How ProRata Honed Their ICP 10x Faster with Strella

ProRata, an AI-powered search and advertising solution, was preparing for their upcoming launch of Gist.ai: an AI-powered search engine that delivers concise, accurate answers to consumers using only trusted, well-established sources. With this launch, the team was looking to:

• Identify and prioritize Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs) for Gist.ai
• Determine which value props and features resonated most with those priority segments
• Forecast user acquisition costs and build a financial growth model for the first 1 million users
• Set the stage for a continuous data-driven marketing and product development process

The Process

Like most startups, team time and bandwidth to run customer research was limited, which is why the team turned to Strella to help collect and synthesize these foundational insights. The project was executed in three phases:

Step 1: Qualitative Feedback Using Strella

ProRata used Strella to run and synthesize 100 (~45-minute) in-depth interviews. From those, five potential ICP segments emerged - each with its own psychographics, attributes, and specific consumer needs. This qualitative work laid the foundation for everything that followed.

Step 2: Quantitative Validation

Next, the team turned Strella’s qualitative insights into targeted ad tests to validate each ICP. By comparing click-through and conversion rates across segments, they identified which audiences were most responsive. When results didn’t align with earlier interviews, they used Strella to run follow-up sessions to dig deeper and fill in the gaps.

Step 3: Product-Marketing-Cost Scenario Modeling

Using cost-per-click data from the ads, the team estimated customer acquisition costs - a key input for Gist.ai’s financial growth model. This enabled the team to develop a marketing with growth strategy with both speed & confidence.

The Impact

>10x Reduction in Time and Cost

By using Strella, ProRata was able to drastically reduce the time and cost typically needed for this kind of deep customer research. As Jordan Kleinman, Gist’s Director of Marketing, put it: “What would have taken weeks - likely four straight weeks of effort - was condensed into a few days. The amount of time saved is so massive.”

The ability to launch sequential interview cohorts, each building on the last, allowed the team to iterate quickly and refine their messaging in real time. This made their insights more actionable and relevant than what’s usually possible through traditional research approaches - and it significantly accelerated Gist’s go-to-market timeline.

Increased Marketing ROI with ~3x Higher CTR on Targeted vs. Untargeted Ads

Targeted ad campaigns driven by Strella’s insights saw a 3x higher click-through rate on average compared to untargeted control groups. According to Jordan, “Before this project, we didn’t know who we wanted to target. With Strella, we were able to define who our potential ICPs were and how to target them.”

These insights not only validated consumer interest but also helped expand their ICP segments beyond initial assumptions. With clearer targeting, the team could confidently forecast acquisition costs and present a well-informed plan to their CEO to guide investment and milestones.

Increased Confidence and a Scalable Research Model

The project set the foundation for how the team plans to approach customer research moving forward. “Without Strella our confidence in the launch would have been nowhere near as high,” Jordan admitted.

The process laid the groundwork for future product and feature launches, and the team now sees Strella as a go-to tool for tracking user feedback, testing new features, and validating market changes. “This project with Strella opened the door to countless testing opportunities that cascade into other areas of the business,” Jordan added.

Strella has become an essential part of ProRata’s playbook - helping them move faster, refine their audience, and launch with clarity.

Want to see how Strella can help you make faster, smarter marketing decisions? Reach out to us at hello@strella.io or schedule a demo on our website!