Refer to the project brief and the additional resources before you begin this project!
(Go through them at least 3 times or till the time you don’t have a mind map in your brain)

Let’s begin

It's time to kickstart the project by taking a crack at building your Elevator pitch.

(Think of this as an introduction to your product- make it remarkable!)

​

Lokal is a one-stop platform for all your local needs. We deliver hyperlocal news in vernacular languages—covering towns and districts that no other publisher reaches. Alongside news, we offer classifieds for jobs, real estate, buy & sell, and matrimony.

We empower local content creators to share real time updates from their neighborhoods, which we fact check and publish. Lokal also helps brands expand their reach into Tier 2+ cities through our trusted network.

Whether you're looking to stay informed about your locality, find job opportunities, or explore matrimonial matches within Rs.1/day—Lokal keeps you connected to what truly matters around you.

(Go and speak to different users of the product and the people in the chain: households buying the product, shopkeepers selling the product, churned users, and users using competitor's products. In the case of B2B products identify the decision makers, the influencer, the blocker, and the end-user)

Understanding your ICP

(Put down your ICP’s in a Table Format. A tabular format makes it super clear for anyone to understand who your users are and what differentiates them)

We have multiple users of a product and not all of them can be our ICP for whom we make our strategies, we need to prioritize.
(use an ICP prioritization table)

(Before you begin, you need to know what your product is, what are its features, what is the problem being solved by your product?)​

​Understanding Core Value Proposition

(Build your core value proposition by exact what your product does and what problem are you solving)

For individuals who want to stay informed about what’s happening in their towns and neighbourhoods, Lokal is the hyperlocal platform that delivers real-time local news and trusted community classifieds covering jobs, real estate, matrimony, and more so you’re always connected to what matters around you.

(Let's begin by doing a basic competitor analysis in a tabular format considering all the parameters for your product and its competitors)

(Then let's try to understand the market at a macro level and evaluate the trends and tailwinds/headwinds.)

Now it’s time for some math, calculate the size of your market.

TAM = Total no. of potential customers x Average Revenue Per Customer (ARPU)
Lokal as a news subscription model (Vernacular+Tier 2+ cities)
Overall smartphone users: 350M
Assuming 5% shows interest in news subscription: 17.5M
ARPU: Rs.365

TAM = 17.5*365= Rs.638 Cr


SAM = TAM x Target Market Segment (percentage of the total market)

30% users hail from Tier 2+ cities
SAM= 638cr*30%= Rs.191Cr


SOM = SAM x Market Penetration/Share

SOM= 191Cr*25%=Rs.47Cr

Designing Acquisition Channel

(keep in mind the stage of your company before choosing your channels for acquisition.)

​

Organic Channel

(Understand the existing organic channel strategy for your product and highlight the success and failure thereon.
Provide your suggestions and devise new strategies.)

Step 1 → Conduct keyword research on Google, Amazon, Youtube, Quora etc.
Step 2 → Collate all your insights from all your searches.

Step 1: Conduct Keyword Research

Platforms: Google,YouTube,Gemini

Success Metrics

• Search Visibility for Tier 2+ Audience: Lokal appears as the top result when users search for "local jobs" on Google, indicating strong SEO performance in job related queries.
• Top Rankings in Specific Queries:
• • Ranks #1 for “local jobs” on Google.
  • Appears within the top 2 on Gemini and top 4 on Google when searching for apps that provide local news.

Failure Metrics

• Low Discoverability via Competitor Based Searches: Lokal doesn’t appear in search results when users look for competing platforms (e.g., “Inshorts,” “Way2News app”).
• Missed Visibility on Generic Keywords: Not ranking for high-volume, generic searches such as “local news” or “vernacular news apps.”
• Traditional Media Dominance: Legacy media sites (e.g., TOI, Dainik Bhaskar) dominate the SERPs for basic keyword searches, pushing Lokal further down.

Suggestions for Improvement

1. Improve App Visibility: Ensure the Lokal Play Store link ranks within the top 5 results when users search the brand name.
2. Leverage Geo-Location for News Discovery: For searches like “local news,” use real-time location-based news snippets (schema-marked) to improve SERP relevance.
3. Hyperlocal Content Blogs: Create and optimize blog content targeting user interests in Tier 2+ cities (e.g., local festivals, job fairs, real estate trends), improving long-tail keyword ranking.

