Which is the first app that comes to your mind when you think of ordering food online? For me, it is Zomato.
Even with multiple options to choose from, Zomato is my favourite among all the other food delivery apps.
The reason? I love their presence on the internet.
Today, Zomato has become one of the most-loved startups in India.
Thanks to Zomato’s digital marketing strategy, it creates content in such a way that both promotes the business and entertains the audience. And there is so much to be learned from it.
So, without further ado, let’s take a look at Zomato’s digital marketing strategy.
How Zomato Was Born
Zomato is a rebranded version of Foodiebay, a restaurant discovery website created by Pankaj Chaddah and Deepinder Goyal.
So the story goes something like this: In 2008, both gentlemen created Foodiebay, which soon became Delhi NCR’s largest restaurant directory.
After two consecutive years of success, the two renamed the brand from Foodiebay to Zomato (which literally does not mean anything but is just a rhyme on tomato).
And, ladies and gentlemen, that’s how Zomato was born.
What Zomato Is Today
Fast-forward 12 years from the day Zomato was born, and you’ll realize how much it has grown.
Foodiebay, a website that once used to be just a restaurant discovery platform, now named Zomato, has been converted into a food delivery app.
It operates in 24 countries and has more than 1.4 million restaurants listed on its app. And the app has more than 100 million downloads on Google Play.
Zomato’s Digital Marketing Strategy
Now let us learn how India’s first food tech unicorn leveraged its digital marketing strategy.
We will start by learning and analyzing how Zomato used SEO in its favour to rank on Google.
Seo Strategy of Zomato
Zomato ranks for high-competition keywords such as “restaurants near me,” which has a volume of 23M searches globally.
And the fact that Zomato ranks in the top five results for that keyword shows how strong Zomato’s SEO strategy is.
But, before learning how they do it, let me share some of Zomato’s SEO numbers.
1. Over 22M people visited Zomato.com in July, as per Semrush.
2. Zomato has a domain authority of 86 out of 100.
3. The domain Zomato.com has received around 12M backlinks.
Now let us analyze Zomato’s SEO strategy by taking the previous example of the keyword “restaurants near me.”
So I typed the keyword “restaurants near me” in the Google search box, and a Zomato page appeared in the top 5 results of the SERP.
As planned, I clicked on the web page to analyze their reason for ranking in the top 5 positions and got a few answers.
Zomato restaurants near me page
1. Search intent: The people searching for “restaurants near me” want nothing but a list of restaurants near their location. Zomato delivers value to the searchers by precisely providing what they want: a list of restaurants.
2. Heading: Even the heading of the page plays a vital role in determining the ranking of a web page. By adding “restaurants near me” in the heading, Zomato shows Google that the page is relevant to the search query.
3. URL: Including the keyword in the URL signals to Google that the page is specifically made for that keyword.
That’s not it. Zomato takes the SEO game even one step further by leveraging the site structure to rank for more keywords.
Zomato’s digital marketing strategy to leverage the site structure
You see, Zomato has a long list of restaurants registered on its website.
Each restaurant has a separate page on Zomato, and each page helps Zomato in four distinct ways.
1. It adds that page for keywords such as “restaurant near me” to provide a list to the searcher.
2. Each restaurant’s page ranks for its own brand name search as well.
3. The more web pages on a website, the higher the domain authority.
4. Each page brings its own chances of getting a backlink.
Social Media Strategy of Zomato
When it comes to social media, Zomato’s digital marketing strategy leaves its competitors in the dust.
Where every other startup tries to play it safe while communicating with its audience in a neutral tone, Zomato engages with its audience in a more quirky way.
Zomato has massive social media numbers, and you certainly know that.
So let us just skip the “have a look at their social media numbers part” and jump right into the “how they do it” section.
They Know Their Audience
Every brand must know its target audience before creating any content on social media.
Zomato knows the age group, location, psychographics, and everything else required to know about its target audience.
This helps Zomato create a clear path of the kind of content it has to produce.
Trends
Zomato’s target age group loves to live with the trend and quickly engages with the content that goes viral.
Zomato grabs the attention of its audience by creating content on current trends.
Memes
Who doesn’t love memes? I definitely do.
The only way Zomato has ever attracted me to its social media channel is by creating meme content. Zomato loves memes, and meme pages love Zomato.
By creating meme content, Zomato maintains a “cool” relationship with the audience and promotes its business to them.
Zomato’s Digital Marketing Strategy To Use Paid Ads
Everything has a price. And you can’t expect a business to run without paying for the things that are valuable to it.
Zomato pays for keywords and target audiences that are valuable to its business, so let’s look at how they do it.
PPC
Zomato runs search ad campaigns to target keywords related to ordering food online, restaurant names, and much more.
With Zomato’s excellent digital marketing strategy, the startup creates specific goals and targets the keywords best for them.
Display Ads
Zomato even runs display ads on third-party websites and apps to acquire more users.
Youtube Ads
No need for an explanation. Everyone knows the “classic” Zomato Youtube ad (the one with the annoying music).
Though the ads are quite annoying and sometimes people might even file a case against them, they are exceptional in making the user remember the brand.
Email Marketing Strategy of Zomato
Zomato hates sending boring emails and refuses to believe in the so-called “good old way” of sending emails to customers.
The brand understands its audience and knows that the audience does not like long content in emails. Hence, it sends out emails that are short, engaging, and to the point.
Conclusion: How good is Zomato’s digital marketing strategy?
Zomato is a great brand, and even greater is Zomato’s digital marketing strategy.
From Delhi NCR’s largest restaurant directory to India’s first food tech startup, Zomato is now aiming for the sky. Yet the journey has just begun.
In order to survive in the competitive world, Zomato will have to constantly update its marketing strategy and adapt to the ever-changing trends.
FAQS for Zomato’s digital marketing strategy
Who is Zomato’s target audience?
Zomato targets people who are between 18 to 35 years of age.
They are generally students and working professionals who frequently order in and dine out.
Why is Zomato successful?
The only reason behind Zomato’s popularity and success is the team behind it.
The people who plan the strategies, create the content, and maintain the brand image are the real reason behind the company’s wide success.
How does Zomato engage with its audience?
The majority of Zomato’s target audiences are young people who enjoy social media.
Zomato recognises this and creates humorous content that is worth sharing on social media and becomes the brand that the audience can relate to.
Is Zomato making a profit or loss?
Despite Zomato’s excellent digital marketing strategy, the company is unable to make profits for the past few years.
Zomato posted a net loss of ₹1,222 crores for the March quarter — which swelled by ₹400 crores since last year.
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