, Cursor, Bolt, Windsurf, V0, Smol Developer, Replit Agent, and Claude can now run in Agent Mode, meaning they can plan, execute, and iterate across multiple steps.

That means AI doesn’t just write; it can::

• Research competitors

• Build messaging frameworks

• Generate and rank ideas

• Produce and format outputs automatically

Some of my favorite use cases from the AI Prompt Library include:

• Competitive Analysis Agent: Benchmarks your product against competitors.

• ICP Persona Agent: Builds detailed audience profiles and pain points.

• GTM Content Agent: Produces a LinkedIn post, blog, and email sequence from one input.

• Outbound Stack Research Agent: Finds and compares martech tools for campaigns.

Agent Mode turns AI from a note-taker into a strategist, the kind of teammate who remembers context and acts on it.

Prompt variables: the secret to reusable prompts

Most people write a new prompt every time they start a project, which is unnecessary. Prompt Variables make your prompts modular, allowing you to reuse the same framework for different products, audiences, or campaigns.

Variables are placeholders inside prompts, like [product], [feature], [audience], [benefit], [category]. They make prompts modular and scalable.

For instance:

“Act as a senior [industry] marketer. Create a [content type] for [target audience] highlighting [key benefit] of [product name]. Goal: [objective].”

Instead of writing ten prompts for ten products, you just swap the variables and the system adapts instantly.

What workflow should I build live in the webinar?

Leave a comment

ChatGPT Projects, Claude Projects, Gemini Gems & Custom GPTs

The secret to scaling AI isn’t more tools, it’s integration. Once your prompts are structured, you can plug them into AI platforms that act as workspaces or operators.

I use this exact framework inside:

• ChatGPT/Claude Projects: Create dedicated workspaces where all prompts, context, and results are stored in one project, perfect for long-term campaigns, and shareable with your team.

• Gemini Gems: Assign structured prompt “gems” that you can reuse across chats. Works like ChatGPT projects.

• Custom GPTs: Build private or public versions of ChatGPT trained on your product, website, or documentation, so it knows your context automatically.

• OpenAI Assistants API: Connect your prompt systems to tools like Zapier, Notion, or Airtable for full automation (idea → generation → storage → execution).

This is how AI stops being a “cool assistant” and becomes an operator inside your marketing engine.

I’ll be hosting a live webinar this November where I’ll show you how to build real AI workflows using these same frameworks and templates, including how I’ve built 40+ Custom GPTs, Claude Projects, and Gemini workflows.

Don’t miss it. Register here.

If you missed the webinar, you have two options (choose one, or both):

1—Watch the full recap

2—Read the event recap article

Prompting is the new marketing literacy

Forget “learning AI.” The real skill is briefing it properly. AI isn’t replacing marketers; it’s promoting the ones who can translate strategy into structure.

Within five years, prompting will be as normal as writing a campaign brief or optimizing a landing page, and the marketers who’ll thrive won’t be the loudest; they’ll be the most systematic.

Start building your library today.

📣 Share this with a founder or marketer on Twitter | LinkedIn | WhatsApp. It takes me 20 hours to write this. Sharing will only take 20 seconds.

🧩 Get the full AI prompt library.

Get access to 40+ Custom GPTs and AI-assisted marketing systems that’ll help you get better results, every single time. Get access here.

TL: DR

Get a PDF summary of this article here.

1. AI isn’t creative magic—it’s structured delegation.

2. The 9-Step Prompt Framework helps you brief AI like a senior marketer.

3. Every prompt should define role, task, audience, goal, and format.

4. Turn prompts into reusable frameworks with variables.

5. Use templates for positioning, messaging, GTM, and copywriting.

6. Operationalize your prompt systems in ChatGPT, Notion, and Zapier.

7. Build “Custom GPTs” that behave like trained interns.

8. A good prompt balances clarity, context, constraints, continuity, and consistency.

9. AI doesn’t replace marketers—it multiplies the good ones.

10. Join the live webinar to see how I build 40+ AI workflows.

Was this helpful? Hit that ❤️ and let me know your thoughts in the comments! Want to see more of this content? Restack this post (if you’re on Substack) and share it with your friends!

You might find these interesting:

• AI Prompt Frameworks & Templates for Marketers – Free MIA Community Version

• MIA Webinar – AI Prompt Frameworks & Templates for Marketers

• Open AI Academy’s ChatGPT for Marketing – Learn ChatGPT use cases and prompts for marketing teams.

Product & Partner Recommendations:

• Titaja – TITAJA is an on-demand subscription-based product marketing service (PMaaS) helping product-led, SaaS, and B2B companies unlock growth at every stage of the customer lifecycle, with GTM strategy, positioning, messaging, and demand generation.

• James Praise – I help founders of B2B SaaS startups drive product marketing strategy and execution across every stage—positioning, messaging, landing pages, GTM, product launches, lifecycle programs, and growth experiments.

• Clay – Clay combines 50+ data providers, real-time scraping, AI, and outbound workflows, so you can send automated, 1-1 personalized campaigns (and book more meetings than your sales team).

• Testimonial – Testimonial makes it easy to collect text and video testimonials from your customers in minutes, with no need for a developer or website hosting.

• Riverside – Riverside makes it easy to record remote podcasts and video interviews that look and sound like they were recorded in a million-dollar studio.

If you want to collaborate or feature your product in this newsletter, check out our media kit, and shoot me an email.

MIA is trusted by 2,000+ marketers across Africa, the US, and Europe, helping you put marketing in action better, faster, and with context.

We’re building a village of marketers and founders who want to increase their odds of succeeding at marketing. You’re one of us. Share this newsletter with them.

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Welcome to the fifth episode of the Marketing In Action podcast.

Every startup wants growth, but not every team knows how to make it predictable.

In this episode, we break down a 10-step system for building a growth process that’s not just reactive, but repeatable. From identifying your growth levers to testing ideas through data and intuition, this framework shows how to move from random wins to measurable, scalable results.

Whether you’re a founder trying to find traction or a marketer aiming to build a growth engine that works across channels, this episode is your blueprint.

Read the full article here:

Key Takeaways

1. Growth isn’t a hack – it’s a process. The most successful teams build systems that are measurable, testable, and scalable.

2. Start with your levers – Acquisition, retention, and activation are your growth levers. Each one needs clear objectives and metrics.

3. Data isn’t just numbers – True growth analysis combines quantitative data, qualitative feedback, and intuition.

4. Prioritize with clarity – Use the ICE framework—Impact, Confidence, Effort to rank ideas before testing.

5. Test small, scale fast – Run experiments, document what works, and either productize or playbook your successful tactics for consistency.

6. Build to last – Growth isn’t about one-off campaigns, it’s about creating repeatable systems that compound over time.

Soundbites

“Growth isn’t magic—it’s math, method, and momentum.”

“If your process isn’t repeatable, your growth isn’t sustainable.”

“The ICE framework helps you stop chasing shiny ideas and start testing what truly moves the needle.”

“Data gives you direction, but intuition gives you insight; you need both.”

“The best growth marketers don’t chase trends. They build machines.”

​​What do you think?

Leave a comment

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I’ve launched over 15 products (and a lot more features) in my career, and here’s the truth: the hardest part isn’t execution—it’s deciding how big the launch should be. Go too big and you waste resources. Go too small and you waste opportunities.

What you need is a launch compass: something that helps you right-size your GTM effort and keep teams aligned. That’s why I created this Product Launch Plan + GTM Template. It gives you a simple matrix and checklist to size your launch, choose the right channels, and execute with clarity.

This template is part of the Premium MIA Resource & Template Library, available via annual subscription—50+ templates and frameworks designed to take the guesswork out of growth.

👉🏽 Join the Marketing In Action WhatsApp Community, where MIA Newsletter subscribers network, and gossip (what’s trending).

Not every product update is a launch

Most startups launch products the same way they cook noodles: fast, hot, and chaotic. Some launches get hyped up with PR, ads, and webinars—only to reveal a minor UI tweak. Other times, game-changing features slip quietly into release notes, completely ignored by customers and sales.

Both extremes are costly. Over-investing burns precious time and budget. Under-investing wastes opportunities to win new customers or deepen adoption.

