Hungry? Grab your phone and order from Zomato! (No promotions!) This food delivery app has become a sensation across different parts of our country. However, we all are well aware of the use of Zomato, witnessing our belly in the mirror as we get ready in the morning. Jokes aside, Zomato has not made this much fame by being a food delivery app alone, so what new did it cook? Yes, you guessed it right, marketing! But not an ordinary one, rather it went straight to our emotions and made us feel wholesome on our hectic days.
You must have encountered notifications like,
‘Thinking About Concerts? Think About Deserts Too’ and
‘Others = falling in love, Us = Falling Prices’
or the emails with the same intent of bringing butterflies and mice into our stomachs. This new-age marketing strategy of Zomato has set its mark in the hearts and minds of its customers. Herein, we will discuss Zomato’s marketing strategy in detail and find out the small details that led to its success in a short time.
Key Pillars of Zomato’s Marketing Success
Data-driven decision-making
Although it is not a new way of creating marketing strategies, Zomato took data-driven decision-making one step ahead. Making appropriate use of social media to gather information on the latest trends, customer feedback, and usage patterns the food delivery giant went forward and created exceptional marketing strategies. This step ensured the best quality service to customers, keeping them happy and eventually staying ahead of the competitors.
Targeted audience segmentation
Zomato divides its customers based on their preferences, location, and behavior which enables the in-house teams to show ads, coupons, and recommendations accordingly. This strategy came as a personalized service to its customers based on such factors, ultimately enhancing their overall experience.
Brand positioning and humor
Zomato is known for its soft humor and engaging marketing app notifications, emails, social media posts, and more. With this, they intend to connect more people to their brand and make Zomato a memorable entity for the users so they stay loyal to it for a longer time.
Also Read – Marketing Strategy of Amul
Zomato’s Digital Marketing Strategies
SEO and content marketing tactics
SEO is an important element of marketing or should I say ‘digital marketing’ in today’s date. Zomato understood this in the early years of its journey and since then they are creating blogs and videos on different fun topics to sustain its user’s attention. They also ensure the optimization of such content with SEO so that they can rank on Google and other search engines.
Paid ads and retargeting campaigns
By considering paid ads, the digital marketing team at Zomato promotes the brand on several platforms like Google and YouTube. This helps Zomato reach new audiences and keeps the existing customer base intact. This step plays an important role in expanding the overall business reach by targeting new user bases across different parts of the country and the world.
Social media dominance: Instagram, Twitter (X), and memes
Utilizing social media for promotion is one of the biggest superpowers of Zomato. Not only Instagram, but X, and especially YouTube are some of the top social media platforms where Zomato with its creative promotional techniques has gained immense popularity. Bringing famous stand-up comedians like Samay Raina to host roast shows is a bold move, considering the comedy standards of India’s Got Latent main host. But all these moves have eventually worked in the favor of this food delivery giant.
Email marketing and app notifications
We all thought email marketing was outdated, but Zomato proved us all wrong, with its fresh yet traditional approach towards email marketing. The cheesy yet eye-appealing messages we all get from Zomato are not something we would immediately ignore or swipe left. The reason is simple- being creative yet conveying your message to the audience.
The same goes for app notifications, that follow trends and events. Eventually, they make their customers feel good with the app notifications and emails, which is a big thing because we all tend to ignore such emails and app notifications in our day-to-day lives.
Hyperlocal Marketing: Winning Local Markets
Collaborations with local restaurants
Collaborating with local restaurants benefits both Zomato and them, here is how:
Customer Gets Variety
Now anyone can order their favorite food at any time from their fingertips. The luxury of choosing a favorite food among so many was not an option when things were offline. But now customers get a variety of options to choose from, which favors Zomato as a food delivery platform plus new restaurant chains also get equal opportunities to survive and grow in the market.
Boosts Visibility
Promoting certain restaurants on Zomato enhances the visibility of the restaurants, which eventually works wonders for both the platform and the restaurants.
Increase in Orders
Taking the above steps into consideration eventually increases overall orders. However, besides the above points, promotions and offers are also significant in multiplying the overall orders.
Geotargeting in ad campaigns
Showing restaurant ads to customers who reside in the same locality is a great move. This enables new customers to learn about their nearest restaurant outlets and gives them a sense of pride when they hear or see their locality through ads.
Customer Engagement and Retention Tactics
Loyalty Programs and Zomato Gold
Zomato moves forward on a similar path of ensuring customer engagement where it offers special offers and loyalty programs like Zomato Gold. With this, the customers pay a small fee and get special benefits like free delivery for every food order (on a minimum order value) for 3 months.
