In this conversation, Shikha Singh, Sales Director at Dailymotion India opens up about what it really takes to drive double-digit growth in a rapidly evolving video ecosystem. From scaling publisher partnerships to unlocking enterprise SaaS revenue, she’s helping shape how video is monetized and distributed across India’s digital landscape. With deep experience across media, tech, and strategy, Shikha shares how she’s building sustainable value for publishers, navigating platform shifts, and staying ahead of where video is going next, not just where it’s been.
You achieved 120% growth at Dailymotion in two years. What were the key levers (e.g., publisher acquisition, enterprise SaaS sales) that drove this, and how did you align them with India’s unique market dynamics?
At Dailymotion, achieving 120% growth over two years was the result of a multi-pronged approach, deeply tailored to India’s distinct market dynamics. The three key levers that drove this growth were:
1. Strategic Publisher Acquisition & Localization:
We aggressively expanded our publisher network, focusing on Tier 1 and regional media houses. India’s content consumption is highly regionalized, so we localized both our content strategy and onboarding process. This included onboarding partners in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and other regional languages to boost engagement. By focusing on local languages and vernacular content, we aligned with India’s highly fragmented consumption patterns and significantly boosted inventory quality and volume.
2. Programmatic & Enterprise SaaS Monetization:
We scaled our programmatic ad stack and rolled out enterprise-grade video solutions for publishers and brands. Recognizing India’s price-sensitive market, we offered flexible pricing models and hybrid monetization (e.g., revenue share + SaaS fee) that matched the maturity curve of Indian digital publishers.
3. Technology-Led Differentiation:
We leveraged Dailymotion’s modular video tech—customizable players, advanced analytics, and programmatic-ready infrastructure, to deliver scalable, low-latency video experiences. This was key in a mobile-first, bandwidth-variable environment like India, helping publishers improve both UX and monetization performance.Â
Alignment with India’s market dynamics:
India is mobile-first and cost-conscious, so we optimized for low bandwidth environments and focused on mobile-native monetization.
We also invested in trust-building with local partners, offering on-ground support and workshops, something global platforms often overlook but is crucial in India.
Outcome:
This integrated, market-sensitive approach allowed us not only to grow topline revenue but also to deepen Dailymotion’s strategic relevance in India’s rapidly evolving digital video ecosystem.
Selling video SaaS solutions to enterprises often involves complex, long-cycle deals. How do you navigate objections around integration, scalability, or ROI when pitching to C-level stakeholders?
At Dailymotion, selling enterprise video SaaS solutions meant engaging in complex, high-stakes conversations with C-level stakeholders often across long sales cycles. To navigate objections around integration, scalability, and ROI, I focused on three key strategies:
1. Integration Confidence Through Technical Transparency:
We proactively addressed integration concerns by involving our solutions engineering team early in the sales process. We showcased our flexible APIs, pre-built connectors, and successful integrations with major CMS, ad servers, and analytics platforms. Sharing real-world implementation timelines and technical documentation helped build credibility and reduce perceived risk.
2. Scalability Through Proven Use Cases:
We highlighted our platform’s global infrastructure and ability to handle high concurrency and peak traffic, often referencing Dailymotion’s own scale as proof. For enterprises with aggressive growth or live-event needs, we shared benchmarks and SLAs that demonstrated performance under load, which reassured CIOs and CTOs.
3. ROI Through Strategic Value Mapping:
Instead of selling features, we tied our pitch to the client’s business goals, be it monetization, engagement, or platform modernization. We used vertical-specific ROI frameworks (e.g., increased ad revenue, reduced video infrastructure costs, faster time-to-publish) and real client case studies to quantify value. This shifted the conversation from cost to strategic investment.
By aligning Dailymotion’s platform strengths with each enterprise’s unique priorities, we built trust, shortened sales cycles, and increased win rates, even in traditionally slow-moving environments.
Dailymotion operates in a competitive space dominated by YouTube. What’s your playbook for convincing publishers to choose Dailymotion’s platform, and how do you tailor value propositions for niche vs. mainstream content partners?
In a market dominated by YouTube, our playbook at Dailymotion focused on differentiation, control, and monetization, three things publishers increasingly value as they look for alternatives to the walled gardens.
1. For Mainstream Publishers:
We positioned Dailymotion as a premium, brand-safe video ecosystem with stronger editorial control, customizable player technology, and transparent monetization. Unlike YouTube, we allowed partners to maintain ownership over audience data and ad inventory, enabling better yield and reduced platform dependency. The value proposition was simple: more control, more monetization, and less noise.