The truth is: not every launch deserves the same effort. Without a system, teams either waste resources or miss impact. What you need is a framework that sizes launches by strategic importance—not by excitement levels.

The product launch matrix: how big should this launch be?

The template uses a 2x2 matrix to size launches across two axes:

• Customer Impact (Retention vs Acquisition)

• Market/Product Innovation (Market-matching vs Differentiated/Innovative)

From this, every launch falls into one of three priority tiers:

Priority #1 (High Innovation + Wins New Customers)

These are disruptive launches—entirely new products, category-defining features, or innovations no one else offers. They deserve full-funnel campaigns with sales, marketing, PR, and CS involved.

Priority #2 (Mixed Impact)

Either innovative features that help existing customers (deepening adoption) or market-matching features that close competitive gaps (helping win deals). These need focused, channel-specific launches—emails, blog posts, enablement, and targeted campaigns.

Priority #3 (Low Innovation + Retains Existing Customers)

Maintenance-level updates. Small UX fixes, backend improvements, parity features. Communicate lightly—help docs, in-app banners, maybe an email. Don’t overhype.

This simple classification helps you avoid the two big traps: making a small feature look like a revolution, or burying your breakthrough update as a footnote.

GTM channel plan: what to activate for each launch tier

Once you know your launch priority, the framework maps out which channels to activate:

Priority #1 Launches:

• Press release + launch event/webinar

• New landing pages, case studies, sales battlecards

• Paid campaigns (PPC, social, retargeting)

• Big customer campaigns and internal training

• Content blitz: blog posts, videos, social, POV vault

Priority #2 Launches:

• Blog post (use case-focused)

• Email campaigns (segmented lists)

• Sales enablement (battlecards, competitor comparisons)

• Partner campaigns & positioning refresh

• Webinars, demo videos, customer campaigns

Priority #3 Launches:

• Help docs, in-app message, or tooltip

• Small announcement email

• Update existing docs or webpages

• Internal note for sales & CS teams

Think of it as a menu—choose the right mix based on priority.

The full resources & template library is subscription-only, but I pulled this template out so you don’t have to miss out. Consider it my way of saying thanks for reading—you can download it here for free.

The launch task library

The template also comes with a full checklist of launch tasks across content, enablement, PR, and demand gen.

Examples:

• Docs & Content: Help docs, blog post, demo video, POV vault updates

• Campaigns: Email, YouTube walkthrough, PPC ads, social teasers, partner campaign

• Enablement: Sales battlecards, internal training, competitor comparisons

• PR & Customer: Press release, case studies, launch event, webinar, whitepaper

• Post-Launch: Analyze performance, optimize campaigns, document learnings

What’s the biggest launch mistake you’ve seen (or made)?

Leave a comment

Instead of “reinventing the launch wheel” every time, teams can run through this library and pick what’s relevant.

📣 Share this with a founder or marketer on Twitter | LinkedIn | WhatsApp. It takes me 20 hours to write this. Sharing will only take 20 seconds.

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TL: DR

Get a PDF summary of this article here.

1. Not every product update is a launch. Decide effort by impact, not excitement.

2. Use the Launch Matrix (impact vs innovation) to size launches into Priority 1–3.

3. Priority #1 = big, disruptive launches → full-funnel GTM push.

4. Priority #2 = targeted but important updates → enablement + focused campaigns.

5. Priority #3 = hygiene-level updates → docs, in-app comms, simple notes.

6. Align your launch size to business goals (acquisition vs retention).

7. Choose GTM channels like a menu—activate only what matches the launch tier.

8. Use the task library so you never miss critical steps (PR, enablement, follow-up).

9. Over-investing = wasted resources. Under-investing = wasted opportunities.

10. This template ensures consistency, alignment, and clarity across teams.

Was this helpful? Hit that ❤️ and let me know your thoughts in the comments! Want to see more of this content? Restack this post (if you’re on Substack) and share it with your friends!

You might find these interesting:

• MIA #06: How to Choose Customer Acquisition Channels – build a channel matrix so your growth isn’t left to chance.

• MIA #12: How to Prioritize and Run Growth Experiments – the framework for systematic testing and learning.

• April Dunford’s Positioning Guide – why positioning underpins every launch.

Product & Partner Recommendations:

• Titaja – TITAJA is an on-demand subscription-based product marketing service (PMaaS) helping product-led, SaaS, and B2B companies unlock growth at every stage of the customer lifecycle, with GTM strategy, positioning, messaging, and demand generation.

• James Praise – I help founders of B2B SaaS startups drive product marketing strategy and execution across every stage—positioning, messaging, landing pages, GTM, product launches, lifecycle programs, and growth experiments.

• Clay – Clay combines 50+ data providers, real-time scraping, AI, and outbound workflows, so you can send automated, 1-1 personalized campaigns (and book more meetings than your sales team).

• Testimonial – Testimonial makes it easy to collect text and video testimonials from your customers in minutes, with no need for a developer or website hosting.

• Riverside – Riverside makes it easy to record remote podcasts and video interviews that look and sound like they were recorded in a million-dollar studio.

If you want to collaborate or feature your product in this newsletter, check out our media kit, and shoot me an email.

MIA is trusted by 2,000+ marketers across Africa, the US, and Europe, helping you put marketing in action better, faster, and with context.

We’re building a village of marketers and founders who want to increase their odds of succeeding at marketing. You’re one of us. Share this newsletter with them.

Share Marketing In Action

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🚨 ICYMI: We’re building the African SaaS Marketing Report to provide benchmarks on growth, pricing, team structures, and marketing effectiveness for SaaS companies across Africa. See what the report looks like here.

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Can you tell us a bit about your background, education, and how you got into marketing?

I studied Civil Engineering at the University of Lagos, and I’m currently pursuing my MBA. I always knew engineering wasn’t my long-term path, but the real challenge was figuring out what was. My journey into marketing started back in university when a few friends and I launched a fashion brand. I took charge of the branding and marketing, and I did such a good job that people assumed the business was thriving, even though in reality, we weren’t making enough money to sustain it.

That experience lit a spark in me. I began to wonder: if I could make people believe in a brand that wasn’t even performing that well, what would happen if I actually learned how to do marketing right and drive real results?

That curiosity led me to growth marketing. I dabbled in social media management and even handled the marketing for a restaurant while still working in construction. Eventually, I came across a fintech startup doing work I admired, pitched myself to them, and offered to work for free. That risk paid off. It became a paid role and marked the true beginning of my career in marketing.

My first official marketing role in tech was in growth marketing, and that’s when everything clicked. It felt like finding “the one.” I finally decided to leave construction behind and go all in on marketing, and I haven’t looked back since.

👉🏽Join the Marketing In Action WhatsApp Community, where MIA Newsletter subscribers network, and gossip (what’s trending).

How do you define growth marketing?

To me, growth marketing is simply marketing done right.

It’s about focus, knowing the core metrics that matter (most times, revenue). Then comes data, you make decisions based on what’s actually happening. And finally, experimentation, because data only comes from trying things out, testing, learning, and improving.

In short, growth marketing is a cycle of focus → data → experimentation → growth. It’s a mindset, not just a tactic.

What are your key areas of expertise within marketing?

My core specialties include growth marketing, performance marketing, and product marketing. I’m skilled in running paid ad campaigns, lead generation, email marketing and automation, data and analytics, funnel building, and lifecycle marketing.

Which marketing channels do you prioritize, and have you found to be effective?

There’s no one-size-fits-all; it always depends on the product and the customer. That said, if I’m starting from scratch with less data, I’d focus on lead generation. It gives you insight into your audience and creates room for nurturing and learning.

Over time, the channels I’ve found crazy effective include: SEM/paid search, referrals and Community-led growth.

What roles have you held in your growth and marketing career?

I’ve grown through roles as a Growth Associate, Growth Manager, Digital Lead, and now Product Marketing Manager.

Which companies have you worked with?

• Engineering for Marketers – This is my personal publication where I break down the technical side of marketing, like tracking, automation, analytics, and performance, for marketers who want to build a technical edge.

