Ksenia Yastrebova

Case Summary

As the Japanese Market Lead, I contributed to product launches from market research and demand validation through launch planning and acquisition strategy. By combining customer insights, search demand analysis and content strategy, I helped build awareness and generate demand before products became available.

Challenge

Before investing development resources into new software products and features, the company needed to understand whether sufficient customer demand existed and how products should be positioned within different markets.

Once products were approved, the challenge shifted to generating awareness and capturing interest before launch.

Approach

I conducted market research using customer support requests, competitor analysis, search demand data and recurring customer problems.

Following product approval, I developed a pre-launch SEO and content strategy designed to capture users actively searching for solutions before the product became available.

The strategy included:

• Search demand analysis
• Content creation targeting high-intent problems
• Educational resources
• Email subscription acquisition
• Product page preparation
• Media outreach support

Successful acquisition approaches from the Japanese market were later adopted by other markets.

Impact

• Contributed to product prioritization discussions through market research
• Helped validate customer demand before development investment
• Generated qualified organic traffic before launch
• Achieved the strongest subscription performances among non-English markets
• Created acquisition strategies later adopted by other regional teams

Key Takeaways

Search demand, customer research and market insights can help validate opportunities and generate demand before products reach the market.

Case Summary

As the Japanese Market Lead, I contributed to product launches from market research and demand validation through launch planning and acquisition strategy. By combining customer insights, search demand analysis and content strategy, I helped build awareness and generate demand before products became available.

Challenge

Before investing development resources into new software products and features, the company needed to understand whether sufficient customer demand existed and how products should be positioned within different markets.

Once products were approved, the challenge shifted to generating awareness and capturing interest before launch.

Approach

I conducted market research using customer support requests, competitor analysis, search demand data and recurring customer problems.

Following product approval, I developed a pre-launch SEO and content strategy designed to capture users actively searching for solutions before the product became available.

The strategy included:

• Search demand analysis
• Content creation targeting high-intent problems
• Educational resources
• Email subscription acquisition
• Product page preparation
• Media outreach support

Successful acquisition approaches from the Japanese market were later adopted by other markets.

Impact

• Contributed to product prioritization discussions through market research
• Helped validate customer demand before development investment
• Generated qualified organic traffic before launch
• Achieved the strongest subscription performances among non-English markets
• Created acquisition strategies later adopted by other regional teams

Key Takeaways

Search demand, customer research and market insights can help validate opportunities and generate demand before products reach the market.

Case Summary

A global luxury fashion brand wanted to evaluate whether their Japanese website reflected local search behavior and customer expectations while maintaining global brand standards. I conducted a large-scale SEO and localization assessment and developed a prioritized roadmap covering content, UX, taxonomy and search visibility.

Challenge

The challenge was to balance luxury brand consistency with the expectations of Japanese customers without compromising the brand’s positioning.

Approach

I conducted a comprehensive review of more than 90 pages across product listing pages, product detail pages, collection pages and key commercial sections.

The assessment included:

• Search demand and terminology analysis
• Metadata review
• Content evaluation
• UX assessment
• Localization consistency review
• Competitor benchmarking

Based on the findings, I developed a prioritized roadmap focused on discoverability, content relevance, UX improvements and localization opportunities.

Impact

• Audited more than 90 pages across key site sections
• Identified opportunities across content, UX, metadata and site structure
• Delivered a prioritized optimization roadmap
• Balanced SEO requirements, customer expectations and luxury brand standards

Key Takeaways

Success of international SEO depends on understanding how customers search, evaluate products and make purchasing decisions within a specific market while maintaining global brand consistency.