Snapdeal 2.0’s marketing strategy relies on influencers to connect with Tier-II, III cities

Soumyadip Chatterjee, director - brand marketing, Snapdeal, explains how cost efficiency is the key goal behind the brand’s current marketing strategy.

The growing e-commerce market in India has become an open playing field for businesses. The market was initially dominated by a few players. Now, bigger players like Amazon, JioMart, etc., have gained prominence.

Snapdeal, a player in the e-commerce segment since 2010, recently adopted a different approach to its business. The company dubbed the new business moves as a part of ‘Snapdeal 2.0’.

The brand’s core focus, at the moment, is to break even. In a bid to be more efficient with its finances, the company’s marketing approach has also changed drastically.

In a conversation with afaqs!, Soumyadip Chatterjee, director - brand marketing, Snapdeal, shares that the company has identified consumers in Tier-II and III markets, as its target audience.

“We want to understand the most influential mediums, when it comes to the customers and their purchases. We realised that the digital medium has been the basic influence driver for our customers.”

Thus, the company’s marketing efforts are focused on influencer and content marketing. Digital influencer marketing is an ongoing process. 

“Influencers have a much stronger impact on our audiences in tier-II and tier-III cities. The reason is that audiences can correlate with them is they are people who move among them rather than celebrities, who appear a little distant," adds Chatterjee.

Elaborating on the digital marketing plans, he mentions that the brand breaks down the products available on their platform, into subcategories. Then, it analyses the geographies in which a particular product is purchased, and the age groups of the consumers. 

“Initially, our data analytics team provides us with a list of all these cohorts. These are all mapped to subcategories and audience’s gender, age and geography. Then, we go to Instagram, YouTube, etc. We have customised tools at our disposal to understand who the creators are and which one is the most appropriate fit for a particular subcategory.”

The brand collaborates with influencers on Instagram for shorter videos and with YouTube influencers for recurring vlog or review style content. Chatterjee also reveals that the brand has experimented with Indian short video platforms as well. "We have worked with many of the India first short video platforms as well with varying degrees of results. We work with these short video apps on and off. I think the head space in that market is huge and consolidation has not even happened yet," he says.

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The brand focuses on developing long-term relationships with these creators. Chatterjee says that the engagements over a long period are disproportionately beneficial for Snapdeal, because the creators get involved in the marketing process.

The brand focuses on developing long-term relationships with these creators. Chatterjee says that the engagements over a long period are disproportionately beneficial for Snapdeal, because the creators get involved in the marketing process.

“The influencers we have on board, get involved even in the product selection process. It isn’t just a monetary deal. We also take their feedback quite seriously,” Chatterjee shares.

He explains that Snapdeal’s focus on Tier-II and III markets isn’t just in terms of marketing. The app’s UI and UX have been simplified to a great degree under Snapdeal 2.0. 

“Somebody who doesn’t even understand complex English, can browse and transact. You can also use the platform in your local language.” The brand is also focusing on hosting products that are affordable, on its platforms. Chatterjee details that roughly 80% of the products on Snapdeal, are priced under Rs 1,000.

The e-comm platform will rope in celebrities for promotion in the near future, once the business breaks even. According to Chatterjee, the influencer-heavy strategy is working for the brand, as of now.

Also Read: “Want to disrupt the notion that only branded items are of good quality”: Snapdeal's Soumyadip Chatterjee