• Selar – Product marketing manager. I currently lead Product and Performance Marketing at Selar, a digital commerce platform that enables creators to sell digital products, such as courses, e-books, and tickets. It operates a B2B2C SaaS model targeting African creators, coaches, and entrepreneurs within the creator economy and e-commerce space.

• Pluglink – Digital lead. Pluglink is a digital marketing agency where I led performance marketing and digital strategy for startups across edtech, fintech, and crypto. It functions as a B2B agency serving African digital products and tech startups.

• Keble – Growth marketer. Keble is a proptech-fintech platform that helps users invest fractionally in real estate. It operates a B2C digital product model targeting young professionals and new investors in the fintech and proptech space.

Other brands I’ve worked with include Topgro, TechEonomy, Paper (SendwithPaper), LoadConnect, Optimus AI Labs, and GrowthSkoolUK across industries like recruitment, media, fintech, logistics, AI, and edtech.

Can you share a fun or interesting fact about yourself that most people don’t know?

I know it might not be the most exciting thing to everyone, but I genuinely enjoy talking about politics. Not just the headlines, I’m fascinated by the systems, the strategy, and how decisions are made behind the scenes. I’ve explored it a bit already and see myself getting more involved someday, especially because I believe in Nigeria and its potential.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Outside of work, I’m a huge fan of indoor activities. I wouldn’t necessarily call myself an introvert, but give me a good series with suspense and I’m hooked. Netflix and Prime Video are my go-to platforms, and I enjoy binge-watching TV shows as a way to unwind.

Can you share a resource or template that has been particularly valuable in your work?

You can find a couple of resource templates that have been especially valuable in my work at engineeringformarketers.selar.com. To make them more accessible, I’ve included a free coupon code, Marketinginaction, that you can use to download any of them at no cost.

What advice would you give to someone starting their career in growth marketing?

For anyone starting a career in growth marketing, my biggest advice is simple: focus. It’s incredibly easy to get distracted, whether by meetings, busy work, or trends, but staying focused on your goals and KPIs is what moves the needle. Don’t let the noise become an excuse for poor performance. Keep your eyes on what truly matters, and you’ll keep making progress.

Give us two marketers that you would like us to interview in this newsletter

• Tobi Obafemi – Marketing specialist, founder Reckon marketing

• Daniel Chukwu– Growth Marketing Expert

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If you have a recommendation for who we should be speaking to, or who you would like to see in this interview series, reply with their names, marketing specialty, and how we can reach them (LinkedIn, Email, Phone, Home address 🙂).

When I first started in marketing, I thought growth was about hustle. Try everything—launch ads, write blog posts, post daily on LinkedIn, throw in a webinar, and maybe even experiment with TikTok. Some things spiked, others flopped, but at the end of the month, I couldn’t answer the most important question: what actually worked?

That’s the problem with what I call random acts of marketing. They feel productive, they make the dashboard look busy, but they leave you guessing. It’s like juggling ten balls and hoping at least one doesn’t hit the floor. The truth is, without a system, even your wins can’t be repeated, and your failures get swept under the rug.

My approach to growth transformed when I began to view it as a scientific endeavor rather than a game of chance. By embracing experiments, hypotheses, measurements, and learnings, I moved away from disjointed campaigns towards a systematic process. Successes evolved into repeatable playbooks, failures yielded valuable insights, and growth became a deliberate and predictable outcome.

This is the exact system I use today: an 8-step Growth Experiment Framework plus the ICEEE Prioritization method. Together, they help founders, marketers, and teams move from chaos to clarity. And because I know execution is where the struggle is, I’ve included the exact template in the Premium MIA Resource & Template Library.

👉🏽 Join the Marketing In Action WhatsApp Community, where MIA Newsletter subscribers network, and gossip (what’s trending).

Why random acts of marketing don’t work

Most startups run on adrenaline, vibes, and inshallah. A founder gets an idea, the marketing team scrambles, a campaign goes live, and everyone waits to see what happens. Sometimes, it works. But often, it doesn’t. The worst part? Nobody knows why.

Random acts of marketing are expensive. They burn time, budget, and team energy without building lasting knowledge. Even when something works, it feels like a lucky break, not a repeatable system. And when it fails, it quietly disappears from the backlog, never to be spoken of again.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Almost every founder or growth team I’ve worked with has gone through this cycle. It’s tempting because activity feels like progress. But activity without learning is just noise.

That’s why experiments matter. They transform chaos into structured learning. Instead of asking, “Did it work?” you start asking, “What did we learn—and how do we use it next time?” That’s the difference between busy teams and teams that actually grow.

Growth is a machine, not a moment

We love stories of “big wins.” The viral post. The ad campaign that crushed. The feature launch that doubled sign-ups. But the truth is, those moments are misleading. Sustainable growth doesn’t come from a single win. It comes from a machine that keeps producing them.

Think of growth like compounding interest. One test gives you a small lift. Ten tests show you patterns. Fifty tests build a playbook that’s almost unfair to your competitors. The magic isn’t in the single experiment—it’s in the momentum of running them consistently.

This is why the best growth teams treat experiments as an operating system. They run small, structured tests. They measure carefully. They document results. And then they systemize the learnings. Over time, this builds a growth engine that doesn’t rely on luck—it relies on process.

The 8-step Growth Experiment Framework

Here’s the backbone of the system. The framework is designed to take you from idea → test → insight → repeatable system.

1—Observation

Every experiment starts with a spark: a data trend, a user behavior, or even a gut feeling worth testing. Maybe sign-ups dropped after you added two extra form fields. Maybe users keep asking for a feature you haven’t prioritized. Write it down.

2—Objective

Define a clear, measurable goal tied to a growth lever (acquisition, activation, retention, referral, revenue). Vague goals like “get more users” don’t cut it. Say, “Increase trial-to-paid conversions by 12% this quarter.”

3—Hypothesis

Good experiments have a testable statement. Use this format: By doing X, we believe Y will happen. If we’re right, we expect Z. Example: “By removing two fields from our sign-up form, we believe conversions will improve. If right, we expect a 10% lift over baseline.”

4—Experiment Design

Split your setup into control (the baseline) and test (the variation). Outline scope, method (A/B test, cohort analysis, etc.), and duration (usually 30 days for v1). Keep it lightweight—you’re validating, not building forever.

5—Considerations

List dependencies and risks. Do you need design support? Is engineering bandwidth limited? Could another project skew results? This step prevents mid-test surprises.

6—Success Criteria

Decide what “winning” looks like before you launch. Is a 10% improvement enough to roll it out? Or do you need 20%? Having thresholds upfront avoids endless debates later.

7—Measurement

Identify your primary metric (the main success signal) and secondary ones (to catch side effects). If you’re testing onboarding, activation rate might be primary, but churn reduction could be secondary. Use tools that can validate statistical significance.

8—Results & Next Steps

Document everything. Wins become playbooks. Losses become insights. Either way, you’ve reduced uncertainty. Then decide: do we productize it (make it the new default) or archive it for future learning?

How do you currently prioritize marketing ideas?

Leave a comment

The full resources & template library is subscription-only, but I pulled this template out so you don’t have to miss out. Consider it my way of saying thanks for reading—you can download it here for free.

How to prioritize experiments with ICEEE

Ideas are cheap. Time isn’t. That’s why prioritization matters. The ICEEE Framework is how I score experiments before committing resources.

It looks at five factors:

• Impact – How big could this move the needle?

• Confidence – How sure are we it will work?

• Effort – Engineering – How much dev time is needed?

• Effort – Marketing – What’s the marketing lift?

• Effort – Other – Any additional ops, product, or support needed?

Each is scored on a 1–10 scale. Impact and Confidence are doubled in weight. Engineering Effort is penalized double because it’s the scarcest resource. The formula:

Score = ((Impact + Confidence) * 2) - (Engineering Effort * 2) - Marketing Effort - Other Effort

What this gives you is a stack-ranked list of high-impact, low-lift experiments. Instead of chasing the loudest idea, you’re choosing the smartest one. It keeps the team aligned, focused, and efficient.

📣 Share this with a founder or marketer on Twitter | LinkedIn | WhatsApp. It takes me 20 hours to write this. Sharing will only take 20 seconds.

Turning insights into systems

The real magic of experiments isn’t the outcome—it’s the systemization.

