This article has been contributed by Manasvita Subramanian, Chief of Digital Marketing at Spicetree Design Agency.
With the Diwali season sparking consumer excitement, it’s an ideal time for direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands to ramp up social media efforts. Many brands have achieved impressive results by connecting emotionally with their audience, launching festive products, and using targeted ads and influencer collaborations. Here are successful strategies brands have already used for Diwali promotions, demonstrating how to create impact in a crowded digital landscape.
1. Highlight Cultural Relevance with an Engaging Festive Story
D2C brands like Cadbury and Amazon have mastered the art of using Diwali’s cultural significance in their social media storytelling. This approach strengthens brand appeal and forms an emotional bond with customers. For example, Cadbury’s “Not Just a Cadbury Ad” campaign took an innovative approach by creating hyper-localized ads that encouraged viewers to buy from local stores for Diwali. Through social media, they rolled out city-specific ads featuring local vendors, adding a strong community-focused message.
Why it Worked:
Cadbury tapped into the cultural sentiment of supporting local businesses during Diwali, aligning perfectly with the festive spirit and gaining immense traction on social platforms.
2. Create Limited-Edition Festive Products and Attractive Bundles
Nykaa’s Diwali Dhamaka Sale offers up to 50% off on top beauty brands, with special Diwali bundles and gift sets in festive packaging. “Buy-more-save-more” deals incentivized larger purchases, making it easy for customers to buy multiple products at discounted rates.
Why It Worked:
This approach tapped into Diwali’s gifting spirit with attractive, ready-made gift options that offered value and convenience. The festive packaging and exclusive bundles increased appeal, encouraging bigger purchases and boosting Nykaa’s sales during the high-demand season.
3. Emotional Storytelling
Zomato‘s Diwali campaign, “Rishton Se Hai Diwali, Har Din,” successfully navigated the crowded digital landscape by focusing on emotional storytelling and cultural relevance. The campaign’s heartwarming video resonated deeply with audiences, showcasing the unifying power of food during the festive season. This approach not only increased brand engagement but also strengthened Zomato’s connection with its customers.
Why it Worked:
The campaign’s heartwarming video effectively portrayed the unifying power of shared meals, evoking strong emotions and creating a sense of nostalgia. By aligning with the cultural context and values of its audience, Zomato successfully created a memorable and impactful campaign that resonated on a personal level.
4. Leverage Influencer Collaborations with Festive Content
Haldiram, partnered with popular influencer Komal Pandey to elevate their Diwali campaign through the campaign #YehDiwaliApnoWali, translating to “This Diwali is all about loved ones.” In this charming campaign, Komal showcased how Haldiram’s delectable treats create memorable moments among family and friends during the festival. Her engaging reel combined style, flavour, and the essence of togetherness, making it a perfect representation of Diwali celebrations.
Why It Worked:
The collaboration effectively captured the warmth of the holiday, allowing the brand to connect emotionally with its audience. By aligning with an influencer whose values resonate with its target market, Haldiram reinforced its position as a key part of festive gatherings
5. Enhance Engagement with Festive AR Filters
OnePlus launched a festive campaign centered around Diwali, titled #OneCelebration, where they collaborated with Snapchat to develop an AR portal lens designed to connect individuals, especially those unable to celebrate Diwali in person. Through this innovative feature, users could immerse themselves in the festive spirit with the AR portal lens, adding virtual decorations, sparkling lights, and a touch of warmth to their surroundings.
Why It Worked:
The campaign resonated deeply with users by addressing the emotional aspects of celebrating Diwali apart from family and friends. The AR portal lens offered a unique and innovative way for people to connect and celebrate Diwali, this resonated with the festival’s core values of family and community. The campaign also aligned perfectly with OnePlus’ brand ethos of innovation and youth appeal. By leveraging cutting-edge technology to create a festive experience, OnePlus demonstrated its commitment to staying ahead of the curve.
By blending cultural relevance, interactive campaigns, influencer partnerships, and AI, D2C brands can build strong connections with their audience during Diwali. The examples above show how well-crafted campaigns on social media can enhance a brand’s visibility, boost engagement, and drive sales. Brands that leverage Diwali’s festive energy with creative, consumer-centric strategies are more likely to see tangible results, building both brand loyalty and festive cheer in the process.
This article has been contributed byAnkit Aneja, Vice President, Herbal Chakra Pvt. Ltd.
As Diwali is around the corner, D2C brands have a prime opportunity to use social media to engage consumers, sell more, and create lasting relationships. Digital platforms become an integral part of modern marketing, making it important to develop Diwali-specific campaigns so that one can stand out in a busy marketplace. Here are some key strategies that can help D2C brands optimize their social media presence and maximize impact this holiday season:
Diwali-Specific Discounts and Promotions
Discount and promotion sales will continue to be one of the most attractive ways for Indian consumers, especially with Diwali when it is all about spending money in gifting and personal purchases. A Diwali special or a festive promotion will create some sort of urgency for a limited period and move into quick sales. Sales should be hosted, coupons be offered, and packaged products flaunted: Social media, especially Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp-what better way to promote something? Tools such as countdown timers on Instagram Stories or discounts on Facebook ads will ensure that brands get maximum traffic during the holiday season since impulses will drive it.
Promoting Healthy Lifestyles and Wellness Trends During Diwali
The demand for healthy lifestyles, Diwali is not merely about sales. It also represents an excellent opportunity to nudge consumers toward new habits as wellness trends become mainstream for D2C brands in their way of propagating healthier and mindful lifestyles. For example, Herbal Chakra could focus on Ayurvedic rituals for health and wellness, encouraging customers to “start your health journey this Diwali.” Whether it is fitness, mindfulness, or skincare routines, holiday events provide emotional touchpoints that inspire people to make long-term lifestyle changes. Brands can create compelling content like tutorials, educational posts, or influencer collaborations that resonate with a growing health-conscious audience.
The Power of Substitution: Healthier Alternatives
Spotlighting Healthier Alternatives during Diwali is a very effective approach. When the season is known for overindulgence and lavish living, brands can seize this moment as an opportunity to shift consumers towards healthier and eco-friendly alternatives. An example would be pushing jaggery as an alternative to refined sugar in most of the sweets that make up the festive treats. Making content about sustainable conscious choices such as sustainable packaging or organic ingredients can ensure that the brand reaches the masses without going out of relevance during the festival.
The Key is Content: Performance Marketing Meets Organic Engagement
In marketing strategy terms, a strategy for instant returns during the festival; however, a brand cannot undermine the long-term strength that content marketing possesses. Creating valuable content regularly allows brand awareness to build in the long run and deepen customers’ relationships with you.
Organic content, that is, a product guide, user-generated stories, and even behind-the-scenes content could give a loyal community. Ideas of the values that the brand stands for or activities of initiatives such as eco-friendly campaigns or charity events around Diwali are going to appeal emotionally and increase brand affinity. A great example is working with influencers and customer reviews to encourage D2C beauty brands to create makeup tutorials around the holiday season and encourage their followers to achieve the same look with a brand’s products.
Foster Brand Loyalty: Re-target and Lifetime Value Focus for the Long Haul
To have a sustainable future, D2C brands will have to build customer loyalty that lasts beyond the holiday season. Retargeting campaigns will help brands reach out to their former customers with personalized offers or reminders about Diwali sales. These can be very effective when retargeting segments that have already shown interest in your brand but haven’t bought yet.