Content Loop

(Keep it simple and get the basics right)

​

Step 1 → Nail down your content creator, content distributor and your channel of distribution
Step 2 → Decide which type of loop you want to build out.
Step 3 → Create a simple flow diagram to represent the content loop.

1. News Contributors:

• • Hook: "Educate your society by sharing local news—keep your neighborhood informed about events, issues, and updates."
  • Motivation: Writers get visibility when their articles are read & shared.
• Classifieds Users:
• • Hook: "Find jobs, sell properties, or meet potential partners—publish your listings and close requirements faster."
  • Motivation: Users share listings to reach a wider audience (e.g., job seekers, buyers).

2. Distribution Channels

• News Distribution:
• • Users share articles via WhatsApp Status, Telegram, WhatsApp Groups, and news aggregators to drive readership.
  • Viral Effect: More shares → More visibility → Motivates creators to write more → Attracts new contributors.
• Classifieds Distribution:
• • Users share listings (jobs, properties, matrimonial) in their networks.
  • Organic Spread: Satisfied users promote the platform, bringing in more demand & supply.

Distribution Loop

• Engagement Loop (News):
• • Creator posts → Shares → Gains readers → More creators join → More content → More shares.
• Transactional Loop (Classifieds):
• • User posts listing → Shares → Gets responses → Closes need → Others post similar listings → Platform grows.

This creates a self-sustaining ecosystem where both content creation and distribution are driven by users.

Distribution Flow

─────────────────┐       ┌─────────────────┐       ┌─────────────────────┐
│  CONTENT        │       │  DISTRIBUTION   │       │  GROWTH &           │
│  CREATION       │──────▶│  CHANNELS       │──────▶│  RETENTION          │
└─────────────────┘       └─────────────────┘       └─────────────────────┘
       ▲                         │                           ▲
       │                         │                           │
       │                         ▼                           │
┌─────────────────┐       ┌─────────────────┐       ┌─────────────────────┐
│  User Writes    │       │  Shares on      │       │  More Users Join    │
│  News/Listings  │       │  WhatsApp,      │       │  (Organic Growth)   │
│  (Motivated by  │       │  Telegram, etc. │       │                     │
│  Visibility)    │       │                 │       │                     │
└─────────────────┘       └─────────────────┘       └─────────────────────┘
       ▲                         │                           ▲
       │                         │                           │
       │                         ▼                           │
┌─────────────────┐       ┌─────────────────┐       ┌─────────────────────┐
│  Readers Engage  │──────▶│  Viral          │──────▶│  Platform Becomes   │
│  (Views, Leads)  │       │  Spread         │       │  Self-Sustaining    │
└─────────────────┘       └─────────────────┘       └─────────────────────┘

(For B2B companies, if referral does not make sense you'll take a crack at a partner program for your product)

​

Step 1 → Flesh out the referral/partner program
Step 2 → Draw raw frames on a piece of paper to get the gist.​

(Don't spend a lot of time on design. This is for you to communicate how the referral hook will look)​

Step 1: Build a Scalable Referral & Partner Program

1. Referral Program for News Users

Target Segments:

• News Consumers
• Regional Journalists / UGC Creators

Mechanism:

• For News Consumers:
  Once a user consistently engages with local news (e.g., reads 10+ articles over a week), trigger a referral prompt with messaging like:
  “Enjoying Lokal updates? Invite your friends and earn wallet credits!”
  Reward can be wallet credits or free access to premium content/features.
• For Content Creators (e.g., local journalists, UGC contributors):
  After publishing a threshold number of articles (e.g., 10+), and achieving a certain viewership benchmark (e.g., 1,000+ views), unlock referral incentives.
  For each referred journalist/creator who gets approved and becomes active, reward the referrer with:
• • Wallet money
  • Priority visibility for their own content
  • Access to a creator leaderboard or badge

Objective:
Create a "one-to-many" growth loop by empowering creators to bring in other creators, fueling content supply.

