ixigo: A Product-Led SEO Teardown — Road to IPO 2024
I like to follow how underdogs of different industries become giant. It’s better to learn the factors of success from people while they were in midst of chaos. For that reason, ixigo makes a great case study.
We’ll go through the growth story of ixigo. ixigo has defied odds and continues to grow in a highly competitive market. They’re a rare company that has gotten to IPO after 18 years and being VC funded.
Context
ixigo IPO’d in June 2024, and was oversubscribed by 98x.
In the crowded world of online travel agencies (OTAs), ixigo has managed to carve out a profitable niche.
While MakeMyTrip acquired Goibibo to strengthen its market leadership, several other competitors died. ixigo’s journey is a testament to resilience and strategic agility as visible in the following graphs.
MakeMyTrip + Goibibo Search Market Share is higher than all other OTAs combined.
The same chart, represented in the form of market share looks like this -
Despite numerous near-death experiences over 17 years, ixigo has achieved impressive financial milestones. They’ve done 450+ Cr revenue and 65 Cr+ profit in Q1-Q3 FY24.
This is a remarkable feat in a market where many have struggled to survive.
The Secret to Success
“The companies that succeed are not always the ones with the highest market share, but those that can adapt and remain relevant.” — Aloke Bajpai, Co-Founder of ixigo
So what can underdogs learn from their success?
Keep adapting.. But how?
Business Overview
The Product
- 60%+ of ixigo’s revenue comes from railway bookings, a segment that constitutes less than 20% for its competitors.
- The user-friendly platform allows customers to pay per transaction, enhancing the booking experience.
Target Audience
- Primary: Tier 2 and smaller markets.
- Secondary: Tier 1 travelers.
Image Source: TheKredible
Growth Challenges
Keeping the Core Growth Loop Going
- Customer acquired through channels like Ads or SEO
- Customer registers and books a ticket
- A fraction of customers find the ticket booking experience vastly superior
- Compared to IRCTC offline & online
- Compared to competitors
- More CAC recovered with each repeat booking
- 85%+ repeat rate*
- Profits reinvested in attracting more users
- Repeat 🔁
But no flywheel lasts forever without new inputs…
Sustaining the Flywheel
To keep it going, ixigo must ensure they
- Deliver on their promises (maintain contracts with IRCTC).
- Experiment quickly with ads for new cohorts.
- Continue growing organically through SEO.
Growth Opportunities
Entry with Ads
Performance marketing is essential for rapid experimentation.
Launches need to be quick and metrics need to be tracked to address funnel leaks.
Source: ppcmastery.com
For example, can you find what is being tested in the 2 ads?
Source: Meta Ads Library
Scaling with SEO
In 2024, leveraging AI to align with Google’s algorithms and consumer intent is crucial.
Product-led SEO drives significant traffic for ixigo, with over 10M monthly visitors from 100,000+ SEO pages.
Product-led SEO
ixigo gets 10M+ monthly visitors from 100,000+ SEO pages live.
80%+ of their non branded SEO visitors are from ONE Product led SEO widget.
Can you guess which?
It’s “Train Running Status”.
Viral Campaigns
ixigo is known for its viral marketing campaigns, with 510M views from 80 videos. These campaigns have significantly boosted brand visibility and user engagement.
Check out the exhaustive list of viral campaigns by Aashish Chopra here.
What such campaigns over time lead into is brand recall.
Stacking Flywheels
ixigo has effectively stacked multiple growth loops to build a resilient growth strategy. This involves continuously merging growth loops and delivering quality consistently.
Future of Growth for ixigo
This ixigo growth case study is just one of the many success stories of product-led SEO and performance marketing in a hyper competitive industry. More case studies here.
We are yet to witness the increased emphasis on AI-driven personalization. More ways in which user’s behavior and preferences will guide content optimization, journeys, and experiences.
Aside from this wave of innovation, it will also be interesting to see how ixigo handles Google as a competitor.
We know Google faces a conflict of interest allowing other OTAs to rank on SERPs.
In that case, the only true sustainable moat becomes brand. Owning consumer’s mindshare from consistently delivering great experiences is what can deliver sustainable growth.
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