In our latest episode of Velocity: Performance Marketing Podcast, Dinesh shared his battle-tested strategies for scaling B2C brands from startup to $100+ Million revenue. His insights reveal the universal marketing principles that work across every industry and the radical efficiency gains possible with modern approaches.

About Dinesh Arora: Senior VP Marketing at Univest with 17+ years building scalable growth engines across fintech, e-commerce, gaming, and edtech. Previously led marketing teams at BrightChamps, TenderCuts, FirstCry, MakeMyTrip, and other major brands. Recognized as "Most Influential Marketing Leader" by World Marketing Congress in 2021 and 2022.

The Marketing Evolution That Changes Everything

The performance marketing landscape has undergone a seismic shift that most marketers haven't fully grasped yet. Dinesh explains the magnitude of this transformation:

"Earlier, if you were managing an e-commerce company with 10+ categories, you'd need a team of three or four people just to manage Google marketing for a 1 Crore monthly budget. Today, managing 7 Crore monthly spend requires only one person."

This isn't about cutting corners - it's about leveraging AI and automation to achieve unprecedented efficiency. At Univest, Dinesh manages comprehensive performance marketing with just a 2-person team, something that would have been impossible five years ago.

The catalyst for this change? Platforms like Google's Performance Max and Meta's Advantage+ campaigns have automated bidding, budget allocation, and even audience targeting. This shifts the competitive advantage entirely to creative strategy and execution.

Channel Strategy by Revenue Stage: The Complete Playbook

Dinesh's approach to channel selection varies dramatically by business stage, revealing why one-size-fits-all strategies fail.

Zero to 1 Million: Content-First Foundation

"The playbook today has changed completely," Dinesh emphasizes. "Before choosing channels, choose your creative and communication strategy. Video becomes your choice of discovery - people consume content, get to know the product, then static and carousel creatives re-establish your brand."

Priority sequence for 0-1M brands:

• Video-led content creation as the primary discovery mechanism

• Influencer collaborations to build authentic brand awareness

• Platform selection based on audience age: Facebook for 35+ demographics, Instagram/Snapchat for 18-28 age groups

• Traditional channels (Google, Meta, affiliates) for distribution

The key insight: organic and earned media contribute only 5-10% at this stage, making paid acquisition critical for initial growth.

1 to 10 Million: Experience and Channel Expansion

Once you've found product-market fit, the focus shifts to optimizing user experience and expanding channel mix. This stage introduces programmatic advertising to break out of the "walled garden" ecosystem of Google and Meta.

"You try to expand beyond walled gardens to reach audiences where people consume content that's not part of the Google-Meta ecosystem," Dinesh explains. Organic contribution grows to 25-30% of business volume as brand awareness builds.

10 to 100 Million: Organic Dominance

The economics transform dramatically at scale. Organic reach jumps to 45-50% of business volume, with remarketing contributing another 30%. Performance spending drops to just 10-20% of the mix as established brands leverage their accumulated audience and authority.

"By the time you reach 10-100 Mn, your cost structures improve significantly because organic, remarketing, direct traffic, and owned media start contributing 60-80% of your business," notes Dinesh.

Why SEO Is Earned Media, Not Organic

One of Dinesh's most compelling frameworks redefines how we think about SEO. "To build organic traffic, first you have to invest heavily in website optimization, content creation, and backlink building. All these require significant upfront costs before you see returns."

His approach at Univest demonstrates this principle in action:

• 6-7 months of serious content investment: Publishing 30-40 articles daily, requiring 15-20 lakh rupees monthly

• Strategic backlink building: Securing high domain authority links from leading publications

• Technical optimization: Ensuring platform readiness for AI and traditional search crawlers

The payoff was remarkable: traffic grew from 10,000 monthly visits in March to 450,000-500,000 visits by September - a 4,500% increase. Revenue contribution from organic jumped from 2-3% to 20%.

"You have to give 6-8 months of constant patience and investment. But once you reach that tipping point, content requirements decrease and returns multiply," Dinesh explains.