If your test worked, bake it in. Automate it. Productize it. Or write a playbook so anyone on the team can repeat it. If your test failed, log it in your experiment backlog with context, so the next person doesn’t waste time on the same dead end.

Over time, these small learnings accumulate into a growth library. That library becomes your moat. Competitors can copy a campaign, but they can’t copy your compounding insights. That’s the difference between marketing that’s reactive and marketing that’s built to last.

🧩 Get the full marketing template library.

Get access to 50+ Product & Growth Marketing templates, frameworks, and resources to execute marketing with clarity. Get access here.

TL: DR

Get a PDF summary of this article here.

1. Random acts of marketing waste time and money without teaching you what actually works.

2. Growth isn’t hacks—it’s structured experiments that create repeatable wins.

3. The 8-step Growth Experiment Framework gives you a clear process to follow.

4. Always start with an observation and set measurable objectives tied to growth levers.

5. Write hypotheses that are testable and measurable, not vague guesses.

6. Use ICEEE prioritization to choose high-impact, low-effort experiments.

7. Engineering effort is the scarcest resource, so weigh it more heavily.

8. Even failed experiments create valuable learnings if documented properly.

9. Wins should be systemized into playbooks or productized for repeatability.

10. Growth is about momentum—stacking small experiments into a machine.

Was this helpful? Hit that ❤️ and let me know your thoughts in the comments! Want to see more of this content? Restack this post (if you’re on Substack) and share it with your friends!

You might find these interesting:

• MIA #04 – How to Build a Growth Process & Growth Machine – Learn to make growth predictable, scalable, and repeatable.

• MIA #05 – Everything You Need to Know About Growth Marketing – Understand the history, tactics, and motions of growth.

• Reforge: Growth Experimentation Framework – See experimentation and testing templates and examples from growth leaders.

Product & Partner Recommendations:

• Titaja – TITAJA is an on-demand subscription-based product marketing service (PMaaS) helping product-led, SaaS, and B2B companies unlock growth at every stage of the customer lifecycle, with GTM strategy, positioning, messaging, and demand generation.

• James Praise – I help founders of B2B SaaS startups drive product marketing strategy and execution across every stage—positioning, messaging, landing pages, GTM, product launches, lifecycle programs, and growth experiments.

• Clay – Clay combines 50+ data providers, real-time scraping, AI, and outbound workflows, so you can send automated, 1-1 personalized campaigns (and book more meetings than your sales team).

• Testimonial – Testimonial makes it easy to collect text and video testimonials from your customers in minutes, with no need for a developer or website hosting.

• Riverside – Riverside makes it easy to record remote podcasts and video interviews that look and sound like they were recorded in a million-dollar studio.

If you want to collaborate or feature your product in this newsletter, check out our media kit, and shoot me an email.

MIA is trusted by 2,000+ marketers across Africa, the US, and Europe, helping you put marketing in action better, faster, and with context.

We’re building a village of marketers and founders who want to increase their odds of succeeding at marketing. You’re one of us. Share this newsletter with them.

Share Marketing In Action

🚨 ICYMI: We’re putting together the State of Marketing in African Tech Report, covering SaaS, FinTech, Web3, Healthtech, Edtech, HRtech, Agritech, Ecommerce, Energytech, Marketplaces, Entertainment Tech, Creators, and Agencies.

If you work in these industries, please share your insights via this 5-minute survey (and receive one-year subscriber access to 50+ Product & Growth marketing templates from the MIA Resources & Template Library).

The “Why” Behind Jiji

Jiji was founded in 2014 by Anton Volianskyi and Vladimir Mnogoletniy, two Ukrainian entrepreneurs who saw an untapped opportunity in Nigeria’s digital economy. At the time, online shopping across the continent was still at an early stage. While some platforms were trying to build structured e-commerce systems around warehouse and delivery, many ordinary people simply wanted a straightforward way to buy and sell directly.

Meanwhile, everyday Nigerians were already buying and selling at scale, just not online. In cities like Lagos, second-hand goods, electronics, cars, and even properties were constantly changing hands, but the process was sort of scattered.

For instance, if you needed to offload a used phone, you could tell a friend or flag down a dealer. There was no single platform designed for that need at scale, hence the poor visibility. Even renting an apartment often depended on chance conversations, as people relied heavily on word of mouth. In other words, commerce was happening, but it was scattered, unstructured, and, most importantly, hard to trust.

This was the landscape Anton Volianskyi and Vladimir Mnogoletniy walked into. They saw that Nigerians needed a trusted digital marketplace—a classifieds platform built for local realities, where anyone could list products and services for free, reach thousands of people instantly, and handle transactions on their own terms.

Classifieds are short, categorized advertisements—traditionally in newspapers and now online—used to buy, sell, or promote goods, services, and opportunities.

According to Anton Volianskyi:

“We identified a need for a platform where people could connect directly to buy and sell everything, from products to services. At the time, the market faced pressing issues around accessibility, affordability, and trust, with scams creating distrust in online transactions. To address this, we built Jiji to minimise the risks by facilitating direct transactions with no intermediaries.”

Crucially, that thinking shaped everything Jiji did in the early years. The platform had to be easy enough for anyone with a smartphone to use. And buyers had to also know they were dealing with real people, not faceless accounts. And so, it was this attention to context, not just technology, that made Jiji resonate.

Building and Launching the Product

When Jiji launched in Lagos in 2014, it wasn’t with an aim to become a full-stack e-commerce shop. Instead, the team leaned into a simpler idea: build a classifieds marketplace that worked like the markets people already used—only faster and more visible.

Initially, Jiji focused on lowering friction for sellers. For instance, it offered free listings for first-time users, a move that rapidly seeded inventory and gave newcomers a no-risk way to try the platform. At the same time, the team pursued distribution partnerships—striking deals to preinstall the Jiji app on affordable phones and even working with telecom operators for better access for mobile users, which helped drive early user adoption.

Equally important was trust. By focusing on density (lots of listings and buyers in concentrated cities) and reliability (fewer scams, clearer buyer–seller signals), Jiji built network effects that later made geographic expansion easier and more defensible. The goal of making Jiji a trusted space for peer-to-peer trading shaped many early product decisions.

The company then accelerated growth through selective acquisitions, notably taking over several OLX Africa operations, which increased market share in key countries and consolidated listings under the Jiji brand.

The goal of making Jiji a trusted space for peer-to-peer trading shaped many early product decisions.

In short, Jiji’s launch worked because it stayed practical. People in Nigeria were already buying and selling offline, so the team focused on making those same trades easier and safer online. Free listings brought sellers in, telco and device partnerships opened the door to first-time internet users, and fraud checks gave buyers confidence.

Achieving Product-Market Fit

For Jiji, product-market fit came from solving a very real frustration: people wanted to trade goods online, but they didn’t trust the platforms available at the time. By keeping listings free and focusing heavily on fraud prevention, Jiji quickly became a safer alternative to newspaper classifieds and informal Facebook groups.

The response was almost immediate. Sellers found that Jiji helped them reach far more buyers than they could offline, while buyers gained the confidence to browse without worrying as much about scams. This balance created the kind of two-sided trust every marketplace needs. By 2018, Jiji had already become one of the most visited classifieds sites in Nigeria, attracting 8 million monthly users.

Beyond the statistics, individual success stories made Jiji’s impact visible. Small business owners who once struggled to reach customers began to thrive on the platform. For instance, many car dealers in Lagos started using Jiji as their primary sales channel, with some moving most of their inventory online instead of relying on physical lots.

👉🏽 Join the Marketing In Action WhatsApp Community where MIA Newsletter subscribers network, and gossip (what’s trending).

Go-To-Market Strategy

When Jiji penetrated the Nigerian market, the biggest question wasn’t whether people wanted to trade; they already did that every day in open markets, roadside shops, and word-of-mouth deals. The real question was: how do you convince them to trust an online platform enough to do the same thing digitally?

The team’s first answer was accessibility. One of the smartest moves early on was to make listings free. This lowered the barrier for small traders, mechanics, real estate agents, and even individuals trying to sell used electronics. Within months, Jiji’s site was filled with diverse listings, which in turn attracted buyers. The classic marketplace flywheel (more sellers bringing more buyers) began to spin.

