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With the exponential growth of internet users in India over the past few years, it’s not surprising that digital ad spending in the country is set to grow by 31.6% by the end of 2022, according to a report by global advertising and marketing firm dentsu.

And while the digital advertising landscape has a number of options for startups and D2C companies through search and social media giants, finding and targeting the right audience for your brand to convert them into quality sales can be a challenge — one that digital payments giant Paytm has a solution for.

Introducing Paytm ads at YourStory’s Brand Residency conference in New Delhi on September 9 and 10, 2022, Aditya Swaminathan – AVP, Paytm ads showed how Paytm was able to leverage its data to find the right target audience for brands, and why relying on bigger platforms can’t always help.

“There are a lot of restrictions from a data perspective, and the understanding of consumer perspective. As your reliance on these platforms goes significantly higher, your cost of user acquisition goes up proportionately with scale. So how do you build your own first party data without having to rely repeatedly on a few ‘walled-garden’ platforms, or even large marketplaces, where every time a repeat customer comes on board, you have to shell out money for commissions,” Aditya said.

He explained how through Paytm’s 500 million registered users and 350 million active users, 14% of whom were using their apps in vernacular languages and 75% in 18-35 age group, Paytm ads helps its clients such as PharmEasy and Mamaearth engage with potential customers better through a three-pronged approach: Clutter free ads on their platform to build better brand awareness, without having to outbid other advertisers; Customer rewards through branded offers; and retargeting through Demand Side Platforms, that allow the brand to be advertised to the same users on the wider internet.

“The overall strategy is razorsharp: We’re not wasting marketing budgets. We’re ensuring the user gets certain offers so they’re incentivised to take the next step, and nudge them to transact. And if they still don’t do that, we’re able to complete the loop by ensuring that the user is retargeted for an eventual conversion,” Aditya said, adding, “You don’t need an agency or hire people to manage your media spends.”

The results delivered exactly what their clients wanted, with 20% of Mamaearth’s purchases through paid campaigns came from Paytm, and the company seeing four-fold returns on their marketing spend.

Paytm ads operates not just on the Paytm payment app, but also on its other offerings – Paytm Money and Paytm for Business, that allows clients to target niche or refined audiences. Aditya summed up its benefits into four main pros:

1. Real users, real data: Thanks to the fintech and e-commerce boom, Paytm was able to leverage its own data to pool users across demographics into various data profiles.

2. Interoperability: The ability to retarget users after creating your own first party data, through inter sharing of data with clients.

3. Open platform: Paytm ads is compliant with third party trackers for clients to make use of their own tracking analytics.

4. Flexibility: Campaigns start for as low as Rs 50,000, and clients get to work with inhouse teams who understand data/audiences to help customise plans.

To learn more about how Paytm ads can help your brand reach the right audience,