We were approached by the team at AGROFORUM — a SaaS platform for buying and selling grain crops — with a clear request:
How to increase conversion from visitor to registered platform member when dealing with a market oversaturated with intermediaries? How to become the No. 1 platform used by farmers and traders in Ukraine?
In the Ukrainian agricultural sector, everything is based on personal connections and agreements. People are used to working the old-fashioned way: many things are done manually, and almost no one trusts digital tools. Anyone who proposes a new idea or service doesn’t even have time to explain why it is needed before they are met with mistrust and resistance.
Our task was to develop a marketing strategy for promoting the project and to find and propose ways to increase potential users’ trust in the platform.
Therefore, the key question was formulated as follows:
How to convey the value of a new digital product in a traditional B2B market with a high level of distrust toward technology?
That’s how our collaboration began.
| How long did it take to develop the strategy? | 150 hours, 6 working weeks |
| Project type | B2B SaaS |
| What is the composition of the marketing strategy development team? | Head of Marketing Team, Head of PM Team, Head of Content Team, Operations Marketer, Content Marketer, Head of PPC Department, PPC Facebook, Editor. |
| How were the results of the work used? | Independent implementation by specialists on the client’s side. |
AgroForum project: a secure digital platform for the grain market
AgroForum is a SaaS platform and mobile application for buying and selling grain crops, focused on the B2B segment: farmers, traders, logistics companies, elevators, and service businesses related to the agricultural sector.
The project combines tools for transparent trading, legal security, and digital convenience.
Product strengths:
- Authorization via EDS — legal validity of actions on the platform.
- Auction mechanics — it is not the seller who looks for a buyer, but buyers who compete for the right to buy.
- Fixed commission — 1,000 UAH only after the agreement is concluded (regardless of its volume).
- Mobile application — with full functionality.
- Bonus system — 5000 UAH to the user’s balance upon authorization.
- Reputation model instead of rating — “Agrarian Forbes” as a new motivation for activity.
Project goal: attract 25% of the grain trading market, create ten thousand lots per year.
Target audience:
- Primary: farmers, grain traders, elevators.
- Additional: logistics, insurance, banking companies and service agencies.
- Geography: Ukraine (at the start), with the potential to scale up to Europe through the “agency model.”
Are you building SaaS in a niche where trust is the key barrier? Let’s discuss how to build trust in your product!
Analysis of Google search results and market trends
We analyzed Google search results for brand and product queries.
➡️ Under the brand name “Agroforum,“ the platform already occupies top positions in organic search results, but due to the existence of similar names, it is important to clarify the positioning in the title and description to avoid confusion and increase recognition.
➡️ For product queries — we analyzed what websites look like in Google search results for queries such as “buy/sell grain crops”: what competitors show, how they design their pages, what details they add (e.g., prices, contacts, filters by region).
The best results are achieved by those who tailor their pages to users: they add clear prompts, write useful blog articles, and provide more information directly in search results. These are the approaches that should be implemented.
The marketing significance of global and local trends in the grain industry
When we talk about developing a marketing strategy for an agricultural platform, it is important to consider the global context. What shapes demand, player behavior, and creates opportunities for growth?
The war in Ukraine has dramatically changed global logistics chains, demand, prices, and consumption rates. That is why we take geo-economic analytics into account in our marketing planning.
In recent years:
+ Ukraine continues to play a key role in global grain exports, even in wartime. This means that businesses involved in the grain trade have influence and potential in the international context.
+ Changes in prices and seasonality of demand directly influence the behavior of farmers, traders, elevators, and, accordingly, their activity on agricultural platforms. We see peaks of interest in buying grain in August-September and in selling in the summer. This allows us to build a strategic media plan and timing for activation launches.
+ Decline in global prices and reduction in cultivated areas in Ukraine — a factor that increases competition among suppliers and creates demand for services that offer more: price comparisons, auctions, transparency.
What does this affect in this particular case:
Clear positioning: in conditions of instability and uncertainty, the platform must position itself as a reliable benchmark for the agricultural sector. A point of support that provides stability and transparency.
Content and communications: it is worth working on topics that are currently of concern to farmers and traders — changes in prices, logistics, market access, support provided by the state and partners.
Seasonal planning: based on demand analysis, we can create a schedule for more active use of advertising, update campaigns, and CTAs to meet the current needs of users.
Understanding global and local market trends allows you to build a brand development strategy that adapts to changes in consumer behavior, so brands that rely on a deep understanding of the market have a competitive advantage.
Want to factor market impact, seasonality, and behavioral changes into your marketing model? Sign up for a free consultation!
Website as a service. Analysis of a website as an agent of influence
For SaaS, the website is a key point, because this is where both user engagement and the product experience itself take place.
That is why we always start with a strategic audit involving all possible marketing “roles”: as designers, as layout designers, as a team of marketers, as users.