Finally, a D2C business is only sustainable if it is customer lifetime value-focused. Brands should create loyal customers by offering subscription models, exclusive offers, or loyalty programs. It has been observed that brands often contact their existing customers asking them to buy during the festival of Diwali and continue using the same throughout the year. Email marketing can do wonders for customer retention if it is accompanied by tailored discount codes and exclusive, timed pre-sale access. This means that the value that contributed to the long-term success cycle can be substantially increased for customers.
Expand Your Footprint:
For new D2C brands, Diwali is an excellent time to get more visibility through aggregator platforms like Amazon, Flipkart or Nykaa. Although the margins may not be too high at this stage, it is a never-before opportunity to reach out to an enormous and very diverse consumer base. By aggregating new brands with well-known markets, aggregators add to the trust customers are bound to have in and seek out the products coming from these new brands. It can then be driven, during the high-spending season, by placing their D2C presence there, which can convert those sales into direct-to-self, through their website.
First, it has to be about getting your brand in front of as many people as possible and then reaching out to the brand’s platform, which has higher margins.
Leverage Your Existing Customer Base:
One of the most valuable assets for any D2C brand is its existing customer base. Diwali presents a great opportunity to reconnect with loyal customers through personalized messages, exclusive offers, and festive greetings. Send premium customers early access codes or, offer extra discounts on referrers during the period. Create some holiday-related product bundles so that purchasing is more exciting. And that will generate more sales in addition to a loyal base of customers. Take this moment to actively gather feedback for enhancing further and refine based on resonance with the brand’s audiences.
“Diwali offers D2C brands a chance to connect meaningfully with audiences, integrating festival tradition with the potential of digital engagement. Through social media, we are reaching consumers directly; they get emotional about festivals; we are offering customized offers and establishing long-term relations. Brands can have high-impact, value-based campaigns by focusing on authentic storytelling, wellness habits, and environmental alternatives for products.” – Ankit Aneja, Vice President, Herbal Chakra Pvt. Ltd.
This will ensure that D2C brands have repeat sales and brand advocacy even after the holiday season. It is an excellent opportunity for D2C brands to reach new customers, retain existing ones, and increase overall brand awareness during Diwali, provided they make the right use of social media. Adding monetary incentives, encouraging new habits, offering healthier alternatives, and focusing on a long-term content strategy, D2C brands can make the most of their social media presence for a successful Diwali campaign.
Five well-known social media influencers, including YouTubers Elvish Yadav and Bharti Singh, have been called by the Delhi Police in a significant crackdown over an extensive app-based scam that robbed investors of about INR 500 crore. The ‘HIBOX’ smartphone application, promised consumers guaranteed returns on their investments but was a platform for unlawful operations.
Over 500 complaints have been filed against the program, according to a police spokeswoman. The victims claim they were tricked into investing by well-known internet figures who promoted the software on social media. Over 30,000 people were impacted by the scam as they were duped by influencer-led campaigns offering investment opportunities and mystery box shopping with speedy returns.
A syndicate using the ‘Hibox’ app to deceive almost 30,000 individuals with promises of guaranteed returns on investments was brought down by the Delhi Police’s IFSO squad. Several well-known YouTubers and social media celebrities are said to have promoted the hoax, luring naive people in with their sizable online followings.
Using Social Media Celebs to Allure Users
“Hibox” was an app that advertised itself as a place to find investment possibilities and mystery box shopping experiences. A growing trend on e-commerce sites is mystery box buying, which enables customers to buy parcels whose contents are unknown, increasing the excitement of opening them. But the ‘Hibox’ platform, which attracted users with claims of instant earnings and returns, turned out to be a front for dishonest business practices.
The Delhi Police claims that a large number of victims were made aware of the app by well-known YouTubers and influencers who shared the link with their millions of fans. The list of people under investigation includes comedian Bharti Singh, YouTubers Abhishek Malhan, Elvish Yadav, Lakshay Choudhary, and Purav Jha. Nine influencers in all participated in the app’s marketing campaign.
An IFSO unit spokesman claimed that by utilizing these social media stars’ power, the syndicate was able to reach a sizable audience. The aforementioned people have received summons letters to participate in the investigation and make statements as part of the ongoing investigation.
How Did the Scam Unfold?
When several users came forward to report that they had been duped into paying money for the software only to discover that the promised rewards had never materialized, the scam was exposed. Many of the victims were lured to the platform by influencer-sponsored content, which gave them reason to think the scam was real.
Growing numbers of people now believe the opinions of social media influencers, often making it difficult to distinguish between paid marketing and sincere suggestions. This instance serves as a warning about the dangers of using internet platforms that mix investment programs with popular practices like mystery box buying.
The Delhi Police’s IFSO squad is still looking into the syndicate; depending on the investigation’s findings, more action might be taken. Users of social media are being advised to thoroughly investigate platforms before making financial commitments and are being alerted about the possible risks associated with investment plans.
Unscrupulous advertising has become the standard in many industries because of the cutthroat nature of modern competition. Even the most sacred and innocent of all sectors, education, which shapes the nation’s leaders of tomorrow, has begun to wear shades of grey. Students in today’s academically competitive world are always looking for top coaching institutes where they can hone their skills and achieve their academic goals. The competition among educational institutions is fierce, and some resort to dishonest means to attract as many pupils as possible.
Advertisements for these educational institutions often make exaggerated claims about the placement rates they provide, the percentage of students who pass their entry examinations, or the affiliations they have earned. Their advertising budget for television and internet platforms is close to Rs.38,000 crore.
False data regarding placements is alleged in numerous situations. A fraudulent advertisement for Manav Knowledge City, a school in Maharashtra, falsely claimed that its students would achieve the highest academic results and placement rates. The advertiser’s claim that they had the lowest fees was likewise deemed false by the consumer forum.
The so-called “Coaching Centres” are raking in the dough as well. There are thousands of students signing up to study for admission tests. There is currently no mechanism to reimburse students whose payments have already been processed if they are dissatisfied with the service or cannot gain admission.
The Centre Offers Recommendations to Spot Deceptive Ads
On 9 January 2024, the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs discussed recommendations to address misleading coaching marketing in the face of unethical actions by coaching institutes to attract employment or entrance exam candidates.
A committee led by Consumer Affairs Secretary and CCPA Chief Commissioner Rohit Kumar Singh discussed the issue. Last October, the CCPA, the nation’s top consumer watchdog, filed notifications to 20 IAS coaching institutes for “misleading” ads. According to the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, the CCPA’s committee on misleading coaching commercials met for the first time on Monday to review the proposed rules. According to the ministry, officials and stakeholders discussed the draft standards for misleading coaching ads.
Under the Consumer Protection Act 2019, a coaching institute’s advertisement could be misleading if it conceals essential information about the course chosen by successful candidates (free or paid), its duration, etc.
Coaching Market Size Worldwide
FIITJEE, the New Joiner
After publishing a national newspaper ad ridiculing a student who left the coaching facility for another, FIITJEE received huge outrage over the weekend. The student’s academic performance, school, and photo were displayed in the FIITJEE ad. In the wake of many student suicides, coaching institutes have been encouraged by the government to be sensitive to pupils. Social media users called the commercial “shameful” and “disgusting“.
