Integrating Design Thinking and Advertising Analytics for Startup Marketing Optimization

Nuke Puji Lestari Santoso; Anggi Maharani; Adam Faturahman; Stuart Jackson

doi:10.33050/sabda.v6i1.1102

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Nuke Puji Lestari Santoso Universitas Raharja, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4414-2102
Anggi Maharani
anggi.maharani@raharja.info
Universitas Raharja, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0009-0006-6102-5297
Adam Faturahman Universitas Raharja, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9727-9092
Stuart Jackson Adi Institute, United States

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2027)

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In an increasingly competitive digital environment, startups in the creative industry face challenges in maintaining audience engagement and improving advertising effectiveness due to social media saturation and rapidly changing platform algorithms. Conventional promotional approaches are becoming less effective as consumers increasingly prefer authentic, educational, and interactive content. This study aims to develop and evaluate a consumer-centered Instagram advertising strategy using the design thinking approach. The novelty of this research lies in integrating design thinking stages with digital advertising performance metrics to design and assess empathy-based advertising content for a beaded jewelry startup. This study employed a mixed-methods exploratory sequential design. The qualitative phase involved participatory observation, social listening, and analysis of audience interactions on the Instagram account @pritistuff.id to identify consumer pain points and develop advertising content prototypes. The quantitative phase utilized A/B testing through Meta Ads Manager to evaluate campaign performance using Click-Through Rate (CTR), Cost Per Click (CPC), Cost Per Mille (CPM), and Conversion Rate. The findings identified three major consumer concerns uncertainty regarding product quality, difficulty visualizing product size when worn, and resistance to hard-selling advertisements. These insights were translated into educational Carousel content and User-Generated Content (UGC)-based Reels prototypes. The campaign achieved a CTR of 22.49%, CPC of IDR 70 per interaction, CPM of IDR 15,646, and a Conversion Rate of 1.99%, indicating improved engagement and advertising efficiency. The study concludes that design thinking provides an effective framework for developing consumer-centered digital advertising strategies that enhance audience engagement and support sustainable business growth.

Santoso, N. P. L., Maharani, A., Faturahman, A., & Jackson, S. (2026). Integrating Design Thinking and Advertising Analytics for Startup Marketing Optimization. Startupreneur Business Digital (SABDA Journal), 6(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.33050/sabda.v6i1.1102

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