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Become A Startup Insider With Inc42 Plus
Join our exclusive community of business leaders &makers for in-depth tech stories and intelligence on India’s tech economy you won’t find elsewhere.
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As digital marketing flourishes in a tech-driven, internet-intensive business landscape, more and more Indian startups are automating essential marketing tasks to increase efficiency and optimise their reach, no matter where the customers are. Marketing automation helps companies segment campaigns and track their efficacy, generate, nurture and convert leads, and streamline and improve customer engagement for long-term retention. In the process, it frees up valuable resources for innovation and revenue generation at a fast clip.
Keeping in mind how marketing automation uses data and advanced technologies to ensure a higher ROI in a funding-strapped, profitability-first startup market, Inc42 has partnered with global martech product company Netcore to host a multi-city event called The Growth Mindset.
The purpose is to bring together decision-makers in product management, marketing, growth, CRM and CX (customer experience) functions to explore the latest trends and best practices in marketing automation and focus on networking and growth opportunities.
In our first meetup hosted in Bengaluru, a panel discussion was held on the How Marketing Automation Can Rewrite The Retention Playbook For Startups to take a closer look at its current state of integration across the Indian startup ecosystem.
Moderated by Deepak Gaur, director (experience consulting) at PwC India, the discussion included Saurabh Vivaan, head of growth and marketing at Pratilipi; Anil Kumar V, VP (growth) at Cashfree Payments, and Ramesh Srinivasan, CEO of Netcore Cloud’s India business. The session explored many critical areas such as:
- The critical points startups should consider for customer retention
- Role of marketing automation in the journey from acquisition to retention
- How marketing automation and cohort analysis can charge up retention
Fuelling Customer Retention With A Robust Marketing Automation Stack
“Given the market situation, I don’t think there could be a better time to talk about retention when the focus is to maximise RPU (revenue-per-user) or LTV (customer lifetime value) from the existing user base rather than acquiring new users,” said Saurabh Vivaan of Pratilipi, an audiobook and self-publishing platform with the focus on regional languages.
Globally, India is the third-largest startup ecosystem and saw a 49% CAGR in startup investments during 2014-2021. To sustain the growth momentum even in the current slowdown, retention (and better monetisation) of the existing customer base is critical and may become the guiding light for long-term success in the current business landscape. As the competition for customer attention mounts in a crowded market, startups should prioritise building a robust marketing automation stack for retention.
But before one enters the implementation phase, there should be sturdy groundwork in place.
“It’s essential for a startup/product to identify its core use case [the problem it solves for end users] and the frequency of user engagement required for business growth,” said Vivaan.
The targeted user frequency is, therefore, a stepping stone while designing the retention strategy for a specific product. It involves a broad spectrum, though (depending on the nature of the business), ranging from a video-streaming platform that expects daily footfall in droves (the top end) to a property-renting platform (a niche segment) more concerned about customer loyalty.
Interestingly, Ramesh Srinivasan, CEO of Netcore Cloud’s India business, believed that a steady acquisition spree could lead to robust retention. Undoubtedly, retention is a key focus area in a slowing economy. But startups still acquiring customers at a fast clip should incorporate marketing automation tools to ensure a great onboarding experience. Such measures will strengthen their retention playbook, as building a superstructure on a weak foundation is near impossible.
“It is difficult to acquire customers. So, you need to give them the best experience around that,” said Srinivasan of Netcore Cloud. “Look at things from a marketing perspective, and you will find too many channels. Even quick commerce is happening on WhatsApp nowadays. Therefore, you must pick your (acquisition) battles carefully and have a great strategy for each channel. In a [diverse] country like India, the tipping point may occur anywhere.”
As for building a marketing automation stack, it acts like a catalyst in the process that starts with effective acquisition strategies and leads to a retention master plan.
“The whole aspect of marketing or why customers buy what they buy may have little to do with a brand’s personality or the tools it uses. A B2C, a B2B or a G2C purchase works very differently. And the tool is the means to help customers understand what you offer,” said Anil Kumar V of Cashfree Payments.
That’s why having a customer-centric mindset or understanding the psyche of one’s customers is more critical now, as the world shifts towards marketing automation and a tech-driven CLM (customer lifecycle management) system.
Anil urged startups to use a functional cohort system where a business provides the right resources to the right audience and determines whether its customer base is okay with a workable solution that fixes their problem or expects a fancy UI/UX.
“Whether you are a startup or an established company, whatever marketing tools you are using at the current phase of your journey must be in sync with the cohorts you are trying to serve,” he said.
There are still questions galore about getting the strategy right. When should a startup begin to invest in marketing automation? How should it deal with customer churn? Is there a way to win back lapsed/inactive customers?
Get the answers and boost your business by watching this panel discussion on How Marketing Automation Can Rewrite The Retention Playbook For Startups.