Partnerships also played a big role in this adoption. Deals with smartphone makers and telecom operators gave Jiji direct access to first-time internet users, many of whom had never bought or sold online before. In 2016, Jiji landed a partnership deal with Airtel, allowing users to access the platform without using mobile data.

Through partnerships with smartphone manufacturers and telecom providers, Jiji pre-installed its app on budget Android devices. That meant someone buying their first phone in Ibadan or Kano often discovered Jiji before they even opened Facebook.

Marketing was also designed for the local context. Instead of chasing early adopters in elite circles, Jiji leaned into mass-market advertising. They ran outdoor campaigns, television ads, and radio spots in multiple local languages. They leveraged aggressive marketing to the point where, for many first-time internet users, “buy it online” became synonymous with “check Jiji.” This approach helped Jiji cut across demographics, positioning itself as a marketplace “for everyone,” not just the tech-savvy few.

And finally, there was trust. At the same time, they invested heavily in education and reassurance. For Jiji, this was about reassuring users that online trading was safe. Safety guidelines, clear in-app reminders, and a heavy focus on scam prevention became part of the company’s outward messaging. And so, in a market skeptical about online trading, this messaging helped Jiji differentiate itself as the safer, more reliable option.

User Base and Revenue

In 2019, Jiji acquired OLX Africa and took over its operations in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, and Tanzania. The bet on free listings and mass visibility paid off, with the platform crossing over 300,000 ads within its first few years, with millions of monthly visits driven by people searching for everything from cars to electronics.

Overnight, it consolidated two of the largest classified marketplaces on the continent, bringing in OLX’s existing users and listings. This acquisition not only expanded Jiji’s footprint but also gave it the scale to compete against global players like Facebook Marketplace.

Today, Jiji reports over 12 million monthly users and 4 million active listings across its markets. In Nigeria alone, the company is among the top three most visited e-commerce platforms, competing for traffic with Jumia and Konga. Its core categories, such as vehicles, real estate, and electronics, continue to drive the bulk of activity.

On revenue, Jiji follows a freemium model. Most listings are free, but sellers who want better visibility can pay for premium packages such as Top Ads or VIP Ads. This tiered system lets Jiji monetize its most active users—car dealerships, property agents, and high-volume merchants, while still keeping the platform accessible to everyday sellers. In 2021, the company reported that its paid advertising model was profitable, a rare milestone for consumer internet startups in Africa.

Fundraising Efforts

Jiji’s ability to scale from a scrappy startup into a pan-African marketplace has been shaped by carefully timed fundraising rounds and acquisitions that gave it the firepower to expand.

The company’s earliest backing came from Genesis Group, a Ukrainian investment firm that provided seed funding to get the idea off the ground in 2014. This early support helped Jiji set up its Lagos base, build its tech stack, and begin the long work of customer education around online classifieds.

Jiji’s next major milestone came in 2019, when it announced the acquisition of OLX’s businesses in five African markets—Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. While the terms weren’t disclosed, reports suggest this deal was backed by fresh funding and strategic support from Genesis, giving Jiji a sudden leap in scale.

In 2021, Jiji raised a significant round from Digital Spring Ventures, a Moscow-based venture firm, marking a pivotal moment for its expansion strategy. This capital was used to acquire Cars45, an automobile trading platform, strengthening Jiji’s dominance in the vehicles category, one of its most lucrative verticals.

Most recently, in 2024, the company announced another round of funding, though the amount remained undisclosed. What was clear, however, was the intent: doubling down on safety features, AI-powered fraud detection, and user trust systems, areas critical to sustaining growth in Africa’s high-risk digital economy.

What’s Next for Jiji in 2025?

After more than a decade in the classifieds business, Jiji has grown into one of Africa’s most recognizable digital marketplaces. But the real question is how it plans to stay ahead in 2025 and beyond, a period where consumer expectations, competition, and regulation are shifting rapidly.

One clear focus is deepening trust and safety. Online fraud remains one of the biggest concerns in Africa’s e-commerce space, and Jiji has already invested heavily in AI-powered moderation and fraud detection tools. In 2025, the company is expected to push even further here, doubling down on identity verification and safer payment systems to ensure users can transact with confidence.

Another priority is expanding its automotive and real estate categories, which are among its highest-revenue drivers. With the successful integration of Cars45, Jiji now has an opportunity to own the entire customer journey for car sales, from listing to inspection to purchase. Real estate, meanwhile, remains a fragmented but lucrative vertical, and Jiji’s scale gives it a strong position to dominate.

Jiji’s core categories; vehicles, real estate, and electronics, are its highest-revenue drivers.

Geographically, Jiji is also looking beyond its current footprint. While it operates in five African markets today, Pan-African expansion remains a logical next step. Markets like South Africa, Egypt, or francophone West Africa present untapped opportunities, though each comes with unique challenges around language, regulation, and logistics.

Finally, there is the question of monetization. Jiji has historically kept its platform free for buyers and sellers, relying on premium listings and ad placements for revenue. In 2025, the company may experiment with new revenue streams, including transaction fees on high-value categories and partnerships with financial services that facilitate seamless buying, selling, and paying on the platform.

Jiji’s next chapter will likely be defined by two things: building deeper trust with users and finding smarter ways to monetize its massive base of buyers and sellers. If it succeeds, it won’t just remain a classifieds leader but also solidify its position as Africa’s premier digital marketplace.

☝🏽 A personal note:

I’ve mostly used Jiji for benchmarking—comparing the prices of commodities in the local markets when I either want to sell my own items (electronics and furniture) or buy other items.

I believe it’s a platform that really shines when you want to cut out the middleman. Their major challenge is a normal human challenge where commerce is involved: fraud. Still, with a bit of caution, it remains one of the most convenient ways to trade locally.

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If you work in SaaS, we need your input (you'll be done in 10 mins). If you don't work in SaaS, share it with other SaaS folks you know!

Can you tell us a bit about your background, education, and how you got into marketing?

I studied Biological Sciences, but somewhere in my penultimate year in Uni, I got deeply curious about how tech startups grow. Honestly, I also wanted more for myself. I knew there was more beyond what I knew.

So, I began to read and digest all the materials I could lay my hands on. I attended several tech events too. I became obsessed with learning, and that curiosity pushed me to complete the Fundamentals of Digital Marketing course in 2017. From there, I started cold-emailing startup CEOs. Luckily, one of them took a chance on me, and that’s how the journey began.

Since then, I’ve spent the last 6+ years building a career around organic growth. Not just SEO in the traditional sense, but a broader, more strategic approach to helping products reach and retain the right audiences. After working across different sectors and growth roles, I decided to pursue a Masters in International Business to back my experience with global business knowledge and frameworks.

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How do you define growth marketing?

To me, growth marketing is about building sustainable loops that drive user acquisition, activation, retention, and revenue across the customer journey, not just running campaigns.

It’s less about short-term hacks and more about understanding what truly moves the needle at each stage of the customer journey. Good growth marketing is sustainable. It should relate directly to the business model.

I also think of growth as a cross-functional mindset, not just marketing’s job. It involves product and operations.

What are your key areas of expertise within marketing?

I’m a growth generalist with vast knowledge across all stages of the funnel (acquisition, activation, monetization, retention, and referral), with a deep specialty in organic growth. That includes SEO, yes, but also much more.

On the acquisition side, I’ve worked across organic and inbound channels such as SEO, content strategy, landing page optimization, and performance marketing, especially when collaborating closely with product and design teams to ship experiments.

For activation and lifecycle plays, I’ve focused on product-led growth levers, CRM-led lifecycle campaigns, marketing automation, and product marketing, all aimed at getting users to their “aha” moment faster. When it comes to monetization and revenue growth, I lean on conversion rate optimization (CRO), A/B testing, experimentation across product and marketing, as well as strategic positioning.

Finally, in referral and growth loops, I enjoy building systems that drive word-of-mouth, creating value-driven, shareable experiences, and tapping into retention as a referral point.

Which marketing channels do you prioritize, and have you found to be effective?

Organic search and content marketing have always been my most consistent growth drivers. But I’ve found that pairing them with CRM flows and product-led experiences makes the impact much stronger.