In addition to evaluating the design, we analyze:
- Does the first screen resonate with “pain” and the expectations of the target audience?
- which trust triggers are integrated into the service;
- how and where CTAs are implemented;
We always view a website as a belief system.
In the case of AgroForum, we found that the website has a light, modern visual design, but the key factor — trust — remains undisclosed.
Key strategic insights:
1. There is no established value proposition on the first screen.
The website has a modern look, but does not answer the user’s main question:
No positioning, no emotional hooks. If the user doesn’t understand anything about the service from the first screen, it’s a loss of precious 3 seconds of attention.
2. Unjustified entry barrier (registration via electronic digital signature without explanation)
New users are required to fill out a form, confirm their consent, and then log in using an electronic digital signature. For a beginner, this seems very suspicious.
We cannot skip this stage, so it is important to communicate clearly and explain right away that an electronic signature = a guarantee of security.
3. Lack of information = mistrust
- All buttons “Learn more” are inactive.
- The name of the platform is given in different formats (AgroForum, Агрофорум).
- The section on “online auction” does not explain how it works.
- The advantages are presented in a template format, without differentiation from competitors.
The grain market is an environment with a high threshold of skepticism. Market participants will not enter the platform unless they immediately understand:
- how the auction works;
- how the platform makes money;
- how legal certainty is ensured;
- what will happen if something goes wrong.
We also analyzed the website and mobile application and provided a prepared document with a detailed audit and expert recommendations for improvement.
A website audit is an opportunity to check elements that are not working: technically, in terms of communication and conversions. This is especially important for SaaS and projects with a high level of user distrust.
Does your product seem complicated for users? We can help you develop communication that breaks down barriers and increases engagement.
Competitive analysis as a way to leverage market experience while avoiding being like everyone else
Competitive analysis provides a clear understanding of which promotion channels, advertising campaigns, and marketing tools have the greatest potential for your niche.
We study how competitors interact with their audience, how they build trust, what they base loyalty on, and where exactly they lose potential customers.
We researched more than 10 platforms, including:
- direct competitors;
- niche messenger bots;
- universal platforms.
After that, we entered all the information and conclusions into separate documents, where we described each competitor in detail: their approach to promotion, analysis of social networks and websites, visual components, and much more.
Some of our conclusions:
- The use of electronic digital signatures (EDS) truly sets the platform apart from its competitors and sets a high standard of protection for users. Therefore, we provide detailed recommendations on how to use this advantage.
- The availability of a fully-fledged mobile application, which provides convenient interaction regardless of time and place, is also an advantage for certain audience segments. Our goal is to take advantage of this opportunity.
- Auction format is a tool that enables farmers to receive the most favorable market offers. Here, we also provide detailed recommendations on how to utilize this advantage.
Competitor analysis
- It becomes the basis for positioning — we build our strategy on facts: what others do not offer and what we do better.
- Sets the focus for communication — in targeting, PR, blogs and email funnels.
- Forms the structure of the site — what blocks should be there, how we should communicate, what CTAs will be relevant.
- Provides a basis for SEO strategy — identified weaknesses of competitors form the basis of blog sections and landing pages.
- Assists with the selection of communication channels.
Do you have a product but don’t have a clear understanding of how to promote it against your competitors? We can help. Sign up for a free consultation.
Strategy as a growth point
To grow, you need to choose a direction for development and move in that direction, without trying to be everything at once.
We develop turnkey marketing strategies, focusing on business goals, the real market situation, and promotion channels that deliver results.
Therefore, along with the strategy, our clients receive a vision of their systematic marketing and answers to questions about how to achieve their planned targets.
For AgroForum, based on research, we have developed a roadmap for transforming perceptions in three stages:
- Determining positioning.
- Offline packaging and online.
- Promotion and optimization.
In the strategy, we specifically described what tools are needed at each stage to achieve the goals set by the business.
Why it works
Businesses cannot rely on just one tool or one action — such as Google advertising — and expect steady growth.
Business grows when marketing works systematically. Then all communication channels convey the same message to the customer, creating a holistic perception of the brand and confidence in its promises.
It is this integrity that we build into every project.
This case study is an example of how we work with B2B SaaS companies that:
- are launched in a competitive market;
- require trust and reputation;
- are not looking for a “quick fix,” but rather a model for long-term scaling;
- want to build marketing that works as a system.
We develop marketing strategies for B2B tailored to specific business needs:
🔸 launching new products;
🔸 business scaling;
🔸 entering new markets;
🔸 conversion rate improvement;
🔸 brand building;
🔸 Transformation of the existing marketing model.
If you are looking for a strategic partner to develop and implement a turnkey marketing strategy, sign up for a free consultation. We will show you how developing an effective strategy affects your brand’s profitability, recognition, and growth.
