GoMechanic is an India-based online startup that provides users seamless access to a network of technology-enabled car service centers Beyond car servicing, the company has expanded with services like on-board diagnostics, GoMechanic Miles (an annual membership), and other personalized services.
With a strong presence in 100+ cities and 200+ services across 12 different categories, the startup has built a network of more than 900 workshops across India, Europe, the U.K. and the MENA region.
Background: Start with a hyper-focus on referral programs
GoMechanic spends a lot of resources ensuring its mobile app delivers a seamless user experience. By adding referral programs to their quiver of marketing channels, the team wanted to ensure that customers were not simply passive spectators, rather active participants who took action and engaged with their brand.
As users referred by a friend are 4x more likely to make an in-app purchase, GoMechanic aimed to use referrals to efficiently monetize their existing customer base, drive customer acquisition, promote re-engagement, and organically generate social proof. Referrals became an even more critical part of the company’s marketing strategy as it expanded globally. In addition, the need to cater to different audiences while delivering a smooth and hyper-personalized user experience is one of its top priorities.
To roll out campaigns at scale, GoMechanic needed more than just a reward to grab the attention of users. It wanted to build a seamless pathway by removing any unnecessary steps or clicks along the way. Additionally, it needed to connect social media sites and other channels to its referral programs so users could invite their friends and family in a single click — ensuring users complete the referral process without any hassle.
Challenge: Referral programs can be tricky
A robust referral program helps brands grow their userbase while simultaneously rewarding existing and new customers. It also allows marketers to effectively leverage word of mouth and virality while validating user quality.
Ultimately, the goal of GoMechanic’s referral program was to ensure a seamless experience that delighted users. However, GoMechanic’s team realized that referral programs presented some core challenges that could impact the campaign’s overall performance:
- Misattribution of conversions
- A multi-step journey that adds friction to the user experience
- Lack of personalization leading to rapid churn
GoMechanic also ran into complexities with the scalability of the referral program. It wanted to roll out a referral program without sacrificing accurate attribution or a personalized user experience. However, this was not as easy as expected.
Solution: Branch integrations implemented to help drive user acquisition
GoMechanic realized they needed a mobile linking platform (MLP), like Branch. They wanted a partner that could offer reliable deep linking across the user journey, accurately routing users to the exact in-app referral content they are expecting while accurately measuring the program results and providing insights to improve their ROI.
GoMechanic partnered with Branch for referrals to tackle all of the core issues with its program including:
- Allowing referrers to reliably share a referral link via a variety of platforms like social media, websites, email, or text.
- Confidently routing referred users to the correct destination, even after they installed the app.
- Ensuring referred users – who are incentivized with promotions, rewards, and bonuses — maintain these offers through the app installation process and beyond.
- The ability to track, measure, and optimize their referral program, especially since a lot of it can happen via channels that are difficult to measure effectively.
- Gaining valuable insights into top referrers as well as which channel referrals are coming from.
“If we were working on different tools to run and measure our campaigns, we would run into complications and errors that could result in disjointed customer experience. Using Branch has helped us bridge the gap between user experience and attribution—two critical pieces of a successful marketing campaign.”
Ankur Kulshrestha, Senior Marketing Manager
GoMechanic
Here’s what it looks like in action:
By leveraging Branch, GoMechanic now has a complete picture of the user experience including attribution and data analytics. GoMechanic’s use of deep links in conjunction with their referral program has allowed for:
- Gauging performance of its mobile referral campaign
- Measuring user acquisition against other organic and paid marketing campaigns
- Knowing exactly who and where referrals come from
GoMechanic has a referral program it can be proud of and is built for future growth.
Results: Success beyond expectations
In July 2022, one of GoMechanic’s busiest months of the year, referred users made up the highest ratio of successfully installed users based on GoMechanic’s eligibility criteria – 50% higher than average. They also demonstrated the highest rate of first payments – 33% higher than average.
Overall, the referral click-to-install rate was 50% higher than average, 2% increase in average daily order contribution, and a whopping 60% referral install-to-purchase conversion rate.
For GoMechanic, a company that serves over 1M+ users globally, achieving personalization has opened up new growth avenues for user acquisition and engagement that they will continue to focus on down the road with Branch as a trusted partner.
“Branch has given my team the ability to access, both granular and big picture, marketing metrics and customer insights at a glance. Branch serves as the source of truth for our team in terms of setting up campaigns and measuring results. This creates a win-win situation for both our team as well as our users.”
Aakash Goyal, AVP of Marketing
GoMechanic
