Arha Media Increases Repeat Subscriptions by 10% with Gupshup and WhatsApp Marketing
Popular regional OTT platform sees industry leading 5% conversions with easy chat payments


Arha Media Keeps Viewers Coming Back with Conversational Nudges on WhatsApp
3-4 Mn
5%
10%
Binge, Pay, Repeat


About the Brand
Arha Media is a regional media and entertainment company operating the OTT platform Aha, which specializes in Telugu and Tamil content. Since its official launch in March 2020, Aha has rapidly emerged as a significant player in the digital entertainment space, attracting over 40 million active visitors and more than 1.5 million paid users. The platform is highly regarded for its diverse range of offerings, including movies, reality shows, and original programming, making it the go-to destination for regional content.
The Brand’s Challenge
Poor Engagement and Limited Visibility Limit Platform Growth
Arha Media struggled to effectively engage their massive audience of 40+ million active visitors through existing communication channels. Their inability to deliver personalized, targeted content resulted in poor engagement rates and low conversion outcomes. The company lacked visibility into campaign performance metrics, making it impossible to measure effectiveness or optimize marketing strategies. Generic, one-size-fits-all messaging failed to resonate with their diverse Telugu and Tamil content audience across different demographics and viewing preferences. Additionally, the absence of seamless payment integration within communication channels created friction in the subscription process, contributing to lost conversions and reduced customer retention.
The Solution
WhatsApp Integration with Automated Workflows and In-Chat Payments Transforms User Experience
Arha Media partnered with Gupshup to implement WhatsApp marketing through the Conversation Cloud platform. The solution featured automated workflows that enabled scheduling and delivery of personalized rich media messages using Gupshup’s WhatsApp Business API. By integrating Arha Media’s CRM system with WhatsApp messaging, the platform ensured reliable message delivery and enhanced targeting capabilities. The implementation included seamless in-chat payment functionality, eliminating transaction friction and streamlining the subscription and renewal process. This comprehensive approach transformed user engagement by enabling personalized communications, improved campaign tracking, and frictionless payment experiences directly within WhatsApp conversations.


The Success
Exceptional Outcomes: 10% Lift in Subscriptions and 5% Conversions
Arha Media successfully sends three to four million campaigns each month, boasting a high read rate of 38%, far superior to traditional channels like email. Since the implementation of WhatsApp, the brand has seen a 10% increase in the number of re-subscriptions. Every campaign with targeted content for a segment, for example, recently churned users, sees an unprecedented 4-5% conversion rate.
The OTT platform promotes new releases, sends alerts for upcoming shows, nudges users to subscribe, and sends renewal alerts, while providing easy chat-based payments for subscriptions. With personalized content, rich media, and the use of the latest templates such as carousels, user engagement has seen a constant uptick. The integration of complete payment solutions on WhatsApp has made the experience convenient for users, with nearly 10,000 people making payments through WhatsApp.
Arha Media plans to further leverage the platform for more advanced use cases, including Click-to-WhatsApp Ads to acquire new customers.
Use Case Summary

Solution
Conversational Marketing

Channel

Industry
Entertainment