2. Referral Program for Classified Users

Target Segments:

• Recruiters (Jobs)
• Property Listers (Real Estate)
• Users posting on Matrimony / Services

Mechanism:

• Once a user posts a classified (e.g., job listing) and receives a satisfactory response (e.g., 3+ applicants), trigger a referral nudge: “Happy with the response? Refer Lokal to your network and unlock verified profiles!”

Referral Rewards (customized by category):

• Jobs: Unlock access to a batch of verified resumes
• Matrimony: Gain access to verified matches
• Real Estate: Free bumping of listings or extra visibility

​

​we hope this helped you break the cold start problem!

Reminder: This is not the only format to follow, feel free to edit it as you wish!

(Understand what is already being done, what is working out well and what needs to be stopped)

Step 1 → Define the CAC: LTV ratio. If your product has a healthy CAC:LTV ratio, proceed with paid ads.

Step 2 → Choose an ICP

Step 3 → Select advertising channels

Step 4 → Write a Marketing Pitch

Step 5 → Customize your message for different customer segments to ensure relevance

Step 6 → Design at least two ad creatives (e.g., images, sketches, videos, text ads) that reflect your marketing pitch.

Step 1 → Define the CAC : LTV Ratio

• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC):
  Estimated cost to acquire a subscriber in Tier 2+ markets = ₹150
• Lifetime Value (LTV):
  Subscription plan value (1-year, one-time purchase) = ₹365
• CAC : LTV Ratio = 1 : 2.4
  

Step 2 → Identify the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

• Demographics:
  Users aged 20–45 years, residing in Tier 2+ cities
• User Behavior:
• • Frequently browse Google and local news publishers for hyperlocal news
  • Explore urban-focused apps for real estate, job opportunities, matrimony, and other classifieds
  • Prefer regional language content and vernacular platforms

Step 3 → Select Advertising Channels

• Google Ads:
  Best suited to target users actively searching for hyperlocal news and services. Leverage:
• • Search Ads (keywords like “jobs in [location]”, “local news today”)
  • Display Ads on regional content platforms
  • YouTube Ads for video engagement in vernacular languages
• Meta (Facebook & Instagram):
  Ideal for reaching users aged 20–35 interested in:
• • Entertainment content, job listings, buy & sell groups, matrimony pages
  • Use regional creatives and community-based targeting
• Operating System Targeting:
  Focus on Android devices, as a majority of Tier 2+ users are on Android.
  Consider running Play Store promotion ads for direct installs.

Step 4 → Write a Marketing Pitch
We’re revolutionizing how millions consume information by combining local news, jobs, matrimony, and real estate updates into one seamless app all for just ₹1 a day saving users time, frustration, and money.


Step 5 → Customize your message for different customer segments to ensure relevance

News
What never to do if you want to stay truly informed about your local community.

Most people rely on generic news apps that flood their feeds with irrelevant stories, missing critical local alerts and updates.

Ignoring the right local news puts you at risk of missing emergencies, community events, and opportunities right in your neighborhood leaving you out of the loop and vulnerable.Lokal changes everything by delivering only the news and alerts that matter to your community. Stay informed, stay safe, and never miss a moment again all with one easy-to-use app

Jobs: Looking to hire quickly in your area? Post your job on Lokal and connect with verified candidates nearby. Fast. Easy. Hyperlocal.
Seeker: Searching for a job near you? Explore daily job listings in your town on Lokal — no agencies, no hassle, just local opportunities.
Buy and sell: Got items to sell? Reach 1000s of local buyers on Lokal today. From furniture to electronics — just click, post, and sell.
Matrimony: Find the right match for your loved ones in your own community. Lokal helps you connect with genuine, nearby profiles.



Ad creatives

(Understand, where does organic intent for your product begins?)

​

Step 1 → Identify complementary products used by your ICP
Step 2 → Use the selection framework and compare the potential integrations it in a tabular form.

Step 3 → Collaborate with necessary stakeholders
Step 4 → Map the customer journey
Step 3 → Design the wireframe with the new integration
Step 3 → Run pilot tests before launching
Step 3 → Measure post-integration metrics

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