ShareChat is an India-centric social media platform launched in 2015. It is a microblogging site that serves as a common platform for people who have different native languages and cultures within the country.
ShareChat is available in 15 Indian languages, such as Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Gujarati and aims to connect Indians under one roof. In 2019, ShareChat had over 160 million active users including 17 million monthly active users that are mostly located in Tier 3 and Tier 4 cities of India. The majority of user base belongs to young demographics aged between 16 and 24 years old with 72% male users versus 28% female users.
The new content uploaded every day on ShareChat ranges from funny images, humor videos, stories and news on current affairs etc. Apart from it, photos and videos can be easily shared across the platform which makes it a highly engaging social network for the youth of India. To maximize user engagement further ShareChat offers its own rewards program – SuperCoin program that allows its users to earn cashbacks on online purchases made through partnered merchants.
Since 2018 ShareChat has seen almost 243% growth in its userbase with significant growth coming from Tier 3 cities like Bhopal, Moradabad etc representing more than 65% userbase as opposed to metropolitan cities that account for around 24%. Currently 36% of ShareChat’s total revenue comes from Hyderabad followed by Mumbai at 19%, Bangalore at 12%, New Delhi at 11%, Pune at 5%, among others having remaining 17%.
Growth of ShareChat
ShareChat is a localized social-networking app that has been developed to tap into Indian culture. Founded in 2015 by three IIT Kanpur graduates, ShareChat’s success story starts from a humble beginning as a content sharing platform with mainly Bengali and Hindi users. Fast forward five years, the company now boasts more than 160 million monthly active users across 14 Indian languages and has become one of India’s most popular social media platforms.
In 2017, during its seed funding round, ShareChat secured Series A funding of $4 million from India Quotient and Shunwei Capital. This was followed by Series B investment of $18 million in 2018 and Series E investment round of $160 million in 2020 led by Twitter Incubator. All the investments have been instrumental in helping ShareChat develop the foundation for its growth today as it reaches out to Tier-I cities as well as thousands of small towns across India.
In terms of user base segmentation, women form 50% of ShareChat’s adopters with 60%+ residing in tier-II or -III cities or smaller towns; an impressive milestone for any Indian internet company whose primary customer base is highly concentrated among younger demographics: ages 20–35. Unsurprisingly this aligns closely with smartphone penetration rate which were pegged at about 65% within urban areas for 2018 according to Statista & Sensor Tower India report 2019.
The success story does not stop here though; despite tough competition between regional apps such as MX Takatak, Moj and Mitron TV vying for market share , ShareChat continued to make progress on developing its presence across other Indian languages including Tamil-, Bangla- , Telugu-, Odia-, Punjabi-, Kannada-, Gujarati-, Malayalam-, Assamese- and Marathi-. Through an aggressive localized strategy which involves content curation around user interests like news politics & health along with video sharing capability similar to TikTok (sprinkled with some lip syncing) it managed not just top global trends but also draw inspiration from them adding their creative twist along the way . This can be largely attributed for why over 6 million videos are uploaded daily giving them an additional edge over their rivals.
User Base
ShareChat is an India-centric social network that has taken the country by storm. It has over 200 million monthly active users and is one of the fastest-growing social networks in India.
It primarily attracts users who are between the ages of 18 and 24. Users come to ShareChat to interact with friends, create content, and be entertained by the content of others.
The user base of ShareChat is constantly growing and has become one of the most popular social platforms in India.
Demographics
ShareChat, an India-centric social media platform that has been gaining traction in the country, is popular among younger users. The platform’s demographic data shows that its users are predominantly in the age range of 18-35 (63% of the total). ShareChat appeals to the younger population in India because of its localized content and content sharing ability.
ShareChat also has more male users than female – 59% are male compared to 41% female. This is likely due to content choices made by adult males (such as cricket and movies) as well as many features offering anonymity on the app. However, there are certain activities such as engagement with funny videos, memes and stories that make ShareChat popular among both genders on a rather level playing field.