AI-Powered Creative Operations: 110 Creatives Daily with 3 People

Perhaps the most striking example of modern efficiency is Dinesh's creative production system at Univest. His team produces over 110 creatives daily with just three people - a feat that would have required 12+ people using traditional methods.

The AI-powered workflow:

• Automated research and ideation: AI generates 10-20 content iterations for any brief

• Image creation and sourcing: AI handles visual research and first-draft creation

• Copy development: AI produces multiple messaging variations

• Human refinement: Team focuses on fine-tuning and brand alignment

"What could have taken 1.5 hours for a creative now takes 15 minutes. AI cuts research and first-draft time by 95-98%," Dinesh reports.

The system maintains quality through his "40% rule" - if a creative is 40% aligned with brand standards, it gets tested with small budgets. "Instead of chasing perfection for every creative, chase what works better. Give it a shot with 1,000-3,000 rupees daily budget for 3-4 days."

This experimental approach, combined with platforms like Hawky, enables continuous learning and optimization at unprecedented scale.

The Modern Marketing Team Structure

Dinesh's recommended team structure for 100 Mn scale businesses reflects the new efficiency paradigm:

• Performance marketing: 2-3 people

• Creative and video production: 5-6 people

• Data science: 1-2 people

• Social media management: 2 people

• Online reputation management: 2 people

Total team size: 12-15 people for 100 Mn businesses

Critical hiring insight: "Your marketing team average age should be 25-26. If it goes above 28, investigate why. All my teams in the last 6-7 years averaged 23-25 years old."

Reason? Younger marketers inherently understand how target audiences behave with different creative formats, especially video content and social platforms.

In-House vs Agency

Dinesh follows a clear principle: "Never outsource your core function. For e-commerce companies, I never outsource performance marketing because daily spend directly drives revenue."

When to keep in-house:

• Performance marketing for revenue-generating businesses

• Core functions that directly impact daily operations

• Activities requiring deep product understanding

When to outsource:

• Content creation and creative production

• Online reputation management

• Social media management

• Non-core marketing functions

Exception for early-stage companies: "At 0-1 stage, outsource performance marketing to experts while you focus on product, distribution, and retention. Gradually bring functions in-house as you scale."

The key is transitioning strategically - bringing one channel in-house at a time once you've mastered it, rather than attempting everything simultaneously.

The 10% Experimentation Rule

Across all his strategies, Dinesh maintains a consistent approach to innovation: "I always keep 10% of my marketing budget for experimentation - new creatives, new channels, new strategies. For that 10%, I expect no returns. I'm trying to find the one thing that works which will become part of my 90%."

This systematic approach to testing ensures continuous evolution and prevents stagnation as existing strategies mature or become obsolete.

Key Takeaways for B2C Marketers

Strategic Principles:

• Content and creative strategy now determine growth more than channel selection

• Team efficiency has improved 10x with AI - leverage this or fall behind

• SEO requires 6-8 months of consistent investment before significant returns

• Always reserve budget for systematic experimentation

Tactical Applications:

• Use the 40% creative rule: test imperfect creatives rather than pursuing perfection

• Structure teams around efficiency gains from AI tools

• Plan channel strategy based on your current revenue stage

• Transition from agency to in-house strategically, one function at a time

Team Building:

• Hire younger talent (average age 25-26) who understand modern content consumption

• Focus on creative production and data analysis capabilities

• Maintain lean performance marketing teams leveraging AI automation

The marketing landscape continues evolving rapidly, with AI and automation reshaping what's possible. Dinesh's framework provides a roadmap for navigating this transformation while building sustainable, scalable growth engines.

For B2C brands looking to implement these strategies systematically, consider how tools like Hawky's Creative Intelligence Platform can accelerate your transition to data-driven creative operations.

This post is based on our conversation with Dinesh Arora in Episode 3 of Velocity: Performance Marketing Podcast by Hawky. Listen to the full episode

More Episodes: hawky.ai/podcast