Zomato Marketing Strategies: How the Brand Emerged as a Leading Food Delivery Service Provider
🔍Insights
“Foodiebay” or “Zomato” as we now call it, was a startup founded in Delhi, now headquartered in Gurgaon, in July 2008. A website, Foodiebay.com, which initially started as a food review website containing the menus from popular restaurants nearby and gradually turned into the best food delivery service in operation in India, has certainly had a dream run!
Did you know that the founders, Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah, were working with Bain & Company in Delhi when they looked at the long queue of employees lined up to order their food and came up with the idea of Foodiebay, which later led to Zomato?
For more such facts like “How was Zomato Started?” and its success story, name, logo, tagline, marketing strategies, investors, revenue, acquisitions, and more, you can follow Zomato - Delivering Delicious Happiness to Your Doorsteps!
However, if you are curious to learn about the key marketing strategies of Zomato that propelled the brand to achieve the success that it now boasts of, then you have landed on the right page.
- SEO Strategy of Zomato
- Social Media Strategy of Zomato
- Push Notifications
- Influencer Marketing
- Paid Advertising Campaigns
- Email Marketing Strategy of Zomato
- Visual Advertising of Zomato
What’s Unique in Zomato’s Marketing?
Segmentation-Targeting-Positioning (STP) of Zomato
Prominent Marketing Campaigns of Zomato
Marketing Strategy of Zomato
Zomato surely has an effective marketing strategy to power the brand, which has reigned in the successful home.
If we look at the statistics of the traffic from different sources and channels, we can see that Zomato derives major chunks of traffic from its searches and directly, being 53.63% and 43.34%, respectively, when compared to referrals, social media, or other paid marketing campaigns and other sources.
The marketing strategy of Zomato is a mixed marketing strategy that has successfully kept the traffic coming, thereby driving sales. The brand has always focused on innovation and agility.
Though it was one of the first brands to start with the food delivery service, companies came pouring in, and Zomato needed to ensure that they outpaced them in the long run. This was done with the help of a unique mix of innovative ideas, offering products and services at affordable rates and acquiring other companies.
Besides, the company has always believed in hard work, which was always there right from the first. In fact, Deepinder Goyal, one of the co-founders, also mentioned in one of his interviews that if something does not go as planned, then the core team of Zomato is always ready to pick it up and go through the same afresh, making the necessary changes. This kind of dedication always pays off!
Rishabh Rathi
SEO Strategy of Zomato
SEO strategy has no other alternative, and Zomato uses it to the fullest extent, as we have already seen most of its traffic (53.63%) comes from searches made online. This proves that Zomato is fueled by a foolproof SEO strategy, along with working hard enough to keep the brand soaring in the Google organic SERP results.
Now, you are definitely interested in learning the SEO strategy of Zomato, aren't you?
Here are some of the key insights into the Zomato's SEO strategy:
Keyword Targeted
Zomato targets over 900K keywords for their SEO purposes. Targeting these many keywords and further optimizing them organically always has an upper hand in SEO, which is why it has obtained a dominant position in search results.
Zomato is equipped with a colossal directory of food and restaurants, and this is a boon in disguise for their SEO. From the names of the restaurants to the names of the dishes, places, and more, everything happens to be keywords that boost the SEO of the brand. Even phrases like “restaurants near me,” “bars to dine in,” etc., also serve as useful long-tail keywords for the brand.
Pages on website
Zomato has over 1.4 Million listed restaurants, and each has its own pages, which are maintained regularly. This shoots the total number of pages on Zomato to over several million, which has its own advantages for the SEO of the website. We all know that the more pages on a website, the more the authority of the website, and the higher the possibilities of gaining crucial ranks on the search engines.
Linking of the URLs
Zomato boosts its domain authority by getting backlinks from countless websites that include high authority websites, including websites from .gov and .edu domains. The website currently has high authority backlinks from over 12.48 Million domains.
