A marketing strategy is a plan of action that is designed specifically to sell a product or service. Marketing strategies, hence, serve as a very important aspect in not only the sales of a product or service but also the brand and reputation of the company. The concerned product must be targeted towards the right group of people, through the most efficient mediums provided.
Hence, marketing strategies include target audience, marketing mix, promotional strategies, social media influence among other things.
The marketing strategy of Doubtnut is considerably important to analyze since it helps start-ups and new businesses to understand how they must define their target audience and what tools and strategies would help to reach them better. Along with this, they would also introspect how to have a respectful stand against other competitors.
This blog, hence, will give a detailed explanation of the marketing strategy of Doubtnut. But first, let us know more about the company itself.
About Doubtnut
Doubtnut is an Indian educational platform and was established in 2017 by IIT Delhi alumni Tanushree Nagori and Aditya Shankar. Its headquarters is located in Gurugram, Haryana. Doubtnut is available as an app on the Google Play Store and can also be accessed through its official website.
The unique selling point (USP) of the app, the feature that it introduced, was that the application used image recognition technology to provide math and science solutions to its users. When users provide the image of the problem they are unable to solve, Doubtnut scans and matches the query with its database to find the relevant solution. If it does not possess the answer to the query, it directs the user to ask one of its experts, who then provide and explain the solution back to the user.
Doubnut’s Marketing Mix
One of the most important factors of the marketing strategy of Doubtnut is the marketing mix. The marketing mix of any brand consists of four components: Product, Place, Price, and Promotion. These factors are called the Four Ps of Marketing. This marketing strategy of Doubtnut allows us to analyze the overall performance and scope of the brand, covering all four important aspects.
The marketing mix of Doubtnut is as follows:
1. Product
Doubtnut, though recently established, created a place for itself in e-learning platforms due to the unique feature of doubt solving that its product offered. This not only made the product unique in itself but also made it more demanded by the users. The feature helps the user to easily get the solution to the problem at hand, and this makes Doubtnut a valuable platform.
This feature of the product proved to be its point of differentiation since other apps or platforms had not yet come up with this innovation. A product is highly favorable when it introduces a new concept that its competitors have not yet caught up with. This made Doubtnut a new leader in these terms.
2. Place
Though the headquarters of Doubtnut is located in Gurugam, Harayana, the operation of the platform largely takes place online. The experts present to solve the doubts of students are from all around the country, which makes it accessible at large. This also includes their newly introduced “online classes” that become available to almost every corner of the country- bringing the company one step nearer to its aim for which it was established- to make education and coaching accessible to every student possible.
3. Price
The image recognition technology which the app or platform uses can be used for free. The user just has to upload the image of the problem and Doubtnut scans through its database to find the relevant solution. This ensures access to every student who approaches the platform with doubts in mind. However, Doubtnut has recently launched its online courses for skills like Spoken English and classes like 12th grade, and examinations like JEE, NEET, etc. These are paid courses that students can enroll in.
The interesting fact, however, about these paid courses is that they are very minimally charged. In times when its competitors charge exorbitant fees, Doubtnut has kept its fees surprisingly low. This again puts into light Doubtnut’s mission and objectives- which primarily involves being available and resourceful for the bright but needy students who cannot go for high-end tutoring services.
Hence, to appeal to its target audiences, Doubtnut has kept its prices reasonably low. It has also been conscious to ensure that the quality of its courses is consistent and up to the standard.
4. Promotion
It is perhaps in this aspect that Doubtnut truly lacks. There is a lack of awareness towards Doubtnut as compared to its competitors. Doubtnut needs to reach its target audience to bring its well-intended efforts to fruition. The promotional strategies of Doubtnut need to significantly improve to improve its brand recognition. Since there has been an increase in e-learning platforms recently, Doubtnut requires to focus on its target audience and put effort into its marketing strategy of Doubtnut and promote its app and platform, in line with its competitors.
Doubtnut has a healthy following on social media, with 61.6k followers on Instagram. This number, however, is really low compared to one of its main competitors, Babysparks which enjoys a following of 282k.
Now that Doubtnut’s marketing mix is analyzed, let us move on to Doubtnut’s competitor analysis.
Doubtnut’s Competitor Analysis
When compared to its top competitors like Instasolv, Speakly, and BabySparks, Doubtnut seemingly outperforms them all. Though none of these competitors provides the same service as Doubtnut, they are all seen as variations of e-learning platforms for different target audiences. The more advanced competitors of Doubtnut include BYJUs, WhiteHat Jr., etc
Doubtnut has tremendous scope for growth compared to its competitors since it is more widely known than Speakly, and BabySparks and has developed and strengthened its audience over the years. On the other hand, BYJUs and Unacademy have saturated their market and have little scope for variety or innovation.
Hence, Doubtnut is having its moment in the spotlight and caters to an audience that is slightly more varied than the others, due to its affordability. This opportunity to tap into this segment of the target audience will be taken and utilized to its full potential.
This is where Doubtnut stands out from its competitors.
Marketing strategy of Doubtnut
Though Doubtnut is not as famous as some of its e-learning counterparts like BYJU or WhiteHat Jr., the platform has been considerably well-funded, considering the start-up was established in 2017. A lot of attention has been showered upon e-learning platforms in the last few years, and Doubtnut made the correct use of this opportunity.
Big-time investors like the Chinese tech giant Tencent, Sequoia Capital and Omidyar Network India participated, which helped Doubtnut raise $15 million in the recent round, after having raised $3.3 million in April last year. These huge investors create awareness about Doubtnut by creating waves in the news and attracting the attention of other potential investors and market leaders.
Due to the strong and defined marketing strategy of Doubtnut, and due to their guidance to a valuable perspective, courtesy of their new, active investors, Doubtnut has solved over 250 million questions by students across a range of subjects like chemistry, maths, biology, etc. and for examinations such as NEET, JEE, etc and has connected through their app as well as WhatsApp, YouTube, etc.
Hence, we can see that the marketing strategy of Doubtnut is as per its target audience- the students. Instead of trying to allocate equally across all social media platforms, it has focused on connecting well through its app, YouTube, Whatsapp, and website.
Next up, let’s know about Doubtnut’s digital marketing presence.
Doubtnut’s digital marketing presence
Doubtnut has been making efforts to make its presence felt in the digital world. Being an online service provider, Doubtnut has to command a respectable digital presence. Doubtnut has provided video answers on its website to several questions across subjects and topics. The videos provide a detailed explanation of the questions asked and work as a perfect way to introduce a user to their platform.
Doubtnut also enjoys a good following on social media sites like Instagram and is observed to be interactive with its followers in the form of informative posts, polls on their stories, etc. These efforts help to build a relationship with the users and keep them updated on the latest developments by Doubtnut. Social media marketing can prove to be a good marketing strategy of Doubtnut.
Conclusion
From the above-mentioned points, it can be observed that if the marketing strategy of Doubtnut is enhanced and ensures the quality of its services, this underrated platform can increase its benefit to its target audience and build a brand reputation for itself.
From its humble beginnings as a doubt-solving app when it was established in 2017, to its growth in current times, where it offers its newly-started online courses, Doubtnut has come a long way. If it focuses on the needs of its target audience, it can be more successful. A good marketing strategy of Doubtnut can be planned with efforts to propagate its vision and aim in the right direction.
This also brings to light the fact that digital marketing skills are emerging as important, now more than ever. If you wish to upskill yourself in this modern, dynamic world, you can enroll in a 3-month Online Digital Marketing Course by IIDE.
Thank you for reading this blog. Comment your thoughts on the marketing strategy of Doubtnut in the section below. Happy Learning!
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