B2B SaaS · Gaming
ChallengeDespite a strong product, modl.ai struggled to reach decision-makers at top game studios. Growth had plateaued and traditional marketing wasn't moving the needle.
Key product usedCommunity Marketing
15x ROI. 260+ qualified leads. Over $1M in pipeline. New traction with Epic, King, and EA. No paid ads.
WebsiteSplendid got to the heart of what our buyers really wanted. They created substantial value through trusted experts and reached decision-makers we otherwise couldn't.
modl.ai builds AI-powered quality assurance for game studios. Founded by game developers and PhDs, their platform helps studios of any size find more bugs faster, automate detection, and minimize post-launch fixes. They serve a niche industry going through a massive transition.
After Series A funding from Griffin Gaming Partners and Microsoft's M12, modl.ai's marketing was getting traction. Their strategy leaned on in-depth academic papers and analysis about AI's role in gaming. Inbound leads were flowing, but a problem emerged:
The leads weren't qualified.
Interest was coming from students, hobbyists, and micro-developers without budgets. The real target buyers - in-house QA leaders and studio executives - weren't paying attention. modl.ai needed a new strategy to maintain momentum and reach decision-makers with real budgets.
Most B2B marketers chase vanity metrics that look impressive but rarely generate revenue. In a world of commodified AI content and relentless self-promotion, buyers tune vendors out and listen to peers instead.
Splendid builds programs that convert social capital into business opportunities. Since people follow people in B2B, we designed a campaign that leveraged this truth.
We started with a full total addressable market audit, identifying 139 accounts that matched modl.ai's ideal customer profile. We filtered those to find the influential QA and technical leaders who could amplify their message. We selected four leaders as content co-creators, aligning modl.ai's growth with their own goals. Our team designed, coordinated, and produced interview-driven articles with each expert.
Founder, Digital Age Quality Assurance
Head of Production, Fuseboxx Games
CEO, Indium Play
Senior Test Engineer, Netflix
Each article delivered actionable takeaways based on real-world experience. Launched in coordination with each contributor, the articles drove targeted LinkedIn engagement among qualified buyers. modl.ai stayed in the background, letting the experts lead and earn trust.
We surveyed 400 games QA professionals about the state of AI in their work. Questions covered adoption, tooling pain points, and where the industry is headed. The result: a timely, relevant snapshot and forecast.
We shared the findings with the contributing experts, who added their own perspectives. The combined quantitative and qualitative insights produced content that industry leaders couldn't ignore. We packaged everything into "The State of Games QA," a 29-page PDF report, and pitched it to trade publications.
The report launched with exclusive organic coverage from PCGamesInsider.biz, a trade publication with 29,000+ monthly readers in the game development community. The article included a backlink to the report's landing page. Within days, 45+ additional outlets covered the findings, including Gamesindustry.biz and IGN. Contributing experts amplified the release with pre-written social copy our team provided.
Thanks to the combined earned and owned distribution, the report launch produced a massive influx of qualified leads from referral traffic, organic social, and email distribution. No paid spend.
After three months, the campaign had generated 260+ qualified leads from indie, AA, and AAA studios with titles like:
Market segment analysis showed even distribution across the industry: 56% from indie studios, 26% from AA, and 18% from world-class AAA companies including Epic, King, EA, Activision Blizzard, Gameloft, and more.
Industry benchmarks place average cost per lead for modl.ai's contract size between $400 and $2,000. This campaign generated leads at $85 each in the first three months alone - under 25% of the typical channel cost. That number kept declining as more prospects discovered the report organically.
In the year following release, the report continued to pay dividends. Shortly after launch, modl.ai presented the findings at Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona, a conference hosting some of the most influential figures in mobile gaming. The report kept earning organic promotion from industry leaders aggregating and sharing it to build their own personal brands. Splendid engaged those community members and converted them into the next round of content co-creators.
This campaign wasn't just about lead generation, though it excelled there. It demonstrated that in an era of commodified content, attention goes to trusted voices, not loudest ones.
By anchoring content in real voices and hard-won insights, Splendid helped modl.ai become unforgettable in their niche. They didn't need a massive ad budget. They needed to know who mattered, what those people cared about, and how to help them share valuable knowledge.
For anyone trying to connect with a tight-knit audience - in gaming, tech, advertising, or any specialized field - the lesson is clear: stop marketing toward people. Start building with them.
One 30-minute working session. Walk away with a complete view of your target market: the accounts, the buyers, the top 20 influencers, what they care about, and the 3 most likely to say yes.