Overview

PhonePe was planning to launch Payment links for their Indian merchants. I am building a GTM strategy for the product launch

Assumptions

Before building a GTM, I want first to build a proper ICP. There are a few assumptions I’m making, considering I have scarce knowledge about the feature.

• • PhonePe PG payment links are links that are shared manually.

• • They have only one payment option, i.e. either debit/credit cards, and the receiver can pay there.

• • Since it’s shared manually, mostly traditional businesses that work in the quote-to-cash model will use this predominantly.

• • Digital businesses like e-commerce brands are not the target audience here since they embed this page within their payment page.

Based on these assumptions, I’ve created this Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).

Traits	ICP
Name	Manish Jain
Age Group	30-40
Business Category	– Medium Scale Business that produces industrial spare parts for larger products. – Business size typically ranges from 10-50 employees with an annual revenue of INR 1-10 crores. – Business model: Quote-to-cash
Pain Points	– Had to share bank details every time they needed to receive a payment. – Inability to share UPI details as the sender prefers traditional bank transfers.
Geo Location	India, Tie 2 and Tier 3 cities
Purchasing Behaviour	– Careful spenders – Prioritize cost-effectiveness
Personality traits	– Not an early adopter of new technologies or solutions. – Prefers solutions that are tried, tested, and have a proven track record in the market. – Decision makers in their organizations – Typically gets information about financial products from industry magazines, specific online portals, or business associations.
Economic traits	– Annual Income 5-10 crores. – Family-owned business.
Tech Stack	– ERP – Accounting & Bookkeeping tools – UPI QR code
Communication Preference	Prefers communication through digital channels such as email, webinars, and online support.

GTM strategy for PhonePe Payment links

Given the ICP, my strategies are a hybrid of traditional and digital marketing to generate 1000 TOFU leads for Payment links.

Tapping the Existing Users

Expected Conversions: 500

Why?

PhonePe, being the largest UPI provider, has a vast user base of SMBs already familiar with its platform. Given that the ICP has more inclination towards trusted providers, we can tap these users to get the majority of the 1000 leads we are targeting.

Initiatives

• • Segment and identify the existing users that match our ICP

• • Email campaigns: Launch a targeted and personalized email campaign highlighting how PhonePe payment links simplify their payment process.

• • Cold calls: Since we already have their info, a direct conversation can help in bringing in awareness and feature adoption.

• • Use the field marketing teams to conduct on-site visits and also run workshops offering hands-on training.

💡 Attribution of on-site campaigns is going to be hard. So, we need to make sure a robust system exists to measure the performance of these campaigns.

Search Ads

Expected Conversions: 250

Why?

Search ads are considered BOFU, which means they’re high-intent users who are already aware of the problem and searching for solutions.

Initiatives

• • Find the relevant keywords to ICP, like Payment gateway for wood furniture business or Secure payment solution for manufacturing business.

• • Write a compelling Ad copy, preferably with a GIF image of how it works.

• • In Search Ads, Performance Max (PMax) is the one that works well for large audiences and is also actively pushed by Google. For the PMax campaign, we need images, videos, and landing pages.

• • Create region-specific ads targeting Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities to make them more relevant.

Organic Channel

Expected Conversions: 100 (in the long run)

Why?

Organic Channels offer us sustainable growth over a long time. It also helps in brand building.

Initiatives

• • Content Creation – Develop long and short-form content for various channels targeting the same BOFU keywords we chose for search ads. Create more awareness content showing how Payment Links can simplify the quote-to-cash industry.

• • Partnerships – Establish a Strategic/Channel/Tech partnership with relevant parties, such as Zoho Books, FreshBooks, etc., to drive more traffic.

• • Guest Blogging – Write guest blogs on industry-specific publications like “The Machinist”, “YourStory”, “Inc42”, etc.

Webinars & Events

Expected Conversions: 50

Why?

SMBs actively attend trade shows. For example, in Coimbatore, TN, they have an association called CODISSIA, which regularly conducts industry trade shows. Many business owners attend these trade shows to stay updated with the competition, discover new solutions, and network.

Initiatives

• • Interactive Demos – Use demo accounts to demonstrate how payment links work in front of attendees and also let them try out Payment Links firsthand.

• • Speaking Engagements: Organize offline webinars in localized languages like Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and Gujarati (states that have major MSMEs according to this data to showcase how PhonePe solved the problem of a particular business. In this way, the business owners can relate to the topic more.

• • Online webinars: Host a panel of SMBs to talk about the problems in the payment space and how PhonePe solves this

💡 We can also use this opportunity to gather feedback and suggestions directly from the users.

Influencer Marketing

Expected Conversions: 50

Why?

There are many thought leaders who are followed by many SMB owners in India. For example, Arindam Paul of **Atomberg is a well-known figure and commands strong followers from many medium-sized businesses on both LinkedIn and Twitter.

Initiatives

• • Featured Posts: Get featured in one of their content, either post, blog, or YT video.

• • Podcast: Participate in their podcast discussions to explain how PhonePe solves the payment hassles of quote-to-cash businesses.

• • Industry Collaboration: Co-launch case studies with the help of Industry associations that can influence many SMBs

Social Media and Groups

Expected Conversions: 50

Why?

SMB owners and decision-makers are increasingly active on platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook. It’s a direct channel to engage with them.

Initiatives

• • Explore, join, and engage with industry-related groups on WhatsApp, Facebook and Telegram.

• • Ads: Run ads on Facebook specifically targeting participants of those groups to increase brand awareness.

Community Building

Expected Conversions: 10

Why?

Since we are talking about Social engagement, we need to build a thriving community of MSME entrepreneurs. Another way of directly engaging with them and improve brand trust and loyalty.

Initiatives

• • Start a WhatsApp community where interested parties can join after initial validation. (This can also give us valuable info about users).

• • Regularly share relevant blogs, case studies, and videos useful for participants, non-exclusive to PhonePe.

• • Encourage the community to ask more questions and share their knowledge. Sponsor and organize quarterly meetups to network and learn.