Archana Karthikeyan
Internal Linking
As we all know, the common SEO strategy is to link specific URLs relevant to the keywords. This helps search engines recognize our web pages and show relevant search results for the users, which also passively betters the ranks of the keywords.
The same thing happens with Zomato but on a larger scale, where the brand targets an overwhelming number of keywords and key phrases to link in their URLs.
Social Media Strategy of Zomato
Zomato's target audience is usually between 18-35 years old, and therefore it is imperative for the brand to work hard in its social media marketing; and Zomato puts in the extra effort on creating unique social media ads and other engaging posts to stay connected.
As most of our social media platforms remain full of memes, if not with anything else, Zomato has wielded the meme marketing strategy successfully to its benefit.
It posts funny content that amuses the audience and drives them to order food at the same time.
Harshit Verma
Push Notifications
Zomato's push notification marketing approach is centered on sending individualized and relevant messages to its subscribers at the appropriate moment. The corporation segments its users and sends them personalized communications based on various data elements, including their location, previous orders, and preferences. For example, the company might use humor, pop culture references, or even personalized emojis in its notifications.
Influencer Marketing
Zomato's influencer marketing strategy involves collaborating with food bloggers, vloggers, and social media influencers to generate talk about its brand and offerings. The organization collaborates with a wide range of influencers, from macro-influencers with millions of followers to micro-influencers with smaller but more engaged followings. Zomato also collaborates with influencers to organize events and contests.
The company, for example, may collaborate with an influencer to host a food-tasting event or to provide a free lunch to a lucky follower.
Paid Advertising Campaigns
Though paid advertising is a temporary marketing strategy that a brand might opt for, it contributes a major part to keeping the engagement up. Effective paid advertising, along with organic optimization, significantly improves the search results of a brand, and Zomato never fails to do just that! The advertising strategy of Zomato focuses on retaining its audience.
The food delivery giant runs Google ads to target specific customers, which are displayed along with its organic results, and together, they help the brand target a wide range of keywords, which was impossible otherwise. Zomato Marketing Campaigns are generally paid advertisements that help them to engage with their audience.
PV Vyshnavi
Email Marketing Strategy of Zomato
We are all connected via our emails and thus, email marketing strategy forms an important part of the marketing of a company. Zomato knows how to utilize this effective tool optimally.
Many brands use email marketing strategies to their benefit, but only a few can emerge with as witty and compelling email marketing strategies as Zomato does. To maintain its brand loyalty, Zomato combines compelling one-liners for the subjects and a fitting call to action to conclude them.
In one of its email marketing campaigns, Zomato themed its email on Mirzapur season 2, one of the most popular Amazon Prime Video series, to ride the hype that the series enjoys.
“Munna Bhaiya invited you to a weekend,” mentioned Zomato once.
At the start of another weekend, Zomato exclaimed, “Enjoy a weekend to guddu to be true.”
Furthermore, on another occasion, Zomato further used its email marketing strategy to create a resume for the all-favorite biryani. Here, the brand typically used phrases related to the food, like “curryculum Vitae of Biryani,” and replaced “hire now” with “order now” to form tempting email templates that ensured a roaring success!
Visual Advertising of Zomato
Zomato’s visual advertising is as appealing as its other marketing strategies. The brand, in fact, come up with some of the best visual adverts ever since it came into prominence. Regardless of whether it is their video advertisements or billboards, Zomato always comes up with impressive content ideas to score well.
Anish Sharma
What’s Unique in Zomato’s Marketing?
Zomato has been a leader in a food delivery service. Achievements they can easily boast of, but all of these boil down to the unique marketing strategies that Zomato has developed. Here are some of Zomato's marketing strategies that made it big:
Hitting overseas sooner than later
Though Zomato was set up first in India, in Delhi, it didn’t hesitate to take the risk of trying abroad. The company, which was founded in 2008, had already set up shops in 2012 in Dubai, the Philippines, Qatar, the UK, and other countries.