A photo of the ad published by Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, Government of India officer Katyayani Sanjay Bhatia on X revealed the issue. She tweeted- “A new low in advertisements FIITJEE. You are posting a picture of a child saying she performed badly because she left your institute! I have blurred the picture because I don’t believe in this disgusting way of claiming your superiority by belittling a girl child”, she stated.
The daily’s front page advertisement claimed that the ex-student could have scored 100 NTA in JEE-Mains 2024 instead of 99.99 if she hadn’t left for a “EVIL Institute from Kota with a history of suicides“. JEE was also criticised for calling its competition “evil”.
FIITJEE vs Evil Institute
Effects on Education and Society
Coaching institutes in India have transformed education and society. These institutes claim to help kids succeed academically, but they have lowered school and college quality.
Coaching institutes also cause society’s obsessive fixation with exam outcomes. These institutes’ strong competitiveness has made parents, students, and schools prioritise grades over all else.
Holistic development and critical thinking are neglected in favour of rote memorisation and exam preparation.
Coaching institutes put kids under tremendous pressure. Many students feel overwhelmed by academic requirements. Constant stress can cause anxiety and despair.
India is growing, one reel at a time, on social media. At present, India holds the second spot in the world for active social media users–a staggering 755.47 million users! If small businesses don’t wake up to this stat soon, they might lose many prospective serviceable customers. At present, India is at the top of the table—in fact, even above the world average—when it comes to social media hours. Indians spend 2.8 hours on social media each day. A survey by the government’s citizen initiative platform, MyGovIndia, shows the number of digital transactions jumped to 89.5 million in 2022. India’s booming internet economy is only expected to grow further to $1 trillion by 2030, according to a joint survey by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company.
With millions of eyeballs vying for content, online existence is not an option anymore for small and medium enterprises. Instead, the more pertinent question is about gaining visibility and leveraging the high internet usage in the country. According to the Global Social Media Trends Report 2023 by Hubspot, 90% of digital marketers surveyed said building an active online community is “critical” to success in 2023.
StartupTalky spoke to a few small business owners who seemed to have cracked the code on using social media effectively for business. Read on to get their inside bait.
Social media is a great way to add to some branding real estate for your business. But using your social media handles to genuinely connect with people and share your insights on your business can do a lot more than you can imagine. “LinkedIn is a platform where you have to be present as a founder. Have a good LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is a profession-to-professional connection. It is about telling people what you are doing or what your thoughts are about the ecosystem. A lot of my businesses happen on LinkedIn. I got listed on Blinkit through LinkedIn. Harvinder (Singh, previously manager at Bkinkit) put up a post. I commented on the post and my comment got about 80 likes. So I grabbed his attention and sent him an email,” said Sairaj Dhond, founder of Wakao Foods, who is well known for his appearance on Shark Tank.
Global Social Media Users Over the Years
Be Consistent
Simply posting content about your business regularly can help you reach your potential customers. “Businesses should at least post one reel every day. Content is king, and therefore we try to put educational reels that viewers can relate to. They should try to make it as simple and as easily understandable for the viewer as possible,” said Sumeet Salve, Chief Marketing Officer at ithrive, a health consultation platform.
Get Innovative
You know your product or service the best. Trying to add a dash of novelty to your subject matter or product can catch your attention and also reach out to your audience. Take, for instance, designer Jasleen Kaur from Design Machines, who went viral for her ‘Just Looking Like a Wow’ reel. Her nomenclatures for names of dress colors be it ladoo peela, baingani purple, or mouse brown, have taken the internet by storm. Kaur has not only made an appearance on the hit reality TV show Bigg Boss but has also reportedly admitted that her business opportunities have taken off.
Be Authentic
Staged performances are best left for the movies. For an entrepreneur, being real can help connect with your audience.
For me, it’s always been about relativity. If I like some trending audio, I just pick it up and then make a reel. No one’s life is as fancy as they show on Instagram. I don’t have a big warehouse; I work from home and I am the only person who works. I wanted to debunk the myth that you are a successful business only if you have employed 100 people, said Shraddha Mishra from Letters by Shraddha.
Shraddha started her first Instagram post during the pandemic and has amassed over 15,000 followers on Instagram in just three years since she began her social media page. She has even given a TEDx talk on her entrepreneurial journey.
Conclusion
Social media is the new mall, and it is here to stay. If you are not on this digital dukaan, then it could very well sound like the death knell. Donning the hat of your customer can sometimes give perspective on what a customer is thinking and what he or she would like more of from your brand, leading to more viral ideas and trending reels. Lastly, having fun and being authentic could go a long way toward connecting with the ecosystem as a whole.
TikTok, one of the most valuable media brands worldwide, has a brand value of $66 billion in 2023, $59 billion in 2022, and $18.75 billion in 2021. It is a China-based video-sharing social networking startup owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. TikTok allows users to upload a variety of short-form videos, from genres like dance, comedy, and education. The duration of the videos has been expanded to 10 minutes from 3 minutes (originally 1 minute).
This application gained popularity in a very short period. It became extremely hyped among teenagers. As of now, it has over 1.5 billion monthly active users worldwide. TikTok is the next big thing!
Top 10 Stats to Know About TikTok
Here is a quick snapshot of key TikTok insights:
Origin: Started as Douyin in 2016 by Chinese tech company Bytedance. Launched internationally as TikTok in September 2017. Became popular in China before its international expansion.
User Base: Over 1.5 billion active monthly users globally (Q3 2022). Combined with Douyin users the user base exceeds 2 billion.
Daily Video Views: Over 1 billion videos are viewed daily on TikTok. Content diversity and creator tools contribute to this engagement.
Social Media Ranking: 6th most popular social media platform globally.
Download Numbers: Over 3.5 billion total downloads since launch. Most downloaded app in 2022 with 571 million downloads (Q1-Q3).
User Age Range: 25-34 age range accounted for 25.4% of US TikTok users in 2022. Combined with the 18-24 demographic, 49.3% of users were adults aged 18-34.
Engagement Rate: TikTok’s engagement rate is higher than Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Micro-influencers achieve around 18% engagement.
Global Reach: 20.83% of internet users worldwide (4.8 billion) were on TikTok in 2022. It’s available in 154 countries and translated into 75 languages.
User Frequency: 90% of TikTok users access the app daily. Higher user engagement is due to addictive content and relevance.
Indian Ban: Banned in India but still available in 154 countries.
Here are some more amazing facts about TikTok that you probably didn’t know about:
TikTok is predominantly used by younger age groups. But it’s no longer just an app for teens. The 25-34 age group accounted for 25.4% of TikTok users. When combined with the 18-24 age group which is 23.9%, adults in the 18-34 age group accounted for 49.3% of US TikTok users. Also, the age group of 12-17 accounted for 17.7% of US TikTok users in 2022.
TikTok was initially named Musical.ly
One morning Musical.ly users woke up and were surprised to see the app replaced with a new name and a brand new logo! TikTok was named Musical.ly and was again renamed in August 2018.
Bytendance’s parent organization, TikTok got it for a billion dollars in the wake of seeing the accomplishment of the application Musical.ly. Then the two apps were merged and another application called TikTok was created. Today, TikTok App is valued at $400 billion.
TikTok is banned in India
TikTok, the short-video streaming application, was a momentous accomplishment in India when it was released in September 2016, TikTok was permanently banned in India in August 2020 over public safety issues.
