Brand Marketing
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Why ShareChat and Moj still struggle to deliver ROI for advertisers
According to industry insiders, on Sharechat and Moj, the consumable class is missing, engagement often looks inflated, and the ecosystem lacks the sophistication needed for high-intent conversions.
Despite boasting a massive user base across regional India, ShareChat and Moj seem to be still struggling to convince performance marketers of their ability to deliver real returns. While these platforms claim deep penetration into Bharat’s digital heartland, many advertisers remain wary, pointing to concerns about audience quality, unreliable attribution, and a rural-heavy user base that does not always translate into sales.
Despite boasting a massive user base across regional India, ShareChat and Moj seem to be still struggling to convince performance marketers of their ability to deliver real returns. While these platforms claim deep penetration into Bharat’s digital heartland, many advertisers remain wary, pointing to concerns about audience quality, unreliable attribution, and a rural-heavy user base that does not always translate into sales. According to industry insiders, the consumable class is missing, engagement often looks inflated, and the ecosystem lacks the sophistication needed for high-intent conversions.
"From the very start, we were never convinced about the credibility of these homegrown platforms, not because they were indigenous or had tech issues, but because of the kind of content creators they attracted," says Shudeep Majumdar, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) & Co-Founder, Zefmo Media. "Over the years, especially Moj, has ranked very low in terms of creator quality and brand safety. That is why we have never used these platforms for focused influencer marketing."
For many influencer marketers like Majumdar, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts continue to be the platforms of choice. Their creator ecosystems are more polished, the attribution tools are sharper, and the brand safety infrastructure is more reliable. Premium brands, he believes, naturally gravitate toward those platforms.
Hyperlocal intent versus national execution
Still, regional brands in FMCG, travel, and local commerce have tried experimenting. "They believe hyperlocal campaigns work better on these platforms," Majumdar adds. "But they often end up burning their hands and going back to Meta or YouTube."
Sahil Chopra, founder and CEO of iCubesWire, points out that ShareChat and Moj still lack the sophistication required for performance marketing. "Meta and YouTube dominate ad spends. The tools there are more advanced, attribution is clearer, and the buying intent is stronger," he says. "That said, ShareChat and Moj are slowly building their ad market by focusing on vernacular targeting and regional creators."
But this local-first approach comes with its own challenges. "Users on these platforms often scroll for entertainment, not with a buying mindset. And without seamless cross-platform integrations, marketers find it hard to get a full view of performance," Chopra adds.
ShareChat responds with numbers and a Bharat-first pitch
ShareChat and Moj present a very different perspective. "We have a combined monthly active user base of over 325 million," says Manohar Singh Charan, co-founder and CFO at ShareChat and Moj. The average user spends more than 30 minutes per day on each platform, with Moj alone recording 6 billion video plays daily. "This points to deep regional engagement and a culturally rooted user base," Charan says.
Around 63 percent of the platforms' users come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Charan insists that this segment is not just growing in size but also in digital fluency and purchasing power. "A large portion belongs to the middle or upper-middle income bracket and is increasingly comfortable with digital payments and e-commerce," he adds.
To illustrate this, he cites the Glucon-D #InstantEnergyDaily campaign that ran on Moj. Regional influencers in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh positioned the brand as a go-to summer energy drink. The campaign crossed 206 million views, generated over 48000 user-created videos, and achieved a 14.4 percent engagement rate.
But does high engagement convert to sales?
Not always. Ambika Sharma, founder of Pulp Strategy, says "For most brands, these platforms remain experimental. They are good for reach in regional markets, but conversions remain inconsistent."
She believes the monetisation potential on ShareChat and Moj does not match up to Meta or YouTube. "Attribution is weak, audience quality is patchy, and the buying intent is not aligned with the engagement levels. There is also a creative gap since many brands are unsure how to create content suited for these platforms."
Engagement versus maturity
Umer Madhiya of White Rivers Media notes that Moj and ShareChat succeed in contexts where regional identity matters more than polish. "In these communities, engagement is measured through shares, comments, and participation in challenges. These are things that often get missed by mainstream apps," he says.
“Depth defines success here. It may not be quick ROI, but it builds affinity and cultural recall," Umer explains.
Still, Majumdar remains unconvinced. "The rural-heavy audience complicates measurement. There are worries around bots, inflated engagement numbers, and analytics tools that are not as evolved as those from Meta or Google," he says.
He suggests that ShareChat and Moj need to attract creators who already have credibility on bigger platforms. "If they can bring in those creators as ambassadors, brands may start considering them more seriously," he adds.
A turning point or a long road ahead?
Rachit Sharma of Qoruz offers a more optimistic take. "We have seen more brands show interest in ShareChat and Moj, especially those targeting vernacular audiences and smaller cities," he says. "Brands like Hero, Samsung, and Nivea have already tested campaigns here. Some of them are moving more spend to these platforms based on early outcomes."
He adds that while engagement on Moj can be strong, the conversion funnel and creator professionalism are still more refined on Instagram and YouTube. "Years of iteration have helped those platforms mature in ways Moj and ShareChat are still catching up on," Sharma says.
For ShareChat, the answer lies in what they call the aspirational and transaction-ready Bharat. As Charan puts it, "We serve a culturally rooted audience that is increasingly fluent with digital commerce and highly engaged. That makes us a unique proposition."
But for marketers focused on ROI, engagement without transparent attribution may still be a hard sell. Until ShareChat and Moj crack data visibility, creator trust, and conversion consistency, they may remain promising platforms that are still in the proving phase.
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