I’ve also worked with teams running paid acquisition, and I often contribute ideas that bridge content, lifecycle, and product growth, especially when we’re launching in new markets or trying to fix leaky funnels.

What roles have you held in your growth and marketing career?

Over the years, I’ve held roles such as SEO manager, content strategist, growth marketing lead, organic growth lead, and SEO product manager. Each role has helped me deepen my understanding of both marketing and how products evolve with user behaviour.

Which companies have you worked with?

• Hotels.ng – Nigeria’s first and largest hotel booking platform (B2B/B2C, hospitality), my early work helped me understand how search and content could drive real business outcomes.

• BlackHouse Media (BHM) / ID Africa – PR, Media & Communication (B2B/B2C), I worked across strategy, content, and visibility for brands in entertainment, telecommunications, and FMCG.

• Plaqad – A marketing tech platform (B2B/SaaS), I developed the model for organic growth for a tool that helped brands manage influencer campaigns.

• ThePeer – An API infrastructure for fintech startups (B2B/SaaS), I worked on early positioning and organic growth efforts for the developer audience.

• Grey – A cross-border fintech platform (B2B + B2C), we’re helping remote workers, freelancers, and businesses access global banking, convert currencies, and manage international payments. I currently lead organic growth and SEO efforts across our core markets in Africa, MENA, LATAM, Europe, and Asia.

Can you share a fun or interesting fact about yourself that most people don’t know?

Most people don’t know this, but I’m a bit of an aviation nerd. I’m fascinated by aircraft systems, airline operations, and everything around commercial flying. If I’m not working, there’s a good chance I’m watching cockpit footage or reading something aviation-related.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Outside of work, I enjoy watching football, love cooking, and playing musical instruments.

Can you share a resource or template that has been particularly valuable in your work?

One resource that has proven invaluable in my work is the SEO Opportunity Prioritization Matrix. It helps me rank initiatives by impact, effort, and alignment with product growth goals, allowing me to focus on projects that actually make a meaningful impact, such as driving qualified sign-ups and supporting long-term retention.

However, I also treat organic growth with the same mindset as paid campaigns. That’s where the AARRR Growth Framework comes in. Mapping SEO and content strategy across acquisition, activation, retention, referral, and revenue gives me a clear way to tie organic efforts directly to business outcomes, which has been especially effective in SaaS and startup environments.

What advice would you give to someone starting their career in growth marketing?

My advice to anyone starting out in growth marketing is simple: be curious, be brave, and start small. You don’t need to know everything—just be the person who consistently asks good questions and tests ideas.

It’s not about having all the tools; it’s about knowing how to apply them.

Give us two marketers that you would like us to interview in this newsletter

• Joel Ogunjimi – Marketing Analytics Manager at Yellowcard.

• Franklin Ugobode – Customer Marketing Manager at Trustpilot.

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Welcome to the fourth episode of the Marketing In Action podcast.

Everyone wants growth. But here’s the truth: one “growth hire” won’t magically solve your problems. Growth isn’t a title—it’s a motion.

In this episode of Marketing In Action, we break down what it really takes to build and execute a growth strategy. We’ll explore the difference between growth, marketing, growth marketing, and growth hacking, unpack how to identify the right Go-To-Market motion for your business, and look at practical team structures that actually work. Whether you’re leading a startup or scaling a company, this episode gives you the blueprint for building a team that drives sustainable growth. Now, let’s get into it.

Read the full article here: https://newsletter.marketinginaction.xyz/p/mia-03-growth-teams-and-growth-motions

Key Takeaways

1. Growth ≠ Marketing ≠ Growth Marketing ≠ Growth Hacking – Each has its own focus, metrics, and impact. Knowing the difference saves you from wrong hires and wasted time.

2. Start with the GTM Motion – Product-Led, Sales-Led, or Hybrid. Your growth team should be built around the motion that drives your business.

3. Team Structure Matters – From centralized growth teams to embedded squads, the right setup depends on stage, resources, and company goals.

4. Growth is a Mindset – It’s not just about tactics. Continuous learning, rhythm, autonomy, and accountability are the backbone of long-term growth.

Soundbites

“A single hire won’t fix growth. You need a motion, not a messiah.”

“Product-Led growth means your product is your best salesperson.”

“Sales-Led growth thrives where relationships close the deal.”

“The best growth teams aren’t just executing tactics—they’re creating a rhythm of learning and iteration.”

“Growth is less about titles, more about mindset.”

​​What do you think?

Leave a comment

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Vban (short for Virtual Bank Account Number), is a fintech app designed to help Africa’s digital workforce—freelancers, remote workers, creatives, digital nomads, and entrepreneurs—seamlessly manage international payments and cross-border transactions.

Vban provides multi-currency wallets and virtual cards to help you receive, swap, and spend money across currencies without bank delays or high fees.

Who is it for?

Vban is built for the modern African professional working across borders, including:

• Freelancers and remote workers across Africa

• Digital nomads and entrepreneurs who earn in foreign currencies

• Tech professionals and developers working with global clients

• Digital creatives (designers, video editors, writers, etc.)

What problem does it solve (and why is it better than the status quo and alternatives)?

Vban solves the core problem many African remote workers and freelancers face: delayed, expensive, and unreliable access to international payments.

Traditional banks are not built for global income earners—they're slow to process foreign transfers, charge high fees, and offer poor user experiences for managing cross-border transactions. Setting up domiciliary accounts can be time-consuming, and converting FX often involves manual steps, high minimums, or unfavorable rates.

Compared to digital alternatives like Grey, Payday, and Chipper Cash, Vban stands out with better FX conversion rates. Vban's FX swap is competitively priced, and that means you get more value for every dollar, pound, or euro you convert.

For example, when comparing Vban to Grey: you get ₦21k more on $1k, ₦14k more on £1k, and ₦22k more on €1k.

That’s more money in your pocket for the same effort.

When would I use it?

Use Vban anytime you need a faster, fairer, and more flexible way to manage global payments.

• When your international client wants to pay you in US Dollars, British Pounds, or Euros

• When you need to quickly convert earnings to local currency in Nigeria, West Africa, or Central Africa and spend

• When you want to pay for tools, subscriptions, or ads online with virtual cards

• When you’re tired of delays and ridiculous fees from other payment providers

What can I do with the product?

Vban gives you all the tools you need to earn globally, convert instantly, and spend locally.

• Receive international payments in US Dollars, British Pounds, and Euros

• Instantly swap foreign earnings into Nigerian Naira, Ghanaian Cedi, West African CFA Franc, and Central African CFA Franc

• Use local wallets for Nigeria, Ghana, West Africa, and Central Africa to fund your virtual cards

• Create and use virtual US Dollar cards for online payments

• Withdraw funds directly to your local bank accounts

• Track and manage your income from a clean, intuitive dashboard

What do I benefit from using the product?

Vban makes earning and spending across borders simpler, faster, and more rewarding for modern professionals.

• Get paid faster – near-instant wallet top-ups

• Save money – better FX rates and zero hidden fees

• Stay in control – transparent, easy-to-use interface

• Work globally, live locally – without worrying about how to access your funds

What are the product features?

Vban’s features are designed to simplify how you earn, convert, and spend money across borders.

• Multi-currency wallets (US Dollar, British Pound, Euro, Nigerian Naira)

• Virtual cards for secure online payments

• Local payouts to Nigeria, Ghana, West Africa, and Central Africa

• Real-time foreign exchange (FX) conversion

• In-app support and personalized spending insights

How does it work?

Here’s how to get started with Vban:

• Sign up in minutes with your email or phone number

• Verify your email address

• Complete your KYC verification (upload ID and proof of address)

• Request and receive your US Dollar, British Pound, or Euro account details

• Automatically get local currency wallets e.g. NGN, GHX, XOF, XAF for account funding

• Share your Vban payment details with your global client

• Receive payment directly into your Vban account

• Get instant notifications on your transaction status

• Swap to your local currency, spend with your virtual card, or withdraw to your bank

We recommend Vban for your international payments, FX conversion, and online spending if you want to get paid faster, access better rates, and spend globally without delays, hidden fees, or unreliable virtual cards.