India had nearly 200 million users and the fast-growing community suffered a massive blow from this decision. It has been a year since the boycott, and the app, presently neglected and criticized, was once a source of income for some content creators.
Time-management feature in TikTok
TikTok’s Screen Time Management feature offers its users the flexibility to decide the amount of time they spend on TikTok daily. Users can now limit their screen time on TikTok with the help of this feature.
At first, TikTok offered users the chance to restrict screen time to two hours of the day. Presently, users can choose new time limit points of 40, 60, 90, or 120 minutes and choose how long they need to spend on the application each day. This feature is password-encrypted, and valid for 30 days.
If users exceed their screen time limit, they must enter their security password to keep using TikTok. This feature can be found in the Privacy and Settings, under the part Digital Wellbeing section.
In comparison to other social media apps, TikTok has more actively engaged users. Around 34% of all users upload at least one video each day. Like some other social stages, you will develop your crowd by posting consistently. This is because of TikTok’s algorithm- Posts of users with no followers can also go viral and reach millions of people in a day.
TikTok gives its clients an extraordinary natural reach. The TikTok analytics is incredibly sharp and shows what people demand to see.
An average TikTok user spends 50 minutes or more daily
A normal TikTok user spends an average of 50 minutes each day on the application every 24 hours. These users revisit the app several times a day to share content with their friends and post them on other social media platforms.
This data can be viewed as generally significant to those endeavoring to benefit from Ad income and is a good insight to use when promoting plans for brands that are on TikTok. That number is at par with Facebook and Instagram and shows an excellent future for the application.
The application organizers mainly focus on developing an engaging and addictive application. TikTok is particularly addictive, and several users spend a couple of hours every day scrolling through it.
TikTok is used in 154 countries
TikTok has 122 million users based in the United States of America solely, which is the highest by country. Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, is one of the most popular apps in China. It has over 700 million daily active users. The TikTok stage has been particularly invited in other Asian nations like Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.
Countries With the Largest TikTok Audience as of July 2023
TikTok is used more by women than men in the United States
TikTok insights show that 60% of its dynamic users are females while the rest are men. Furthermore, the females are additionally comprised of more individuals between 20 to 29 years old than those between 13 to 19 years.
More than 1.5 billion people use TikTok
As indicated by TikTok insights, more than 1 billion individuals overall are regularly using TikTok. That is much more than Twitter, LinkedIn, and Snapchat. Long gone are the days when TikTok was just a lip-syncing video app.
Today TikTok has over 1 billion monthly active users worldwide and more than 138 million monthly users in the US, and this number is increasing every day.
Songs and Dance trends have gone viral due to TikTok
Many dance trends and songs have turned into web sensations because of the TikTok application. Because of the adaptability that TikTok awards its users, numerous viral online video trends have effectively developed since the worldwide arrival of the application.
The music used by lip-syncing videos and dance trends on TikTok has also become a web sensation on music-sharing applications, for example, Spotify because of TikTok’s free usage of the audio content. Furthermore, sound from any media can likewise be used on TikTok like TV talk and live recorded media.
Most-followed TikTok creator worldwide
As of August 2023, Khaby Lame is the most-followed TikTok creator worldwide with over 162 million followers.
Highest-earning TikTok creator worldwide
As of August 2023, Charlie D’Amelio is the highest-earning TikTok creator worldwide.
FAQs
Why is TikTok so popular?
TikTok is a popular app for creating, watching and sharing short videos. The app is entertaining, addictive, and very engaging. One can get viral over a short time and be a TikTok star. One can generate income as well from TikTok.
Who is the founder of TikTok?
Zhang Yiming is the founder of TikTok.
What is the valuation of TikTok?
As per estimates, the valuation of TikTok is over $50 billion and its parent company ByteDance is worth over $300 billion.
Which country has the most number of TikTok users?
With over 138 million users, the US has the most number of TikTok users.
If you are an event organizer or a company planning a special event, you know how crucial it is to spread the word and attract attendees. In today’s fast-paced digital world, event listing portals have emerged as powerful platforms to promote and publicize events of all kinds.
By listing your event on these websites, you not only connect with their existing website traffic but also enhance the credibility of your event. However, you won’t be the only one taking advantage of this opportunity, as there are numerous other events also vying for attention.
Listing your event on event listing platforms in India holds great significance. People from all walks of life visit these portals daily to stay updated on the latest trends and happenings. By utilizing these platforms, you can reach a broader audience and generate interest in your event without incurring any additional costs or efforts.
In this article, we will explore some of the top event listing portals in India that can significantly boost the visibility of your event.
Facebook stands as one of the most ubiquitous and widely used social media platforms today, with nearly everyone actively engaged on this network. With over 2.8 billion active users worldwide, Facebook provides event organizers an unparalleled opportunity to connect with a vast and diverse audience. Given the extensive time people dedicate to surfing through Facebook, it becomes a natural hub for monitoring the happenings around us.
With its unparalleled user base, Facebook Events guarantees a far-reaching impact, offering unparalleled growth opportunities for businesses. Leveraging this platform for event listings opens doors to a wider audience, promising better visibility and enhanced prospects for your enterprise.
Yelp is an American multinational company, is renowned for its platform that offers comprehensive business reviews. However, Yelp’s usefulness extends beyond businesses, making it a valuable resource for event organizers as well. Within its website, there exists a dedicated section where you can create and share events with a vast audience.
By utilizing Yelp’s event listing portal, you can maximize the reach of your event by providing relevant and detailed information. Whether you’re hosting a corporate seminar or a community gathering, Yelp’s event listing feature ensures that your event gains the visibility it deserves.
Moreover, Yelp’s user-generated reviews further enhance its value for event planning. Potential attendees can gauge the quality of events by reading reviews left by previous participants, aiding them in making informed decisions about the events they wish to attend.
Book My Show
Website
www.bookmyshow.com
DA
92
PA
68
Type
Paid
BookMyShow
BookMyShow is a well-known and popular event listing platform in India. It is a comprehensive online entertainment ticketing platform that provides users with easy access to book tickets for various events, including movies, concerts, sports events, theater performances, and more. With a vast network of partnerships with event organizers, BookMyShow offers a one-stop destination for users to discover and book tickets for a wide range of entertainment options.
On BookMyShow, event organizers can list their events, allowing them to reach a massive audience of potential attendees. For users, BookMyShow provides a convenient way to explore upcoming events, view event details, and purchase tickets securely. The platform often features user reviews and ratings for events, helping others make informed decisions about the events they plan to attend.
Times Of India is one of the most prominent national daily newspapers. The event section of it is quite popular as well. There is a separate portal for events available in both the print as well as e-newspapers. You can also search manually if you are using the online mode. You can also get regional-based events available. Since newspapers are widely consumed media, this will help you to get easily noticed throughout the country.
Paytm Insider is a popular and widely used event listing platform in India. It serves as a comprehensive hub for discovering and booking tickets to a diverse range of events, including concerts, comedy shows, sports events, theater performances, workshops, and more.
For event organizers, Paytm Insider provides a valuable platform to list and promote their events, allowing them to reach a large and engaged audience. Users can explore upcoming events on Paytm Insider, view event details, read reviews and ratings, and securely book tickets for their preferred events. The platform often offers exclusive deals and discounts, enhancing the overall user experience and attracting more event-goers.
