News Posted on 2024-09-16

Truecaller Marketing Strategy, Zero Dollar Marketing Technique

Truecaller has emerged as a vital tool for over 150 million smartphone users in India by addressing the problem of identifying unknown callers. The app provides caller identification, alerts users with notifications, and blocks spam calls and messages. Launched in 2009 by Swedish company True Software Scandinavia, it was the brainchild of founders Nami Zarringhalam and Alan Mamedi, who sought to solve their own spam-related frustrations. Recently, Truecaller announced that it has turned profitable, a notable achievement for a digital startup.

Truecaller entered the Indian market in 2013, initially as a caller ID service, and has since expanded to offer services such as instant messaging and digital payments. The platform now boasts 200 million monthly active users globally, with 150 million of them based in India. Listed as one of the 'most downloaded apps,' it has been downloaded over 500 million times, with 90-95% of users on Android. Truecaller's global database exceeds six billion phone numbers.

The company, headquartered in Stockholm, has a strong focus on India, with products and services developed for the Indian market first, before being scaled to other regions. Truecaller operates with 220 employees, split between its Stockholm base and its India offices, which include a hub in Bengaluru and smaller offices in Gurgaon and Mumbai.

In recent years, Truecaller made key acquisitions in India, including Chillr, a payments company in 2017, and MessAI, an analytics firm, in 2019. The app has diversified into services such as HD VOIP calling, flash messaging, instant messaging, UPI-based payments, phone dialer functions, and contact/SMS backup. The company is also exploring new services like connecting lenders with borrowers.

Truecaller remains the leader in caller identification with minimal competition in that space. However, it faces rivals in other segments, including WhatsApp in instant messaging, Paytm in digital payments, and OLX in service discovery. Around 70% of Truecaller's global business comes from India, with significant user bases in West Asia and Africa, regions identified as the next big markets for the company. South East Asia is also a focus, though Latin America remains a smaller priority for the time being. Truecaller has stayed away from China, focusing its efforts on India instead.

The platform's user growth is driven by its ability to protect against spam. Reports show that in 2019, spam warnings in India increased by 15-20%, leading to a 25-30% growth in its user base. Globally, Truecaller identified 116 billion calls between January and October 2019, blocking around 30 billion spam calls and 8.5 billion spam messages in India alone.

Truecaller generates around 70-80% of its revenue from advertisements on the platform, utilizing standard mobile ad formats and offering advertisers targeting options based on demographics. The company plans to introduce video ads soon. The remainder of its revenue comes from premium and gold memberships, as well as financial services. Premium membership, priced at Rs 37 per month (yearly plan) or Rs 49 per month (monthly plan), offers an ad-free experience, incognito mode, enhanced blocking, and more. The gold membership, priced at Rs 5,000 per year, includes all premium features along with a gold-themed profile and priority support. As of last October, Truecaller had reached one million paid users globally, with growth of 20-30% since.

On the B2B side, Truecaller is working on "Truecaller for Business," which aims to register around 20 million SMEs already on the platform as SMBs, enabling better service discovery. The company is also developing a system to prioritize business calls, allowing users to filter essential calls, such as e-commerce delivery or bank notifications, from spam. These calls will be subjected to the same algorithms used to identify spam, ensuring that users only receive relevant calls.

Truecaller has faced allegations of data breaches in the past but remains committed to user privacy. The company leverages its Swedish origins and adherence to strict European data protection regulations to maintain trust among users. Sandeep Patil, managing director of Truecaller, has addressed these concerns, denying any data leaks and attributing rumors to the misuse of Truecaller's brand on the dark web.

Patil, who joined Truecaller in May 2019 from Flipkart, where he led various business units including fintech and corporate strategy, is now focused on driving the platform's future growth in both consumer and business segments.

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