In terms of regional spread, Bangalore is ShareChat’s largest user base with 18%, followed by Delhi at 15%, Mumbai at 9%, Chennai at 5% and Kolkata at 4%. Furthermore, it’s seen steady growth in smaller cities such as Jaipur and Coimbatore which account for around 2%. This shows that ShareChat has managed to build a presence for itself throughout India thanks largely to its localised approach which addresses different needs based on user demographics from different cities/towns/villages/states.
Regional Distribution
ShareChat has grown in popularity due to its focus on providing content in Indian languages that is specifically tailored for the Indian audience. According to recent figures, the ShareChat app is now used by over 200 million users, from all states and union territories of India.
The service is most popular among users in North, East and West India, with the highest concentration of users being observed in Uttar Pradesh (22%), Bihar (18%), Maharashtra (15%) and Andhra Pradesh (11%). Furthermore, 80% of ShareChat’s users are below 24 years old.
A certain demographic of younger people or those with lower incomes tend to access social networks more often than other demographics. It appears this trend holds true for ShareChat; 39% of its user base have a household income of less than Rs 10 000 per month, which indicates a much lower average income level than other social media services.
In terms of gender distribution, 75% of ShareChat’s user base consists females with the remainder being male. This gender ratio is significantly different from other popular apps such as Facebook and Twitter which have roughly equal representation from both genders. This suggests that ShareChat appeals particularly to feminine audiences who may want to access content catered to them.
Engagement
ShareChat has experienced high user engagement since its inception in 2015. According to media studies, the average user spends almost an hour each day on the platform, a strong signal of growing comfort levels and acceptance. Active users stay connected on the app for long periods through video sharing, private and public messaging, interacting with content and promotional posts from partners and education-based posts from the team.
The platform’s user base skews towards male users at 80%. This is largely due to the demographics of some of ShareChat’s more regional markets like Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh where it has higher concentrations of users. The majority of its user base is between 25 – 35 years old (65%), while 18 – 24 year olds constitute 14% which implies that younger working professionals are highly attracted by the platform’s India-centric content. In terms of geography, 58% come from Tier 1 cities while Tier 2 cities make up 34%.
Despite ShareChat’s focus on regional language content, their English-speaking population continues to see significant growth despite many platforms catering to them including YouTube and Facebook. Greater engagement is also being seen within GroupChats — private or moderated discussion boards resembling WhatsApp groups — due to increased levels of comfortability for conversations about current events or topics relevant to a specific situation or experience among its users.
Growth Strategies
ShareChat is an India-centric social network that has seen tremendous growth in a short span of time. This can be attributed to the fact that the platform offers a wide range of content and has a user base of 230 million users as of January 2021.
In this section, we will look at ShareChat’s growth strategies and how they have managed to achieve such high user numbers.
Content Strategy
ShareChat follows a content-driven growth strategy, focusing on the quality and language relevance of the content shared in its community. By fostering an environment of trust and safety on its platform, this Indian social media platform has been successful in growing its user base.
ShareChat focuses on creating a safe environment for users to share content without fear of retribution or censorship that users are more likely to experience with other social networks. ShareChat has also prioritized local languages as it works to expand into smaller markets where English is less popular. This focus creates an environment for users who prefer native languages and allows them to interact with others with similar interests in their respective local communities.
To further optimize user engagement, ShareChat has created specialty categories within the chat which provide tailored recommendations based on the individual profile of each user. This allows users to customize their experience while helping them better identify relevant content while browsing through available conversations/topics. Additionally, ShareChat is able to closely monitor user viewing habits allowing them to curate trending topics based on geographic location as well as other factors that may affect how popular a certain story or post may be relative to others in the same category or region.
Advertising and Promotion
Advertising and promotion have been key components of ShareChat’s growth strategy. Although the company does not divulge specifics, there is evidence of out-of-home campaigns, contextual digital advertisement on other platform, print media ads and influencer marketing campaigns. The company has also built an investor base by leveraging upon a large user base in India that provides referrals to prospective investors.
The most important aspect of ShareChat’s advertising and promotion strategy is its heavy focus on personalization and custom targeting. Through its AI-driven segmentation platform, the company is able to target users by geography, demographics, age group and interests. This enables ShareChat to deliver a meaningful message at the right time that resonates with each particular user segment. The use of deep machine learning algorithms allows it to deliver more relevant ads with greater efficiency than traditional methods.