Indiaeve is a prominent event listing platform in India that offers a comprehensive space for discovering and promoting various events across the country. Designed to cater to a diverse range of interests and preferences, Indiaeve serves as a one-stop destination for event organizers and attendees alike.
For event organizers, Indiaeve provides an ideal platform to list and showcase their events to a wider audience. Whether it’s concerts, art exhibitions, workshops, sports events, or cultural festivals, Indiaeve allows organizers to reach out to potential attendees and effectively promote their events.
Attendees can explore a plethora of upcoming events on Indiaeve, including detailed event information, dates, venues, and ticket booking options. The platform’s user-friendly interface facilitates easy event discovery and ticket booking, ensuring a seamless experience for event-goers.
Eventbrite is a leading global event management and ticketing platform that enables event organizers to create, promote, and manage various events. From small gatherings to large conferences, Eventbrite caters to a wide range of events across different industries and interests.
With Eventbrite, you can create your event listing page that comes with a built-in payment, processing, and support system. You can manage your guest list with a simple set-up process at ease. It is also accessible on any device that will enable you to operate anywhere and at any time.
Townscript
Website
www.townscript.com
DA
51
PA
46
Type
Free
Townscript
Townscript is among the best event listing portals in India. From small local gatherings to large-scale conferences, Townscript caters to a diverse range of events across different industries and domains.
This enables the company to list their event and do the needful as well. You can get your event ticketing and registration. It also makes it hassle-free to sell event tickets online. It supports all the small, medium as well as big events that you want to host.
Hook 2 Events
Website
www.hook2events.com
DA
29
PA
52
Type
Free
Hook2Events
Another social platform like Facebook, Hook2Events provides a unique and stylish way than many other event listing portals in India. It engages the company to create, manage, publish, promote and share events and activities around the country. This site has already partnered with TIECON, RAI, IITs, IIMs, Rotary club and others.
Explara
Website
In.explara.com
DA
61
PA
53
Type
Free
Explara
Explara gets you the best way to monetize your business through various events, community, and online selling as crowdfunding. From corporate conferences and workshops to music concerts and cultural festivals, Explara caters to a wide range of events, making it a valuable resource for event planning and ticketing. The website of Explara has displayed its growth graph that contains the data for the existing decade. This makes it a reliable one among all the event listing portals in India.
MeraEvents
Website
www.meraevents.com
DA
56
PA
27
Type
Free
MeraEvents
MeraEvents is a prominent event listing and ticketing platform in India. MeraEvents provides event organizers with a comprehensive platform to list and promote their events, reaching a vast audience of potential attendees. The platform covers a wide range of events, from professional conferences and workshops to entertainment shows and cultural festivals.
For attendees, MeraEvents offers a user-friendly interface to discover and book tickets for their preferred events. Users can access event details, view ticket options, and securely make purchases, simplifying the event registration process.
Events Near Here
Website
www.eventsnearhere.com
DA
43
PA
49
Type
Free
Events Near Here
EventsNearHere is an event listing website that provides comprehensive information about events happening in various locations. It serves as a valuable resource for event organizers and attendees alike, featuring a wide range of events, including concerts, workshops, art exhibitions, sports events, and more. The platform allows event organizers to list their events and provides users with a convenient way to discover local happenings and access event details.
Conclusion
India boasts a plethora of exceptional event listing portals that have revolutionized the way events are planned, promoted, and attended. From the convenience of online ticketing to the vast reach of social media integrations, each platform offers unique features that cater to diverse event organizers and attendees.
Whether you’re a professional event organizer, an aspiring performer, or an enthusiastic attendee, these best event listing portals in India offer something for everyone. With their user-friendly interfaces, vast reach, and robust features, these platforms have redefined event experiences, bridging the gap between organizers and their audience. So, take your pick, list your event, or explore the exciting lineup – let the magic of events unfold with the best event listing portals in India!
FAQs
What are event listing portals?
Event listing portals are online platforms that allow event organizers to showcase and promote their events to a wider audience.
Where can you post an event?
Events can be posted in various event listing portals. Those portals are:
Facebook Events
Book My Show
Explara
Hook 2 Events
Townscript
Eventbrite
Indiaeve
Paytm Insider
Yelp
Why should I use event listing platforms to promote my event?
Event listing platforms offer numerous benefits, including increased event visibility, wider audience reach, and streamlined ticketing and registration processes. By utilizing these platforms, you can effectively market your event, attract more attendees, and enhance its overall success.
Who founded Eventbrite?
Eventbrite was founded by Julia Hartz, Kevin Hartz and Renaud Visage.
How do event listing sites help attendees find events of interest?
Event listing sites provide users with a comprehensive database of upcoming events, offering detailed information about event dates, locations, ticket prices, and event categories. Users can easily search and filter events based on their interests, ensuring they find events that match their preferences.
Who founded BookMyShow?
BookMyShow was founded by Ashish Hemrajani, Parikshit Dar and Rajesh Balpande.
Are event listing portals safe for online ticket purchases?
Yes, reputable event listing portals use secure payment gateways to ensure safe and protected online ticket purchases.
How can I choose the best event listing website for my event?
To choose the best event listing website for your event, consider factors such as your event’s category, target audience, budget, and desired features. Assess each platform’s offerings, user reviews, and reach to make an informed decision that aligns with your event’s specific requirements.
If your business attracts a target audience through social media marketing by being active on Twitter, or Instagram, then you must be aware of a shadow ban. If you have ever experienced your posts not reaching your followers or your engagement impressions dropping all of a sudden on Instagram, chances are you have been shadowbanned by Instagram.
Shadow banning, often referred to as ghost banning or stealth banning, is the practice of reducing a user’s content’s visibility and reach on social media platforms without the user’s awareness or express notice. A user’s posts, comments, or account activity are purposefully muted under a shadow ban, which makes it challenging for them to attract new followers, get interaction, or show up in search results and hashtag feeds.
Nevertheless, there are always methods to avoid such things, if you think your business page might get affected. Keep reading this article to uncover facts about the shadow ban and how to fix it.
Shadow ban refers to a practice employed by social media platforms where a user’s content is deliberately limited in visibility, engagement, or reach without their knowledge or explicit notification. Basically, it’s a covert kind of suppression where a user’s posts are concealed or de-prioritized, making it challenging for them to attract new followers, get likes and comments, or even show up in search results or hashtag feeds.
When compared to a typical ban, which totally blocks or suspends a user, a shadow ban permits the user to seem to be using the platform normally. Their material is either suppressed or given poor priority, which makes it less visible to their fans and the general public. As a result, the user’s engagement, interactions, and total reach may noticeably fall.
The reason why social media platforms employ shadow bans is to prevent certain actions that can go against platform policies or abuse the system. They try to reduce spamming, bot usage, the spread of offensive information, and engagement manipulation techniques. Platforms aim to ensure a better and more authentic user experience for their community by reducing the effect and reach of accounts participating in such behaviors.
Experiencing a sudden decline in engagement and interactions can be frustrating and confusing because of the lack of transparency often shadow bans have. However, by following guidelines you can avoid being shadow banned.
