UNDP Accelerator Lab in Serbia team conducted ground research with the target group to gather evidence of past behavior rather than opinions and thoughts on hypothetical situations. We interviewed 12 digital nomads via video call to find out how the pandemic affected their lifestyle, what their objections and thoughts about visiting Serbia were, and how they approach getting vaccinated. The customer development methodology was used as an inspiration and reference for setting up the research and creating the questionnaire. We also avoided asking them directly about their opinions on vaccination to avoid getting politically correct answers and instead framed the questions in a way that they referred to their friends who were also digital nomads. After analyzing the results, we proceeded to create the communication strategy for the entire campaign, with the list of key messages that were used in all the touchpoints with the target audience. Our main touchpoint with the target group was the landing page that outlined all the important information about visiting Belgrade and the vaccination campaign. The methodology involved extracting the most relevant quotes from the interviews and forming problem and solution statements based on them to create marketing messages. We played and experimented with five main elements: features and benefits, answering objections, social proof, a call to action, and super-simple next steps. The research took around 10 days to complete, and our findings included that digital nomads travelled drastically less than before, and those that still travelled found the logistics of travelling during Covid excruciating. Vaccination didn’t impact the logistics of travelling that much since most countries ask for a negative PCR test despite vaccination. However, people are looking to get vaccinated so they can travel more safely and have peace of mind. They are very open to getting vaccinated outside their native country and were actively looking for opportunities to do so. The main factors they took into account when deciding where to get vaccinated were the general quality of healthcare in the country, the possibility of choosing between different vaccines, a user-friendly system in English for booking the vaccination, the entry requirements in the country, and the cost of accommodation and everyday things involved in a longer stay. After analyzing the research, we created the communication strategy and key messages, which were used in all the touchpoints with the target audience, including the landing page. We played and experimented with five main elements of the landing page to ensure it was as effective as possible. Every experiment we ran started with a clear hypothesis and ended with a conclusion. The experiments were in most cases set up as A/B/C tests of campaign assets paired with different versions of the landing page.  The tools we used to measure the results and draw conclusions were a Facebook Business manager for measuring campaign performance, Google Analytics to track which combinations of campaign assets and landing pages lead to the best conversion, and tools for recording each user session to track how visitors really interact with the content on the page.  By the end of the campaign, we had run experiments with 14 versions of the landing page, 20 creative variations and 490 separate ads.

The most important resources required for carrying out this experiment are extensive knowledge of digital marketing, copywriting, sales generation, and digital advertising, in particular on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. In addition, in order to successfully run the campaigns, you will need active accounts on social media platforms, as well as people who are experienced in designing, implementing, and managing experiments that make use of campaigns.