Thread by @vinaykrsinghal

We just hit 10000 paying subscribers at @STAGEdotin 😇

Here what our team has learnt from this (the hard way) 👇

https://twitter.com/vinaykrsinghal/status/1393972595544911877

Users in Bharat understand premium and are ready to pay for it, you just have to create the right value for them.

Nothing on our app is free anymore, and we plan to keep it this way.

(@parveenksinghal - Cofounder and CCO)

Long form content (web series, movies) is the major drivers for subscription, artist based content works great to increase their engagement the app.

No need to add violence and sex scenes unnecessarily, you can engage them without it as well.

(@anusinghal06 - Content Head)

Network is still a big issue in many areas and so we ended up discovering the importance of Download feature in a whole new context for our users. (Tushar - Engineering Head)

Trust, love, credibility is so visible when you talk them over customer support calls. To them this is not just another entertainment app, but something that's helping them save their culture in the right way. (Junaid - Senior Developer)

The main driver (read motivation) to buy subscription apart from content is epic meaning. By buying a subscription for STAGE, they become part of a larger movement of promoting Haryanavi culture. Indicating a strong sense of community among our users (@Rohitrohitdesh - Senior PM)

Jo dikhega wo chlega - for them to consume content you have to serve it right in front of them when they open the app, what's hidden, will remain hidden (Piyush - Content acquisition, Rohit)

Bharat is video first audience, which is why they search on YouTube before Google. And so video ads work better than anything else. (@iamkunal09 - growth)

"3 ghnte ki film hai, ise mobile pe kaise dekhenge?"

More than 50% of our paying subscribers want us to have a smart TV app. Penetration of smart TV in Bharat is beyond any of us are able to imagine at this point.

Also, they want to watch our content with family, so on TV.

55% of current subscriber base is on Annual plan.

WE DIDN'T EXPECT THIS.

This is the biggest testimony to how they look at STAGE, they choose to pay INR399 instead of 199.

- Paying power is NOT an issue.
- They trust us to be around for a long time.

If you understand Haryanavi, don't forget to subscribe and watch our latest web series :)