Impact of Shadow Ban on Businesses and Their Social Media Platforms
The impact of shadow bans on businesses and their social media platforms has become a significant concern for their users. Below are some factors regarding the impact of shadow bans:
Widespread Occurrence
Shadow bans have been reported across various social media platforms, including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok. It is believed that these platforms employ algorithms and moderation techniques to identify and suppress accounts that engage in activities violating their guidelines or manipulating the system.
Decreased Visibility and Engagement
The primary impact of shadow banning is a significant reduction in visibility and engagement for affected businesses. Their posts may not appear in followers’ feeds, search results, or explore sections, resulting in decreased likes, comments, and overall reach. As a result, shadow ban can gravely affect a business and hinder its ability to connect with its audience, grow its follower base, and effectively communicate its message.
Frustration and Confusion
Shadow bans often occur without explicit notification or explanation, leaving companies unaware that their content is being suppressed. This lack of transparency can lead to frustration, chaos, and a sense of unfair treatment. Moreover, businesses may find it challenging to understand why their engagement has suddenly dropped or why their content is not reaching their intended audience.
Platform Trust and User Experience
The prevalence of shadow banning can erode trust in social media platforms. Most brands want transparency, fairness, and the ability to freely express their goals within the platform’s guidelines. When shadow bans occur without clear communication or avenues for recourse, it can negatively impact user satisfaction and confidence in the platform.
The above factors show us what happens when a company’s social media account is shadow banned. Now let’s jump into the next section on how to lift a shadow ban and methods to avoid it.
Strategies to Lift a Shadow Ban
Let us assume you have faced a shadow ban on social media, then there are several strategies you can employ to potentially lift the ban and regain visibility for your content. Although there is no assurance that these methods will be effective in every scenario, they are definitely worth a try. To remove a shadow ban, consider these strategies:
Engage with Genuine Interactions
It’s important to engage with your followers by responding to comments, messages, and interactions. Encourage valuable discussions and create content that will generate engagement. It’s best to steer clear of tactics like engagement manipulation or using bots since they can worsen or prolong the shadow ban.
Always Check and Modify Your Content
Before posting, carefully check your content to make sure it meets the platform’s guidelines and policies. If any content appears spammy, offensive, or violates the platform’s rules, either remove or adjust it accordingly. Additionally, avoid repetitive or automated posting practices that may activate algorithmic filters.
Expand Your Platform Presence
Think of expanding your activity across multiple social media platforms. This method always enables you to focus on building a presence on alternative platforms where you can reach new audiences and help diversify your brand awareness. As a result, this will help decrease dependency on a single platform and mitigate the impact of a shadow ban.
Collaborate With Influencers and Engage in Communities
To get more exposure for your content, try collaborating with other influencers or content creators in your niche and cross-promoting each other’s work. You can also increase your visibility by actively engaging in relevant communities and groups. By participating in discussions and providing value, you can establish yourself as a trusted and active member of the community.
Report the Issue and Seek Support
If you believe you have been shadow banned, the best way is to contact the platform’s support or help center. Provide them with any relevant information or evidence that can help them understand your situation better. You can request a review or explanation of the ban and ask for assistance in resolving the issue.
Whenever you create an account on any social media platform, it is essential to understand the platform’s policies and remain vigilant, and employ best practices accordingly to avoid behaviors that may lead to shadow bans. It’s worth mentioning that shadow banning can differ across platforms due to varying algorithms and moderation procedures. However, most of them have common guidelines and anticipations from their users. To prevent shadow bans, it is crucial to remain proactive and maintain a healthy presence on your social media platforms.
Familiarize Yourself With Platform Guidelines
This is the most important point to remember. No matter what, please go through every platform’s guidelines. It is necessary to carefully read and comprehend the guidelines and terms of service of the social media platforms you use. Keep yourself informed of any policy changes or updates to ensure that your content complies with the rules. To stay compliant and aligned with platform requirements, make sure to stay informed about any updates to algorithms, platform policies, and community guidelines. Adjust your content strategy accordingly.
Create Original and Valuable Content
It is very obvious if you want to remain authentic, then you have to create content that is unique and offers value to your audience. To ensure that your audience gets the most out of your content, aim to create original and high-quality pieces that have real significance. Steer clear of spammy or manipulative tactics, such as excessive self-promotion or repetitive posts. Nobody likes to view content that has no relevance to what they are searching for online.
Monitor Your Metrics
It’s important to keep an eye on your engagement metrics, like the number of likes, comments, and how far your content reaches. If you see a sudden or significant decrease in engagement, it could mean there’s been a change in the algorithm or you may have been shadow banned.
Report Suspicious Activity
If you ever come across any strange or doubtful activity on your account, like a sudden drop in engagements or odd notifications, it’s important to notify the support team of the platform. As mentioned earlier, give them all the relevant information or evidence that can assist them in investigating and resolving the problem.
The Bottom Line
It might seem that social media platforms may not clearly indicate if a user has been shadow banned or offer an easy way to fix the issue, which can make it difficult to deal with effectively. But, what we can do is use preventative measures and long-term solutions by following the policies mentioned by every platform. That being said, always make sure to provide value to your audience, and engage in authentic ways to establish a sustainable online presence.
FAQs
What is shadow ban?
Shadow ban refers to a practice employed by social media platforms where a user’s content is deliberately limited in visibility, engagement, or reach without their knowledge or explicit notification.
Why do social media platforms employ shadow bans?
Social media platforms employ shadow bans to prevent certain actions that can go against platform policies or abuse the system. They try to reduce spamming, bot usage, the spread of offensive information, and engagement manipulation techniques.
How can shadow banning be prevented?
Shadow banning can be prevented by following below:
ChatGPT is the new tool on the block that social media enthusiasts are in love with. While people who use Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have been copying quotes, sayings, and cool phrases by searching on the internet to make their social media posts a bit interesting, not to mention the book quotes and quoting random Greek philosophers, some out of context and some for the fun of it, this new artificial intelligence can do much more than that. See, being a generative AI, ChatGPT can not only give the quotes you want off the web, but it can also inspire that little creative writer inside you and help you create original, meaningful captions for social media.
OpenAI, a company that is highly involved in artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning research and development, launched (on November 30, 2022) the coolest and most capable program named ChatGPT, a generative AI chatbot that is capable of generating human-like text, content writing and producing creative content when prompted by the user. It was so useful! I am saying useful cause usefulness is what drives any product in this age, that it grossed 1m users in its first five days of launch and 100m users by January 2023.
Even Instagram took 2.5 months to achieve its first 1m users.
With global smartphone penetration presently standing at 67% and a significant amount of their valuable time on smartphones, marketers, and advertisers are now focused on creating ads and marketing campaigns directed especially at small screens, i.e., the mobile and ChatGPT can help.
A McKinsey Global Survey on state AI adoption concluded, “In 2017, 20 percent of respondents reported adopting AI in at least one business area, whereas today, that figure stands at 50 percent, though it peaked higher in 2019 at 58 percent.”
And with ChatGPT and ChatGPT Plus making headlines with their content–creating capabilities, more and more businesses in various areas are looking to adopt AI in some way or another.
Marketers and advertising agencies can use ChatGPT to research the latest trends and news about the product or service they want to market. ChatGPT can be used to get a summary of the latest developments regarding a particular product and how customers are inclined toward that product.
ChatGPT can be leveraged to research what products people are interested in and how they interact with sellers and vendors. By analyzing local or national news on a particular product or service, people can strategize and focus more on what people need and want.
