PoV on Apna | What should Apna focus on in

the next 6 – 12 months?

Issac Jojy

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Agenda
 Highlights of Apna
 Product Strategy &
App Feature suggestions
 Growth Strategy
 principle
 Monetization Strategy
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APPROACH METHODOLOGY
Analysis of Apna app and one
competitor app (workindia) to
identify improvement areas to
increase engagemen/traction
Insights from product strategy +
custom-apply growth matrix + First
First principle + Learning from
parallels like Linkedin
 Apna highlights: Apna has built asset bases
to capitalize for future gains

Large user Superior user Community

Digital Identity
base experience ecosystem
• Apna has pioneered • ~10 M • Simplistic and • Massive
digital identity users/canddates superior user community
creation for
bluecollar/ • ~1 lakh experience ecosystem has
greycollar employers been built
workforce connecting job
• Online business seekers across
card and profile different groups
page are key
highlights

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 Product Strategy –A tinder-like job search experience
can be explored to reduce clutter/ jobs repetition and
increase stickiness
 Proposed Solution
 Smart Filtering using
Left/Right Swipe: There won’t be
 Pain Point repetition of job types swiped
left. Jobs swiped right will be
 Clutter: Jobs page cluttered with taken into screen to take
many options just like a newspaper shortlisting questions/HR call –
classified page – Can affect Increases stickiness
customer experience
 User Testing: Whether it needs
 Redundancy and repetition: to be a combination of Tinder
Same jobs are repeated across like search+ Current jobs page
multiple sections like or just tinder search alone needs
to be decided based on user
“Recommended jobs””, “Jobs near testing
you”etc.

 Product Problem: Explore

whether alternate ways of
presenting the product can be
used. Tinder like search option is
just an example
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 Product Strategy – Apna should remove language
barriers, and help in cross-location job hunting
Pain Point Proposed Solution

Language Barrier: Currently Apna Language Development: Build all

displays in english even if a local language
is selected. This prevents Apna from
targeting market who can only read
in native language.
Cross – Location jobs: Even if the
candidate can read english, if they’re in
city other than their native, Apna gives
option to read only in the language of
city OR if they’re in city A and wants to
apply for jobs in City B, Apna does not
easily permit for the same
languages in native form into the app
to target larger audience
Language First, City Second: Make
the sequence after signing up –
Language selection first and then
select city of choice
Switch City Option: Create option
in the jobs search page to search for
jobs from other cities

All of these are directly linked to growth

5 strategy to increase number of users
Community pages can be made more effective using
combination of location filter in groups + a “My Feed” page
showing relevant feed from candidate connections
Pain Point Proposed Solution

Too much noise: Groups consisting of My Feed page: Introduce my feed

lakhs of members are creating too much page like Linkedin to see feed of
noise to attract attention of users connections

Disordered posts on groups: Posts Location filter: National noise can

appear in random order and once
refreshed, the posts disappear preventing
user from accessing that post
No education on Groups/Claps: For
a fresh user, there is no education on
groups/claps
Gamification for more claps failing
since being an influencer or not doesn’t
seem to be making a difference
6 more visibility
be reduced to localised noise by
adding a location filter on groups –
will be easier to see more relevant
content
Education videos to be included to
explain use and relevance of
groups/claps
Groups algorithm to be reviewed and
fine tuned so that users are engaged
and people with more claps have
There are multiple product feature suggestions based on
Apna app analysis; includes ability to search for jobs in
multiple locations, enhanced user search feature etc.
 Multi-area job search
 Add location filter which enables job search across multiple areas in same city.
 For example, in bangalore, a candidate might want to see all jobs in Bangalore and not
just Koramangala or wants to see jobs in Koramanagla and HSR.

 Add “Others” in Gender type

 Considering nature of TG, there will be sizeable population in Others segment and
hence we shouldn’t miss out on them
 Shows social awareness from Apna

 Add Search for known connections

 Current search page encourages spam; users make useless connections
 Need facility/option to search for known connections like fb/linkedin

 Push notifications to increase stickiness

 Activate more push notifications to pull users back to the app
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 Apna can use insights from competitor apps like
workindia to improve its product offering
Areas of Description
value
addition
1 Language App offered in local language | Multifold user base
Readability increase
2 Learning Learning/education section for up skilling users
3 Government Separate section for Govt. jobs. Currently Apna
Jobs does not offer this feature. High traction feature
4 India Jobs Allows users to search jobs across other portals
5 Favorite jobs Allows users to tag jobs as favorites, to which they can
come back later
6 Company profile Users get to visit company profile to know more These are the top
3 areas of value
7 Company visits Employers can visit candidate profile which candidate is addition at
made aware of Workindia which
8 Search filter and Salary and location can be filtered and sorted to view Apna can take
sort option relevant results inspiration from to
enhance its
9 Detailed resume Option to make resume, get employer visits, add skills
8 product
10 Interview tips Has feature to provide interview tips to candidates
 Growth Strategy – Ansoff matrix can be used to present
the growth options ahead of Apna; Apna also needs to
explore various partnerships to enhance growth (1/3)
User/Candidate Growth Strategies using Ansoff matrix
Geographic Expansion
a. Domestic expansion –
expand to other cities and
New states in India
Market
Diversification
Development 1. Use product dev.
recommendations already
discussed to enhance
Markets