Start getting paid globally

🚨 ICYMI: We’re putting together the State of Marketing in African Tech Report, covering SaaS, FinTech, Web3, Healthtech, Edtech, HRtech, Agritech, Ecommerce, Energytech, Marketplaces, Entertainment Tech, Creators, and Agencies.

If you work in these industries, please share your insights via this 5-minute survey (and receive one-year subscriber access to 50+ Product & Growth marketing templates from the MIA Resources & Template Library).

Synthesia is an AI video creation tool that lets you make professional-looking videos without cameras, actors, or complex editing. You just type your script, pick a realistic AI presenter (or even make your own), and Synthesia turns your text into polished video content—complete with natural-sounding voiceovers in 120+ languages. It’s like having a full production crew on your laptop.

Who is it for?

You’ll find Synthesia especially useful if you’re a marketer, trainer, HR professional, customer success manager, or content creator. If you need to make videos regularly—whether it’s product explainers, onboarding tutorials, internal updates, or marketing campaigns, without the budget or time for traditional filming, Synthesia is built for you.

What problem does it solve (and why is it better than the status quo and alternatives)?

You know how producing videos usually means hiring actors, booking studios, setting up cameras, and waiting weeks for edits? That’s slow, expensive, and hard to scale—especially if you need videos in multiple languages.

Synthesia solves that by letting you go from script to finished video in minutes. No crew. No filming. No re-shoots. Unlike generic editing tools, it combines hyper-realistic AI avatars with multilingual voiceovers, brand customization, and instant updates—so you can change a single line without redoing the entire video.

When would I use it?

You’d use Synthesia when:

• You need to create a product demo without a camera or a voiceover artist

• You want to train employees in multiple languages quickly

• You’re launching a campaign and need high-quality explainer videos fast

• You’re updating an existing video and want to avoid re-filming

• You’re scaling content creation without scaling production costs

What can I do with the product?

With Synthesia, you can:

• Create training and onboarding videos for global teams

• Produce multilingual marketing videos for different regions

• Turn blog posts or scripts into engaging video explainers

• Update video scripts without starting from scratch

• Personalize videos with custom AI avatars and branded templates

What do I benefit from using the product?

Using Synthesia means:

• You save thousands in production costs

• You cut video turnaround from weeks to hours

• You can speak to customers in their native language instantly

• You scale video output without scaling your team

• You keep content fresh and consistent without re-shoots

What are the product features?

• 120+ Languages & Accents – speak to any market in their own language

• AI Avatars – choose from 150+ realistic presenters or create your own

• Text-to-Speech – natural-sounding voices with multiple styles

• Custom Templates – brand your videos for consistent look and feel

• Easy Script Editing – update lines without re-recording

• Media Uploads – add your own images, videos, or slides

• Screen Recording – integrate software demos seamlessly

How does it work?

Here’s how it works:

1. Sign up at synthesia.io

2. Choose an AI presenter or upload your custom avatar

3. Paste your script or type it directly in the editor

4. Pick your language, voice, and template

5. Add media, slides, or background music

6. Click “Generate Video” and watch it process in minutes

7. Download and share anywhere

We recommend Synthesia for your MarTech Stack if you want to create high-quality, multilingual videos without the headaches of traditional production. It’s perfect for training, marketing, and communication teams who need to move fast, stay on brand, and scale content across markets—without hiring a film crew or touching a camera.

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If you work in these industries, please share your insights via this 5-minute survey (and receive one-year subscriber access to 50+ Product & Growth marketing templates from the MIA Resources & Template Library).

The "Why" Behind uLesson

uLesson started in 2019, but the problem it was built to solve had been growing long before that. The founder, Sim Shagaya, had spent years building companies in Nigeria’s tech space. He launched Konga, one of the country’s earliest e-commerce platforms, and before that, helped build E-Motion Outdoor, an advertising company.

But underneath all of that, Sim had always held a soft spot for education. And not just because it was important, but because he had lived the consequences of what it meant when it wasn’t available.

He’d grown up in Plateau State, gone to school in Nigeria and later abroad, and he could see the gap clearly: the average child on the continent was being left behind. Overcrowded classrooms. Poor infrastructure. Underpaid teachers doing the best they could. And a growing population of young people trying to learn in systems that just weren’t working. Parents were paying out of pocket for private lessons, yet many students still struggled to pass common entrance or WAEC.

It wasn’t that these students weren’t smart. It was that the system wasn’t built to help them thrive. So Sim started thinking—what if tech could level the field?

Eventually, when Shagaya launched uLesson in 2019, he deliberately started with an unconventional solution: distributing video lessons using SD cards and USB drives, knowing that internet access was still a barrier for many students. This hands-on, context-aware approach sets uLesson apart.

As access to the internet improved and smartphone adoption grew across the continent, uLesson evolved into a robust learning app, layering in interactive features, practice tests, and live online classes. Sim shared this vision himself:

“When my colleagues and I set out to build uLesson in early 2019, we observed that for the vast majority of Africa’s K‑12 learners, quality education is out of reach. And we believed that technology would necessarily play a role in remedying this problem.”

Believing that technology could unlock access to education at scale, Sim understood that a conventional Western edtech template wouldn’t suffice. The solution had to adapt to African realities: local curricula, low-bandwidth connectivity, and affordability.

So, uLesson began in a way few could have predicted—delivering animated, curriculum-aligned video lessons via SD cards and USBs, enabling students without internet access to engage with rich, structured learning. This creative, offline-first approach set the foundation for what eventually led to the platform becoming an African-first learning platform.

Building and Launching the Product

When uLesson officially launched in 2019, it wasn’t trying to build the most high-tech product on the market. The team, led by Sim Shagaya, was focused on a different question entirely: How do you deliver quality education to a student who doesn't have Wi-Fi, steady electricity, or money for a private tutor? This question shaped everything about the product.

The first version of uLesson wasn’t an app at all—it was a collection of curriculum-based video lessons stored on SD cards and USBs. These were bundled with affordable Android smartphones and sent out to families across Nigeria. This offline-first approach might have looked outdated to outsiders, but in context, it was one of the smartest moves the team could’ve made.

Many edtech startups had already come and gone, building for an infrastructure that simply didn’t exist for the average Nigerian household. uLesson flipped that on its head—instead of trying to change user behavior to fit the product, they built a product that fit the reality of the users.

The content itself was another major investment. Rather than simply filming teachers writing on a whiteboard, the uLesson team set up a full production studio in Jos, hiring subject-matter experts, scriptwriters, and animators to create engaging, story-driven video lessons that could hold a child’s attention and make abstract concepts come alive.

The idea was to turn learning into something kids would actually want to do, not just something they had to do. Alongside the videos, the platform also included quizzes, assessments, and performance tracking, giving students a sense of progress and helping parents see what their children were learning.

The real magic, though, was in how everything came together: high-quality content, local curriculum alignment, offline accessibility, and a clear, mobile-first user experience—all backed by a small but determined operations team handling content creation, device distribution, and customer onboarding.

By the time uLesson released its Android app in early 2020—just before the COVID-19 lockdowns—the company was ready. What started as a low-tech workaround had become a gateway for millions of students to keep learning, even when schools shut down.

And unlike many digital tools that saw a spike during the pandemic only to drop off later, uLesson kept growing, because it wasn’t built as a crisis solution. It was built to last.

Achieving Product-Market Fit

uLesson’s journey to product-market fit was rooted in a deep understanding of the systemic challenges facing education in Africa.

After launching in early 2020, uLesson initially rolled out as a mobile app offering pre-recorded video lessons on a memory card bundled with a dongle. This was a deliberate move: it allowed the platform to overcome Nigeria’s biggest infrastructural bottleneck—data cost and poor internet access—while giving students access to high-quality lessons.

But the real validation came during the COVID-19 pandemic, when physical schools shut down and parents across Africa scrambled for remote learning solutions. uLesson quickly gained traction as more students turned to digital platforms for learning. The app saw tens of thousands of downloads across Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa within months.

Simultaneously, the uLesson team took in real-time user feedback and adapted the product beyond recorded video. They introduced quizzes, homework help, and live classes to enhance interactivity and engagement. These improvements weren't just technical—they reflected a deep understanding of what students and parents actually needed from an edtech platform: accessibility, structure, engagement, and results.