Generating Unique Marketing Campaigns For Social Media
The AI Chatbot can also be used to develop unique marketing ideas and campaign slogans, themes, and titles. It can help advertisers and marketers use the time to plan the crucial aspect of the campaigns and can help create a wireframe.
Apart from that, it can provide you with creative content as well, but you have to tailor it to match the theme and target of the campaign.
Someone rightly pointed out that generative AI can be an assistant at best (well, Satya Nadella, the Microsoft CEO, called the Bing AI your Copilot), so why not use it as an assistant?
ChatGPT could generate ad copy tailored to a specific audience, ensuring that the ad is more effective and reaches the right people.
An Ad and Marketing company could use ChatGPT to personalize social media content for different audiences. This can be done using demographic information, interests, and other factors to generate relevant and appealing content for each audience. Marketers could use ChatGPT to create different versions of a post for different countries or regions to ensure that the content is relevant to the audience more likely to be engaged.
ChatGPT For Social Media Marketing
Well, once you have created something, be it a small advertisement or a targeted marketing campaign, it is time to market it to the right audience.
So how do you go about that, and how can ChatGPT help?
As a generative AI, ChatGPT can help you analyze the trending social media platform and give pointers on how you can approach this.
ChatGPT can provide you with a list of trendy tags and captions. If your ad campaign is less text and more visuals in the form of images, Instagram and Pinterest could be the better platform. If it is textual, you can post it on Reddit and Twitter. With the help of ChatGPT, you can find trending groups and space to market your ad.
Apart from that, ChatGPT can also help people with microblogging sites and posting creative content, and growing their follower count. People like you, me, celebs, politicians, and others can use ChatGPT to post better tweets. It can help you with witty and relevant replies and help you engage better with your followers.
On Instagram, you can use this great tool to come up with witty or quirky captions, as per your taste, and hashtags to enhance your engagement and grow your followers. The same goes for Reddit and other social media platforms such as Facebook.
Talking about politicians and celebs, a politician can use ChatGPT to tweet better tweets relevant to current events and reach their audience. This will not only enhance the prospects during crucial elections but will also ensure that voters know who they are voting for.
For example, consider this tweet by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who was mocked for her made-up word ‘refudiate’ —
”Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn’t it stab you in the heart, as it does our throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate”
-@sarahpalinusa, July 18, 2010
She followed up with:
”Refudiate,” ”misunderestimate,” ”wee-wee’d up.” English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!
-@sarahpalinusa, July 18, 2010
Here is a tweet by former United States President Donald J. Trump that makes you think over your tweets and other social media posts and not post toxic content. ChatGPT can surely help you rephrase your thoughts and be creative.
”Obama just endorsed Crooked Hillary. He wants four more years of Obama- but nobody else does!”
-@realDonaldTrump, June 9, 2016
You can also use ChatGPT to write long blog posts on blogging websites such as Medium and Substack, where a subscription option is also available. Using ChatGPT wisely and effectively (again… as an assistant and not a writer), you can create valuable, informative, and trustworthy content that engages more people and makes you rich (well, it’s possible!).
Conclusion
In essence, whether social media posts or social media marketing, ChatGPT, and other generative AI tools can help you write better, creative, and informative content to create engaging and effective ad campaigns. You can use ChatGPT for research and analysis, thereby, personalizing social media posts or marketing campaigns to engage the kind of audience you wish to target. From social media captions to replies, comments, and hashtags, ChatGPT got your back.
FAQs
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a generative AI chatbot that is capable of generating human-like text, content writing, and producing creative content when prompted by the user.
How can you use ChatGPT for social media?
ChatGPT can be used for social media for:
Research And Trend Analysis
Generating Unique Marketing Campaigns For Social Media
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Discord.
People love to stay in touch whether it’s by talking to friends and family through video calls, messaging through apps, or touching base working remotely. Gamers are no different. That’s why online gaming and chatting go together like Han and Chewy.
Gamers have always faced two problems, how to talk to one another and how to organize people to get an online game going. Discord is one such app that was created by the gamers for gamers to solve such problems. But outside of the gamer’s realm, what is discord all about?
Discord is an easy-to-use free communication app, similar to apps like Skype or Slack but aimed mainly at gamers with a lot more features. Discord lets friends chat with each other at one to one or as a group via a server.
It provides user-friendly text, voice, screen-sharing, and video chat services through public or private servers that can be set up pretty quickly and easily. No doubt Discord started as a gamers’ chat app and became quite famous for it. But its users started finding non-gaming ways of using this platform which inspired Discord to make a few changes.
Discord specializes in text, image, video, and audio communication between users in a chat channel. Discord runs on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, and in web browsers. One of the most critical differentiators that makes Discord the go-to app for video gamers is its open-bot-friendly ecosystem.
COVID forced everybody to social distance and communicate via chat platforms. So, because of its users and the pandemic Discord thought about growing beyond its only for-gamers image, and now it wants to be seen as a general-purpose chat app for everyone with even non-gaming needs and wants, to go mainstream all over the world, just like Zoom. Discord is for anyone who could use a place to talk with their friends and communities.
Discord – Target Market Size
Founded in 2015, Discord successfully identified who the early adopters of their platform would be, the gamers.
Leading Countries for Monthly Traffic to discord.com in July 2022
However, in recent years, as the company continues its expansion, the target market size has also been growing hand in hand with the same. The vicinity of their platform’s services is gradually starting to attract more users outside of the gaming community.
From large corporate meetings to job recruitments, from live karaoke nights to virtual wedding parties, the possibilities are pretty endless. That’s why they have changed the branding and introduced the new tagline which specifically says, “Your Place to Talk and Hang Out”.
In short, Discord is projecting itself because of the way forward for platforms where you’ll chat with friends, learn something online, or simply share ideas albeit you are not into gaming. They have successfully gained a sustainable advantage above their competition within the gaming sector and now the company appears to have shifted its focus to target users from various industries.
Whether you’re a part of a faculty club, gaming group, worldwide art community, or simply a couple of friends that want to spend time together, Discord makes it easy to speak a day and hang around more often.
About Discord’s logo, the most popular theory is that the discord logo is a game controller, with a face. But according to its Twitter account, it’s a friendly bot named Clyde.
Discord’s tagline says, “Your Place to Talk and Hang Out”. Whether you’re a part of a faculty club, gaming group, worldwide art community, or simply a couple of friends that want to spend time together, Discord makes it easy to speak a day and hang around more often. Discord is not just for people with gaming requirements, but for everyone to communicate.
Discord – Founder and History
Founded in May 2015 by Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy, Discord continues to be the most preferred app for gamers for communicating while gaming.
The idea of Discord came into Jason Citron’s mind when he noticed how difficult it was for his team to work out tactics in games like Final Fantasy XIV and League of Legends using available voice-over IP (VoIP) software. He founded OpenFeint, a social mobile gaming platform that got sold in 2011 for $104 million.
Founders of Discord – Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy
He founded a game development studio, Hammer & Chisel in 2012. Their first product was Fates Forever, released in 2014, which Citron anticipated being the primary MOBA game on mobile platforms, but it didn’t become commercially successful. He then noticed the glitches and issues faced by gamers all over the world while gaming which was communication. He also found that some VoIP options required players to type in IP addresses just to connect, while others were resource-heavy and had known security problems. This led the developers to develop a chat service that was much friendlier to use and based on more modern technologies.