Gamification in app usage
Users who order food regularly receive discounts and exclusive deals on dine-out options. This is an excellent way to keep your customers engaged in your app, as they are getting something in return after using your platform. This new age tactic feels like a video game, where in exchange for winning which is ordering food in this context the users get rewards in exchange in the form of discounts and special offers.
Personalized recommendations based on user behavior
Food delivery giants like Zomato keep every eye on customers and their behavior. Based on their activities through the application, it sends notifications and other personalized recommendations. Recently Zomato has also brought the ‘Veg Mode’ option to its platform as well which is a great initiative for vegetarian users. By enabling this option the app only shows the vegetarian options to the users, which eliminates the situation of users leaving the app because of the non-veg alternatives present in the app.
Creative Branding: The Power of Humor
Zomato’s witty humor and creative marketing approach through its app and email notifications make it different fromany of its competitors. The examples you can see below are some of the best copywriting examples the creative digital marketing team members at Zomato create to keep the customers entertained throughout their hectic days.
Creative Billboards by Zomato.
Zomato going with the trends of the Oscars.
Zomato calling both Shahrukh Khan and Food Fans at once.
Zomato giving mini heart attacks, and then stealing hearts.
Zomato making cutleries fly on India’s Republic Day and giving 26% off on the 26th.
How does humor foster brand loyalty?
Humor has the power to turn enemies into friends, and in this situation, Deepinder Goyal intended to make customers their friends and loyal to the platform by taking humor’s help. Now, Zomato is not just a business making profits out of its customer’s pockets, but it has become something more, which made people attached to this platform emotionally. From the short unskippable YouTube ads to its in-app notifications and email notifications, Zomato has uplifted itself in the highly competitive market.
Leveraging Technology for Marketing
Please check the table below to get a brief understanding of the AI & ML, CRM Tool, and Predictive analytics plus their contribution to Zomato’s overall marketing and what was its impact:
| Technology | Application in Marketing | Impact |
| AI & ML for Personalization | Uses browsing history, past orders, and user preferences to recommend restaurants, dishes, and offers. Dynamic pricing and targeted promotions based on user behavior. | Enhances user engagement, increases order frequency, and improves customer satisfaction. |
| CRM Tools | Tracks customer interactions, manages loyalty programs, and automates responses for better engagement. Helps in targeted email/SMS marketing campaigns. | Strengthens customer relationships, improves retention, and boosts repeat orders. |
| Predictive Analytics | Analyzes user trends to anticipate demand, optimize offers, and personalize deals. Helps in planning high-traffic events like festive discounts. | Maximizes marketing efficiency, improves conversion rates, and enhances campaign ROI. |
Offline Marketing and Partnerships
Events and sponsorships
Zomato organizes special fests like Zomaland which covers major events like carnivals, music concerts, and stand-up comedy shows inviting comedians or to say ‘brutal roasting machines’ like Samay Raina and Swati Sachdeva. This is a great way to initiate offline partnerships and collect sponsors to help the brand expand across the country. On the other hand, uploading the key highlights from the events on online platforms like YouTube and Instagram enhances the brand’s online presence.
Collaborations with celebrity chefs and influencers
Besides the offline events, Zomato also brings collaborations to the table inviting famous personalities from different fields and spending a day with the Zomato team doing fun activities. One of the most successful collaborations like this was between Samay Raina and the ex-content and marketing strategist plus host at Zomato, Sahiba Bali. The fun food series like Food Hacks and Detox Challenge.
The chemistry between the two was enjoyed by the viewers, and behind, Deepinder Goyal thoroughly enjoyed the audience’s attention to its platform through such marketing techniques.
Samay Raina and Sahiba Bali featured in a fun Zomato video
Challenges in Zomato’s Marketing Strategy
Overcoming market competition
No matter how big a brand becomes, in the minds of its competitors, there is always a scope to replace the existing giant with themselves. Zomato stays in a similar circle of situations where direct competitors like Swiggy and Zepto are trying their best to destabilize the sort of monopoly Zomato intends to create in the market via itself and the alter ego Blinkit.
Henceforth, it remains crucial for the brand to consider the challenges competitors bring to the market, which Zomato has been doing since Swiggy’s inception.