product/app to increase traction

2. Localisation – High impact |
Using native language will
increase users manifold
Existing Market Product
3. International Jobs – For ex.,
Penetration Development
Dubai/Middle east jobs – huge
market and will have traction with
user
Existing New 4. Skilling and Education to
9 Products and
upskill users
Services
 Growth Strategy – Ansoff matrix can be used to present
the growth options ahead of Apna; Apna also needs to
explore various partnerships to enhance growth (2/3)
User/Candidate Growth Strategies using Ansoff matrix
Execute strategies which have got
Apna current user base. Whatever
is being done now, do more and
Market Diversification do better Ex. ads on whatsapp
New
Development groups

Use combination of Prod. Dev,

Markets

Market Dev. and Market Expansion

Additional Strategies
Existing Market Product Tie ups and Partnerships:
Penetration Development 1. Government jobs portal link (like
workindia) – High Impact
2. Colleges and Diploma institutions
for placement support for freshers
Existing Products and New 3. Employment exchanges
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Services
Growth Strategy: Tie ups with local business
associations and marketing through classifieds will
prove effective to increase employers (3/3)

 Growing relevant user base/candidates will create a positive flywheel effect

and will be the primary driver to increase # employers. In addition, other
marketing strategies/tactics include
Marketing to and creating tie ups with local business
associations like regional restaurant associations, BPO
organizations etc

Marketing using classifieds: Scan jobs classifieds page of

newspapers daily, call the job posters and get them on Apna app
since classifieds is a very commonly used platform by both parties
(more of a tactic than a strategy.)
Recruiting as Value Added Service – Apna can explore the
possibility of moving up the value chain to also filter interview
applicants for employers (who wish to take the service) since the
nature of a lot of jobs don’t require sophisticated interviews. Can
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pass on filtered leads to employers who can take final round of
interview (paid service for select jobs only)
Monetization Strategy
 Up skilling section for Candidates for Technical and Soft skills. This
can be linked to certifications that companys can use for shortlisting
candidates.
 Either completely paid courses or a combination of free courses + payment
for certificate on business card. On business card, add a skills line and to
update skills, they can come to skilling page
 Instead of building content in house, explore partnering with an ed-tech
venture to deliver content which Apna can use

 Pay Per hire basis or Pay per job listing based on duration of job
post. Doing this might not be pleasant to current employer customer
base but it’s definitely a tactic worth exploring

 Premium jobs: Gives employers option to post priority jobs at a price

which gives them better visibility on community page and search page

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Monetization Strategy
 Micro – Loans opportunity
 Apna has ~10M user base of people desperately looking for jobs. They are
very good candidates for getting a micro loan and Apna can tie up with micro
loan companies and provide leads to them by advertising through messages/
display banners to users. This captive user base is a massive asset that Apna has
built and should tap into that
 Users can use money for relocation, upskilling courses, personal loans etc.
Apna connects users to lenders for a lead fee from lenders

 Marketing to blue collar/grey collar workforce

 Reach out to products and services which target the huge asset that Apna has
built of ~10M users.
 It can either be in the form of a separate medium created for marketers to
target this market (like how inmail or display ads is present in linkedin) or it
can be in the form of partnerships with social reselling firms like Meesho,
Glowroad which targets this market

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 Summary | Key Highlights
Product Monetization
1. Tinder-like job search feature for 1. Upskilling – free courese + paid
smart filtering certification model
2. Localisation for native language 2. Pay per hire or pay per job posting
reading duration
3. Cross-Location job hunting 3. Premium jobs for better visiblity
4. Government Jobs section – Linked to 4. Micro-loans for ~10M user base who are
govt. portals very good targets – Tie ups with micro-
5. Learning and Upskilling section loan agencies
6. Favorite Jobs Option to tag 5. Creating interface for marketers to
interested jobs and visit later target~10M user base; tie ups with social
7. India jobs (like work india and Middle reselling apps like Meesho
east jobs)

Community Growth
1. My page feed to personalize content 1. Product strategy to increase traction
2. Location filter to reduce noise and 2. Domestic expansion in India
filter relevant content 3. Localisation for native language
3. Premium jobs posted on groups 4. Tie ups with govt. jobs portal, diploma
4. Fine tuning of groups algorithm colleges
5. Education
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about groups/claps 5. Marketing to local business associations