Discord addressed all of the issues of its predecessors. It was free to use. It had a remarkable product design. It had a desktop client, but it also had an internet app. Users could invite friends with a link and start conversing through the browser without downloading anything.
Discord was publicly released in May 2015 under the URL discordapp.com. consistent with Citron, the sole area that they pushed Discord into was for the Reddit communities, finding that a lot of subreddit forums were replacing IRC servers with Discord ones. Discord became a known name among Esports and LAN tournament gamers, and other Twitch streamers.
Discord – Vision and Mission
“Discord wants you to build genuine relationships with your friends and communities close to home or around the world. Original, reliable, playful, and relatable. These are the values that connect our users and our employees at Discord.”
Discord’s mission is closely associated with its vision. Its mission is to bring people together around games. That’s why most of the app’s features consider meeting the requirements of gamers. For Discord, diversity and inclusiveness are critical a part of how it intends to succeed in its mission.
“It’s where your world talks. Discord is a voice, video and text communication service used by over a hundred million people to hang out and talk with their friends and communities.”
Discord – Business Model
Discord is against advertisements and the selling of user data. It has been relying on funding money till recently and has no intentions to make users pay to use the application in the future.
Discord’s basic service is free. But there’s also a premium version called Nitro that comes with added features—custom emojis, higher-quality video for sharing gaming screens, and higher file-upload limits—starting from $2.99 monthly.
Explaining the rationale behind the decision, Citron said,
“I didn’t want to sell ads because I felt like selling ads would require us to spend a tremendous amount of energy investing in building ad technology that doesn’t make the end user experience better. It actually subtracts from the end user experience. So, we would be spending a ton of energy taking value away from our users so that we could make money. And I wanted to build a business where the incentives of our team and our user base were directly aligned. And that is why, at that moment, I said let’s not do the easy thing and slap ads on this. Let’s double down on Discord Nitro, which is all about making it more fun to talk and hang out, and see if we can build a real business around that.”
In Q2 2022, Discord reported $28.72 million in revenues, an increase of over $5 million compared to Q2 2021.
Almost all of Discord’s revenue comes from its Nitro, its premium enhancement bundle.
Discord has over 150 million active monthly users and over 300 million registered accounts.
In 2021, it was valued at $7 billion, doubling its value in under a year. In 2022 it was valued at $15 billion.
In-App Purchase Revenues of Discord Mobile App Worldwide
Discord – Funding and Investors
Discord has raised a total of $995.4M in funding over 16 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on March 12, 2022, from a Secondary Market round. Discord is funded by 31 investors. Arcane Group and Flat Capital are the most recent investors.
Date
Round
Amount
Lead Investors
Mar 12, 2022
Secondary Market
–
–
Mar 3, 2022
Secondary Market
–
–
Sep 15, 2021
Series H
$500M
Dragoneer Investment Group
Dec 17, 2020
Series H
$100M
Greenoaks Capital
Sep 29, 2020
Secondary Market
–
–
Jun 30, 2020
Series G
$100M
Index Ventures
Dec 21, 2018
Series F
$150M
Greemoaks Capital
Apr 19, 2018
Series E
$50M
–
Jan 1, 2017
Series D
$50M
Index Ventures
Jan 26, 2016
Series C
$20M
Greylock, Spark Capital
Feb 10, 2015
Series B
–
9+ Program, Benchmark, Tencent
Nov 21, 2013
Series A
$8.2M
Benchmark
Jul 11, 2012
Seed Round
$1.1M
–
Discord – Acquisitions
Discord acquired Blitz App on Nov 6, 2018. The gaming chat app giant acquires augmented reality startup Ubiquity6 in 2021. The latter was experiencing problems in finding audiences for its products, as per reports.
Acquiree Name
Date
Amount
About Acquiree
Blitz App
Nov 6, 2018
–
Your gaming coach for League of Legends, Valorant, CSGO, Fortnite, and more— powered by AI and built with professional players.
Ubiquity6
June 2021
–
An augmented reality startup founded in 2017 aimed to bring augmented reality experience to mobile users.
Discord – Partnership
After the initial growth spurt, Jason’s team had to come up with a strategy to reach out to a larger target audience for which they partnered with video game streamers such as Twitch. This partnership did result in more visibility, allowing more gamers to adopt as well as invite others to join the discord users’ community.
But obviously, Discord also faces several challenges. The principal among them is that it allows users anonymity that creates an “anything goes” environment. Anybody from anywhere can technically create “servers,” which are chat groups. This could also lead to younger users being exposed to adult content or bullying. For his part, Citron defended Discord by saying it kicks out users who are younger than 13 if they’re found, but verifying ages on the service is almost impossible.
“For teenagers, you know, obviously, it’s still important that parents are aware of apps that their kids are using, and sort of who they’re talking to on the internet,” says Citron.
During Q2 2022, over 27.7 million Discord accounts were deleted due to spam activity, and approx. 532,000 accounts were banned due to child safety concerns. Similarly, 106,00 accounts received a ban due to exploitative and unsolicited content approximately. Additionally, the platform permanently deleted nearly 27,500 accounts following reports of regulated or illegal activities.
Number of Banned Discord Accounts in Q2 2022
“The truth is that yes, I am [frustrated],” says Citron about the abuse. “We built Discord to be a way for people to be together with their friends and, as a parent, it’s important to me for that to be safe for everyone. Ensuring Discord is an inclusive and welcoming place for our users is our highest priority.”
Discord – Future Plans
Discord leveraged heavily on the essential human need for communicating. The strength of Discord lies in its ability to cater to the growing needs of huge web-based communities.
Discord continues to refresh and refine its services by creating perks like a guided bot, meme bots, bots that could fetch player stats, and many more which makes discord a fun platform for users to interact via. All of this could happen only because of the founding team’s in-depth knowledge of the gamer’s mindset and insight into industry trends.
It’s pushing to show the platform as a communication tool not only for gamers but for everyone from study groups to sneakerheads to gardening enthusiasts. At the top of June, Discord’s rebrand was complete. Its new tagline was “Your place to speak,” which cleared the misunderstanding of many folks that the app is simply for gamers.
In the coming years, according to Citron, Discord has many works to do including improving moderation tools and making sure the communities on its platform operate the way the company hopes is not being just confined to a group of people with gaming interests.
Conclusion
Discord is a popular communication platform that allows users to create and join virtual “servers” to chat and collaborate with others. It offers features such as text and voice chat, file sharing, and integration with other apps and services. It is widely used by gamers but has also gained popularity among other communities such as artists and educators. Overall, Discord is a versatile and user-friendly tool for online communication and collaboration.
FAQs
What kind of company is Discord Inc.?
Discord is an easy-to-use free communication app, similar to apps like Skype or Slack but aimed mainly at gamers with a lot more features. Discord lets friends chat with each other at one to one or as a group via a server.
Who founded Discord?
Discord was founded in May 2015 by Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy.
How does Discord make money?
Discord is against advertisements and the selling of user data. Its basic service is free. But there’s also a premium version called Nitro that comes with added features.
What is Discord used for?
Discord is used for voice calls, video calls, text messaging, media, and sharing files in private chats. It continues to be the most preferred app for gamers for communicating while gaming.
Varun Bhardwaj