Handling backlash on controversial campaigns
Although the creative teams at Zomato have already learned from their past mistakes, that doesn’t take it off the minds of people who were affected by those controversial campaigns. Like the very famous ‘Kachra Campaign’ featured Aditya Lakhia, who played the character Kachra in the 2001 movie Lagaan.
The campaign kicked off on World Environment Day, featuring an advertisement that portrayed Lakhia through various objects crafted from recycled materials, including a lamp, paperweight, watering can, and a variety of jackets. Kachra was a Dalit character and the campaign came out in front of the audience as if Dalit was compared to recycled waste.
Zomato had to face a lot of criticism for this act termed as ‘insensitive’ and ‘dehumanizing’. Eventually, Zomato had to shut down the campaign by stating that some parts of society were unintentionally hurt due to this campaign.
Lessons from Zomato for Marketers
Insights for small businesses
Strong Digital & Social Media Presence
Meme Worthy Marketing: Zomato creates highly shareable, witty, and relatable social media content that drives organic engagement.
Platform-Specific Strategy: They tailor content for Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and even WhatsApp, ensuring maximum impact.
Data-driven personalization
Hyper-Personalized Offers: Zomato leverages user data to offer personalized discounts and recommendations, increasing customer retention.
AI-Powered Notifications: Smart push notifications and emails encourage users to order at the right time.
Influencer & User-Generated Content
Leveraging Micro-Influencers: Partnering with food bloggers and micro-influencers helps build credibility.
Encouraging Reviews: User-generated content, such as reviews and ratings, boosts organic reach and trust.
Referral & Word-of-Mouth Strategy
Referral Discounts: Incentivizing customers to bring in new users helps grow the customer base cost-effectively.
Brand Virality: Smart, humorous ad campaigns encourage word-of-mouth marketing.
Experimenting with New Trends
Quick Commerce & Cloud Kitchens: Zomato adapts to new food delivery trends, showing the importance of agility in business.
Subscription Models: Monthly plans encourage repeat purchases and customer retention.
Future Trends and Strategies for Zomato
Emerging Trends
Quick Commerce Expansion – Faster food delivery (under 10-20 minutes) to compete with hyperlocal players.
AI & Data-Driven Personalization – Smarter recommendations, dynamic pricing, and targeted offers.
Sustainability Initiatives – Eco-friendly packaging, carbon-neutral operations, and food waste reduction.
Cloud Kitchens & Virtual Brands – Expanding its cloud kitchen model to optimize costs and increase reach.
Diverse Food Options – More focus on healthier, organic, and plant-based meals.
Strategic Moves
International Expansion – Strengthening presence in global markets.
Partnerships & Acquisitions – Collaborating with brands, restaurants, and logistics companies for better service.
Subscription Growth – Enhancing Zomato Gold/Pro for better user retention.
Tech-Driven Logistics – Using AI for better route optimization and faster deliveries.
Profitability Focus – Reducing discounts, optimizing operations, and focusing on high-margin services.
Conclusion
We hope this Zomato marketing strategy case study brought many new insights in front of you that you weren’t aware of. This guide is for everyone looking forward to starting their own business, as it covers the most essential element of entrepreneurship in today’s date, marketing.
Not just the old school marketing, but the new age unfiltered digital marketing, which makes the customers feel more connected to the brand. Digital marketing is vast and so was this article, hahaha. Leaving the PJs aside, if you are also planning to start your career in the digital marketing field, you should start from the basics, a digital marketing course is not a bad idea for this.
The free 4 to 6 months free Digital Marketing Course at Skillwaala covers:
- Basic to Advanced Module
- Offline and Online Modes
- Free Resume Building Assistance
- Free Interview Preparations/Free Mock Interviews
- Industry Recognized Certificate
- Job Assistance
and much more for free with no hidden charges or conditions!
Frequently Asked Questions
Ans. Deepinder Goyal along with Pankaj Chaddah founded Zomato in 2008, which was Foodiebay back then.
Ans. Zomato is India’s one of the first tech-integrated food delivery applications that specializes in services like restaurant discovery, food delivery, and dining out.
Ans. Customer engagement, hyper-local content, data analytics, and strategic partnerships with third parties are some of the best strategies that helped Zomato stand out in the competition.
Ans. The biggest reason behind the success of Zomato is its marketing strategy. Be it the meme marketing or the catchy lines on the app and email, Zomato gained immense popularity through such strategies.
Ans. Zomato’s marketing style relies heavily on social media engagement. With humor, meme marketing, and keeping with the latest trends, the food delivery giant has become the favorite of the majority population in terms of food delivery.
About The Author
