project overview
BharatRYD is a carpooling app that makes everyday travel in India more affordable, social and sustainable. Car owners can publish rides and share fuel costs, and commuters can find verified rides going their way. The product was ready, but a carpooling platform only works when both sides are active: drivers need riders, and riders need rides on their route. BharatRYD partnered with Elareo to run user acquisition campaigns that would bring in traffic, installs and active users matching its ideal customer profile.
the challenge
Carpooling apps face a two-sided problem. Without enough car owners publishing rides, riders find nothing and leave, and without riders, drivers stop posting. Installs alone weren’t the goal. Users had to be the right people, in the right cities and on the right routes. Mobility is also a competitive category, where install costs rise quickly and many users download an app without ever registering. The challenge was to scale installs efficiently while making sure they came from real, verified commuters and car owners.
results & impact
10K+ App Installs
37.5% Lower CPI
5K+ Verified Users
In one month, the campaigns drove more than 10,000 installs and over 5,000 verified users, so more than half of everyone who installed the app went on to register. Continuous creative and audience optimisation brought the cost per install down by 37.5% from the first week of the campaign to the last, letting BharatRYD grow faster on the same budget.
conclusion
BharatRYD showed that user acquisition for a marketplace app isn’t just about volume. Success depends on bringing in the right users on both sides of the platform. By pairing ICP-focused targeting with separate messaging for riders and car owners, we helped BharatRYD build an active, verified community of commuters while steadily lowering acquisition costs. We’re excited to keep supporting BharatRYD as it expands to more cities and routes.