2. For Niche or Regional Content Partners:
Our pitch was tailored around discoverability and support. On YouTube, smaller players often get lost in algorithmic black boxes. With Dailymotion, we offered front-page placements, regional curation, and localized onboarding support, especially for vernacular and regional language content. We also co-developed monetization strategies, helping them move from basic hosting to a full-fledged revenue engine.
3. Overall Differentiation Strategy:
We didn’t try to compete with YouTube on audience scale, we competed on partner experience. This meant high-touch account management, deep data insights, and flexible business models (rev-share + SaaS + hybrid). We made our partners feel like stakeholders, not just content suppliers.
In a crowded market, publishers don’t just want reach, they want transparency, control, and partnership. That’s where Dailymotion won.
At Times Internet, you managed both publisher acquisition and account retention. How do you balance aggressive growth targets with maintaining high retention rates, especially in a market as volatile as digital media?
At Times Internet, balancing aggressive publisher acquisition with strong retention meant building a growth engine rooted in long-term value, not just volume. In a fast-moving digital media market, we focused on three core strategies:
1. Quality Over Quantity in Acquisition:
We prioritized strategic fits, publishers whose content, audience, and monetization goals aligned with our platform. This ensured faster onboarding, stronger engagement, and higher lifetime value, reducing the risk of churn from misaligned partnerships.
2. Retention Through Proactive Account Management:
We treated retention as a continuous sales process. Dedicated account managers provided performance reviews, optimization strategies, and early access to new monetization tools. This helped partners grow with us, not just stay with us.
3. Feedback Loops to Strengthen Product-Market Fit:
Regular partner feedback directly influenced product roadmaps, whether it was better analytics, ad tech integrations, or content discovery tools. This signaled to our partners that we were invested in their success, not just our growth.
The result: we hit aggressive acquisition targets without compromising on partner satisfaction, building a high retention ecosystem that scaled sustainably, even in a volatile market.
Your work at Dainik Bhaskar involved scaling a news app across diverse Indian regions. What cultural or operational insights did you leverage to adapt your GTM strategy for Tier 2/3 cities versus metros?
Answer: Scaling a news app at Dainik Bhaskar across India’s diverse regions required a hyper-local, insight-driven GTM strategy, especially when addressing the unique behaviors of Tier 2/3 cities versus metros.
1. Cultural Relevance as a Core Lever:
In Tier 2/3 markets, trust, language, and local identity drive engagement. We localized not just language, but tone, content formats, and even push notification timing to match regional news consumption patterns. We partnered with local influencers and on-ground activations to build credibility and community-driven adoption.
2. Product Experience Tailored to Infrastructure Realities:
For lower-bandwidth regions, we optimized the app for size, speed, and offline consumption. Features like data light video, quick-load news summaries, and regional news personalization gave us a competitive edge in non metro markets.
3. Segmented GTM Playbooks:
In metros, we leaned into performance marketing, content breadth, and real-time news updates. For Tier 2/3, we focused on regional campaigns, vernacular content seeding, and high-touch onboarding, often through partnerships with local institutions and retail touchpoints.
By treating India as many markets, not one, we accelerated adoption across regions with radically different digital maturity levels, ensuring both scale and stickiness.
Q- With trends like CTV, AI-driven content, and short-form video reshaping the industry, where do you see the biggest opportunities for Dailymotion in India and how are you future-proofing your sales strategy?
Answer- With the rise of CTV, AI-driven content, and short-form video, Dailymotion’s biggest opportunity in India lies in becoming the premium, brand-safe alternative for video distribution and monetization, especially in a fragmented and rapidly evolving ecosystem.
1. CTV as the Next Growth Frontier:
CTV adoption is growing fast in India’s urban and semi-urban segments. We’re positioning Dailymotion as a turnkey solution for publishers and advertisers to tap into living room audiences with measurable, high-impact video ad formats, leveraging our player tech and programmatic stack for cross-device reach.
2. AI-Driven Content Curation & Monetization:
We’re exploring AI tools to help publishers automate content tagging, optimize distribution, and enhance ad targeting. For sales, this means being able to offer smarter audience segmentation and better campaign performance guarantees to brands, especially those looking for efficiency at scale.
3. Short-Form Video with Context & Control:
While short-form video is exploding, brands are increasingly wary of user-generated chaos. Dailymotion’s curated ecosystem offers a safe space for snackable, editorial content, an edge we’re leveraging in pitches to both premium publishers and advertisers seeking brand-safe inventory.
To future-proof our sales strategy, we’re aligning with these trends by upskilling teams on data-led selling, building vertical-specific value propositions (e.g., CTV for FMCG, AI for publishers), and deepening strategic partnerships across content, tech, and media buying ecosystems. In a market like India, agility and trust are key, and we’re building for both.
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