Further efforts in expanding visibility include collaborations with brands like UberEats for advertising coupons; deals with Reliance Jio which (India’s largest telecom service provider) distributes offers/updates from local businesses through Sharechat; strategic partnerships such as Zomato for restaurant reviews; product integration partnerships with Microsoft Office and OneDrive; marketplace integrations including Ticketmaster and OYO; and even offering cashbacks through Paytm wallet integration with the app.
User Acquisition
ShareChat’s user acquisition takes a multi-pronged approach to reach users, including television advertising, influencer campaigns, and leveraging social media trends. The platform also utilizes organic growth in order to spread the word of their product.
TV advertising was seen as the most important medium to create awareness and is most heavily used by ShareChat when launching new services or features, such as revamped user profiles or Messenger. Additionally, content creation is an integral part of ShareChat’s growth strategy. ShareChat works with influencers who create content either exclusively for the platform or as part of their existing activity on other platforms such as YouTube and Instagram.
ShareChat also relies heavily on Facebook Ads and offers custom placements for mobile ads that focus on app downloads. Cross-promotional campaigns have proven effective in India especially focusing on gaming apps through which Sharechat has acquired numerous qualified users who are likely to purchase services and products within the app given the right incentives at the optimal time along with attractive offers.
Finally, leveraging social media trends is essential for any social media app today. Sharechat has built a culture wherein trends are identified quickly through platforms like Twitter and then tailored specifically towards India and packaged attractively enough to resonate with its local audience. This strategy plays an important role in getting more people to join in conversations already happening elsewhere while providing them a comfortable environment where they can find others like themselves or engage with celebrities or brands they follow or admire greatly across other mediums.
Future Outlook
ShareChat has seen tremendous growth in its user base in recent years, with the Indian-centric social network quickly becoming one of the most popular platforms in the country.
With an increasing number of users, ShareChat has the potential to continue to grow and expand its user base even further.
In this article, we will look at the potential future outlook for ShareChat and what it could mean for its users.
Challenges Faced
Despite its strong user numbers, ShareChat is facing some challenges on its journey. The platform has a focus on localized content and users, but as it continues to grow, it faces the challenge of ensuring that it attracts users with diverse backgrounds while still creating a safe environment for local users. Additionally, ShareChat needs to find ways to monetize from users in an industry that is largely dominated by free services.
Moreover, with the growing popularity of short-form video platforms like TikTok and Stories on Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook – ShareChat needs to invest further in video sharing capabilities so as to continue engaging users. It is also trying to build artificial intelligence (AI) for content moderation so that it can become smoother for approved creators or influencers on the platform. Thus, these are some of the challenges faced by ShareChat in expanding its user base and growth trajectory in the years ahead.
Potential Opportunities
ShareChat has a unique opportunity to leverage India’s strong focus on social media. With the growth of smartphones, users in India are quickly moving from traditional news and media services to web-based portals and apps. This shift has the potential to benefit ShareChat as more networks are designed for mobile users. As Indians’ online time increases, so will ShareChat’s user base and their engagement with content.
The company also plans to capitalize on the interests of young Indians by introducing more content categories, such as sports, health & wellness and entertainment, as well as other new products that cater to different segments of the population. The 2018 acquisition of AI-based R&D lab Crebits and its expanding product suite are aimed at providing value added services for users in India over the long term.
ShareChat is also leveraging its overwhelming dominance in Indian social networking by expanding into content curation and sharing tools like video creation software dubbed ‘FlashEdit’ that enables seamless video editing on a mobile device; an e-commerce partnership program called ‘Shopify Connect’; and a monetization platform via advertising partnerships across different networks outside of its core offering which include content relevancy features such ‘For You’ section or ‘Flash Talk’ chatbot customizations that direct users to relevant microsites/apps within ShareChat’s ecosystem. As ShareChat continues building out its product suite, it stands to gain further momentum within India’s digital space from both users seeking entertainment/social networking options or businesses wanting marketing/engagement solutions through technology applications.