Making Major Acquisitions
As we have already mentioned, Zomato had a strong belief in acquiring companies along with innovating their own self, i.e., their products and services. In this process, they successfully acquired a list of companies like Urbanspoon, Uber Eats, TongueStun, Fitso, Mekanist, MapleGraph, Cibando, Nextable, Blinkit, and more such companies that were showing quite potential.
Though these acquisitions cost the company a fortune at the same time, they helped add the necessary momentum to the brand time and again.
Damini Bhandary
Diversified Offerings
Along with offering a satisfactory food delivery service, Zomato brainstorms other additions the company offers its users now and again.
Zomato Gold was launched in November 2017 and serves as a premium service that provides matchless offers and discounts for users against a monthly subscription fee.
Furthermore, Zomato also started Hyperpure as an initiative that promises hygienic and high-quality supplies to restaurants in August 2018, which further expanded the list of the company’s offerings and for good!
The company also started Zomato Pro, a subscription service that offers unlimited free delivery on orders over a certain amount, as well as other benefits such as early access to new restaurants and exclusive discounts.
Unique Take on Twitter
Good communication always acts as a ladder that helps a business climb to success, and it is something that serves as an asset for every brand. Effective communication not only helps in sustaining a business but is also deemed an incredibly powerful tool to boost overall engagement. In Zomato’s case, it did just that!
Along with being engaging, Zomato’s voice on its social media handles turned out to be quite eccentric, which helped set the brand apart from its rivals.
For example, it was only in December 2020 that the brand started a marketing campaign on Twitter, which asked Twitteratis to come up with the most creative restaurant name that they could think of. This unique campaign started to bring in comments and replies like anything. Being active on this platform is Zomato's major marketing strategy.
Along with other marketing strategies and acquisitions, it is campaigns like this that powered Zomato. Twitter had even declared Zomato as the Best Brand Voice in 2020.
Another classic example of Zomato’s unique voice on Twitter and other social media platforms is when the brand posted the groundbreaking Tweet that said:
“Guys, kabhi kabhi ghar ka khana bhi kha lena chaiye”
Traditional marketers would quickly stand against such a stance, but Zomato used reverse psychology to its benefit, which garnered a loud and unique response from all. The timing that the brand chose for the tweet was bang on because it was during ICC World Cup 2019, when it was customary for most of us to order food from restaurants.
This began to bring in waves of replies, comments, and tweets in return. Furthermore, Zomato’s tweet also brought in other brands, who joined in to support their unique post with their own creative taglines.
Seema Banerjee
Segmentation-Targeting-Positioning (STP) of Zomato
Segmentation :
If we visit the demographic segmentation strategy of Zomato, we can discover that the brand targets the ages 18-35. Along with ordering food online, people also visit Zomato when they want to dine out or research the restaurants nearby. Zomato has also discovered a larger target segment in the working professionals because most of them want to dine out frequently or order food delivered to their doorstep.
Furthermore, Zomato also brings in experiential events via multi-city food and entertainment carnivals to spread positive and merry vibes around food. Zomaland is a food and entertainment carnival that gathers some of the best restaurants, musicians, DJs, comedians, interactive installations, and carnival games under one roof. It's like an offline version of Zomato Collections, where it curates and puts together the greatest eateries in the city.
Besides, the brand also has further plans of launching new products and business lines associated with food both in the segments of food delivery and dining out.
Zomato's Digital Marketing Strategy
Target:
To sum up, Zomato's target audience is usually people aged between 18-35 years who love to dine out or have food delivered to their homes. It is the youth that the brand targets who often indulge in experiencing different food items with their friends and colleagues.
Zomato also caters to customers who refer to the ratings and reviews and then decide whether a place or a particular dish is good.
Positioning:
Over the years, Zomato has positioned itself quite well as a platform that brings restaurants, suppliers, users, food suppliers, and logistics partners together. It aims to create a world where the food producers and suppliers are bonded well with their consumers and work with mutual cooperation.
Zomato has earned a towering reputation not only among its target audiences but with others as well, where authentic reviews and recommendations from Zomato users are a must before deciding on a particular food item from a particular restaurant. It has truly become a go-to app for Indian youths.