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Go-To-Market Strategy

From day one, uLesson knew that building a great product wasn’t enough—they had to find the right way to get it into the hands of families across Africa. And the truth was, many of those families weren’t hanging out in app stores or waiting to discover new edtech tools online. So, the team made a bold move: they took the product offline to get it online.

The initial strategy was very boots-on-the-ground. Instead of relying solely on digital channels, uLesson built a distribution model that resembled what you might see in the FMCG world—physical sales agents, in-person demos, and direct-to-parent conversations.

They sold affordable Android phones preloaded with uLesson content, bundled with SD cards and dongles, and deployed them across homes, schools, and small retail outlets. In doing this, they didn’t just pitch a product—they introduced a new way of learning to parents who were often skeptical about digital tools.

Much of the early traction came from word of mouth. Parents who bought the product saw how their children engaged with it—and more importantly, how their children began to improve in school.

That word spread fast, especially in urban centres like Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Lagos. But the team didn’t stop there. They doubled down on field marketing: roadshows, school partnerships, teacher-led introductions, and regional campaigns that built awareness from the ground up.

In 2024, uLesson teamed up with MTN Nigeria in a major push to expand reach. MTN donated 4,600 tablets pre‑loaded with the uLesson app to secondary schools across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. Beyond the tablets, the collaboration included special data offers that allowed students to access educational content without worrying about airtime, effectively zero‑rating the platform for users under uLesson subscriptions.

As the product matured and internet penetration improved, uLesson began to shift online—running app campaigns, building a strong presence on YouTube and social media, and using performance marketing to target more digitally active parents.

They also tapped into the aspirational mindset of many African families by highlighting exam success, academic excellence, and structured learning—all outcomes parents deeply cared about. But even with this digital shift, uLesson never fully abandoned its community-driven roots.

Their go-to-market strategy blended traditional and digital distribution in a way that few African startups had attempted at the time, and that balance made all the difference. By meeting parents where they were, and not where the tech world expected them to be, uLesson earned both trust and loyalty.

User Base and Revenue

As uLesson found its footing in the market, its user base didn’t just grow—it evolved. In the early days, most users came through offline channels: parents who bought the preloaded Android devices, schools that signed up in groups, or teachers who recommended the platform during revision periods.

These were uLesson’s first believers—parents and learners who were ready to experiment with digital learning at a time when it was still unfamiliar to most households across Africa.

But things started to shift quickly. Once users got a taste of what was possible, lessons broken down in engaging videos, exam prep tools, quizzes, and a curriculum that mirrored what students were taught in school, the referrals kicked in.

Word-of-mouth was incredibly powerful. For many parents, especially in Nigeria’s middle class, it wasn’t just about education anymore. It was about giving their kids a competitive edge.

The team continued to refine the product and open up new features—live classes, in-app testing, and learning analytics for parents, all of which helped improve retention. Meanwhile, pricing was intentionally kept flexible: affordable monthly plans, bundles, and discounts during WAEC and UTME prep seasons.

They even experimented with freemium access in certain markets to draw users in before upselling premium features. This allowed them to expand access while still maintaining strong conversion rates.

By 2021, uLesson had hit over 1 million downloads, a number that told only part of the story. Behind those downloads were thousands of paying subscribers and families who renewed month after month. Revenue began to grow steadily, powered by a mix of subscription income, device sales in the early years, and later, value-added services layered into the learning experience.

One major turning point came during the COVID-19 pandemic. While many schools shut down, uLesson became a lifeline. Parents scrambled for options, and uLesson’s app already battle-tested, was ready. They saw an explosion in demand, and more importantly, an increase in paid users. It wasn’t just a spike in traffic. It was a signal: edtech had finally arrived as a necessity, not a luxury.

As the platform expanded into new regions like Ghana and Kenya and added more subject areas and grade levels, the business model continued to evolve. But what stayed constant was the understanding that revenue would follow value.

If the platform helped children perform better in school, parents would pay. And if it could do that at scale, across multiple countries and education systems, the business would keep growing—steadily, sustainably, and with purpose.

Fundraising Efforts

When uLesson launched in 2019, it didn’t start with a viral product or massive user traction. What it had was a bold thesis: that quality education, delivered through a mobile device, could change the academic outcomes of millions of African students. And that thesis had the credibility of its founder, Sim Shagaya—a tech veteran who had previously built Konga, one of Nigeria’s largest e-commerce platforms. Investors paid attention.

Early on, Sim made a strategic decision not to bootstrap. Edtech, especially one that aimed to serve multiple markets with localised content and custom devices, required heavy upfront investment. So in late 2019, uLesson raised a $3.1 million seed round led by TLcom Capital.

That initial capital went into product development, content production, and distribution. It was a bet on infrastructure: pre-recorded lessons, warehouse logistics for their learning devices, and a team of subject matter experts.

But the real turning point came with traction. Once parents began buying into the value, and once COVID-19 made digital learning feel not just optional but necessary interest from investors intensified. By 2021, uLesson announced a $7.5 million Series A, also led by TLcom, with participation from Founder Collective and other angels.

The timing couldn’t have been better. With usage surging and demand growing across new African markets, the company now had fuel to double down: hiring more engineers, expanding content to junior secondary and primary levels, and experimenting with live classes.

Not long after, in late 2021, they raised a $15 million Series B, led by Nielsen Ventures and existing backers. At that point, uLesson wasn’t just a Nigerian edtech startup—it was an African education company with growing pan-African ambitions.

The Series B was about depth and scale. More localised content. Better data infrastructure. Stronger parental dashboards. And the big one: more personalised learning, powered by AI and user behaviour data.

What’s Next for uLesson in 2025?

As uLesson enters its sixth year, the company’s focus appears to be shifting from just content delivery to creating a full-fledged learning ecosystem. With over 3 million app downloads and a strong presence across West Africa, uLesson is now eyeing deeper engagement, personalized learning, and regional scale.

In an increasingly competitive edtech market, 2025 may see uLesson deepen its AI-powered learning experiences—building on its 2023 release of adaptive practice tests and real-time performance tracking.

The goal, according to founder Sim Shagaya in past interviews, is not just to digitize content but to “make learning as intelligent and responsive as possible.” This means better curriculum mapping, predictive analytics to help struggling students, and possibly integrating more languages to localize the experience across Africa.

Finally, uLesson is expected to keep investing in offline access solutions, particularly for underserved regions where internet penetration remains low. From dongles and SD cards to downloadable lesson packs, accessibility continues to be core to its mission.

Sim Shagaya’s vision also led to Miva Open University, an accredited online university the team launched in 2024.

Through Miva, uLesson is moving beyond secondary education into full-scale higher learning, offering degree programs in business, computer science, and software engineering.

Beyond undergraduate degrees, Miva also offers postgraduate pathways—including an MBA and a Master of Public Administration (MPA)—that extend uLesson’s reach into professional and public-sector leadership. The MBA program officially launched on April 2, 2024, marking Miva’s first step into graduate education.

In 2025, the university introduced MIND (Miva Interactive Neural Dialogue), an AI-powered learning partner for one-on-one, case-study-driven discussions and adaptive feedback, deepening the “intelligent and responsive” vision across its programs.

Since launch, Miva has scaled from an inaugural cohort of 532 students to over 5,000 by the end of 2024—matriculating 3,000+ learners across 14 approved undergraduate programmes—and now counts 200+ faculty who have delivered nearly 2,000 learning modules.

☝🏽 A personal note:

I believe Sim Shagaya and the uLesson team have succeeded at marketing so much that when I was choosing an MBA program, I chose Miva Open University.

The MBA program has so far lived up to its promises, helping to ground me in core disciplines like accounting, finance, marketing, and operations management.

I’ve even built several AI workflows & agents to boost my productivity during the program, and create ready-to-use templates—just as I do with MIA. Here’s a workflow I built to automate some financial and accounting models.

If I have kids sometime in the future, I’ll definitely be getting them on the uLesson app. I’ve experienced Miva University firsthand and explored uLesson’s learning experience—it’s amazing.

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