Besides, with the launch of Zomato Gold, dining out has turned more pocket-friendly for its customers than it was ever before.
Overall, the STP analysis of Zomato is well-defined and targeted. The company has a clear understanding of its target customers and what they are looking for in a food delivery service. Zomato's positioning is also strong and consistent with its target market.
Alan Joseph
Prominent Marketing Campaigns of Zomato
Zomato has also led a bunch of awesome marketing campaigns along with its impressive marketing strategies. Here’s a look at the brand’s most popular marketing campaigns and their famous advertising strategies:
Zomato Premier League
Zomato has caught the Indians' nerve for cricket very early in their game and has crafted tellable IPL marketing strategies, which include TV ads and irresistible offers throughout the years.
Zomato has introduced the Zomato Premier League, which is an exemplary attempt of the brand at gamification. Here, the brand has exhibited a huge list of deals and discounts that are offered by the participating restaurants for their customers. Moreover, the users also stand a chance to predict the winners of the matches and avail of further discounts that will be unlocked whenever they are right in their predictions.
The brand promoted this initiative with TV spots and on social media. ZPL witnessed a huge success even last year, which saw participation from over 4 million users!
Zomato Gold Membership Programme
The company launched Zomato Gold as a paid loyalty program for the users of Zomato, who can subscribe to the scheme with a monthly subscription that would help them avail themselves of irresistible discounts and complementary dishes.
This initiative turned out to be extremely profitable for the customers of Zomato. Though Zomato Gold attracted numerous controversies from the restaurant partners, which led to the spreading of a lot of negative vibes, it has contributed over 30% of the gross order value in the food delivery business.
On-time or free
Zomato launched the “On-Time or Free” campaign in December 2019, which was modeled on Domino’s Pizza. However, here in Zomato, the users can avail of this lucrative offer on all of its deliveries and not just on pizza, as it was with Domino’s.
You can also avail of this simply by tapping on the “On-Time or Free” button on the Zomato app, which will get you a refund if Zomato is unable to deliver food on time.
Zomato used the usual route of TV creatives, online advertising, and social media platforms to spread the word about this marketing campaign.
Mother’s Day Campaign of Zomato
Zomato ideated the Mother’s Day campaign in 2019, which didn’t fail to strike a chord with all audiences. Through this campaign, Zomato made it easier for the kids to order their mother’s favorite food using the app. This campaign gives Zomato a terrific opportunity to target the kids living in their homes and those who live away, allowing them to gift their mom using the Zomato app.
Zomato vs Zomato Campaign
The campaign began in April 2023 and includes a series of advertisements that play on how individuals pronounce the company name. The campaign also features a series of social media commercials in which people from many walks of life argue about pronouncing Zomato correctly. This advertising strategy of Zomato is amusing and cheerful, and the public has responded positively.
Zomato vs Zomato is a brilliant and inventive approach to promoting the brand. This Zomato's marketing strategy has gained a lot of success. It also reflects India's rich culture and the many ways in which individuals speak and pronounce words.
Humans of Zomato Campaign
The Humans of Zomato campaign is a video series that tells the stories of Zomato's delivery partners. The campaign began in June 2022 and is now in its second season. The Humans of Zomato campaign's videos are all brief and touching. They highlight Zomato's delivery partners' problems and accomplishments and provide viewers with a behind-the-scenes look at the food delivery sector.
Some of the Humans of Zomato promotional videos show delivery partners who have overcome personal struggles to attain success. In one video, a delivery partner is a single mother who works two jobs to support her family. Another video shows a delivery partner who is differently abled and has never let his impairment prevent him from reaching his goals.
FAQs
Who is the founder of Zomato?
Deepinder Goyal is the founder and CEO of Zomato.
What is the marketing strategy of Zomato?
Zomato's marketing strategy focuses on reaching its target market through various channels, including online advertising, social media, and partnerships with restaurants and other businesses.
How much commission does Zomato charge from restaurants?
Zomato charges over 20-25% on order value from their restaurant partners.
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