Marketing Strategies For Rural Communication In The Digital Era

Do you wish to entice your rural target audiences to interact with you and garner your customers’ loyalty? Developing marketing strategies for rural communication in the digital era is essential for anyone wondering how to move ahead. 

When marketing and communications are well-integrated, you’ll be able to communicate more effectively with your rural target audience and begin to see results in fulfilling your company objectives.

WHAT IS THE MARKETING STRATEGY FOR RURAL COMMUNICATION IN THE DIGITAL ERA? 

A digital era rural communication marketing strategy is how your company intends to communicate a specific message to your rural target audience through various digital means that involve the effective integration of core elements, i.e., the target, the message, and the medium.

But why is there a need for digital mediums for effective marketing communication? So, before we move ahead to understand the key marketing strategies for rural communication. Let’s have a quick glimpse at how rural India is going digital. 

RURAL INDIA ENTERS THE DIGITAL AGE 

Mobile phones and mobile Internet are all shattering the long-established consumer connect paradigms in rural India. It has resulted in a substantial shift in rural marketing.

• According to research released last year by analytics firm Kantar, smartphone penetration in rural India was barely 28% in 2019.

• According to the telecom regulatory, India’s rural penetration was slightly over 59 percent in February 2021. 

• Moreover, as per the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) Kantar’s’ ICUBE 2020′ research, rural India continues to lead the road in digital adoption, with 299 million internet users (31% of the rural population) having increased by 13% in the last year. This shows the faster growth rate of users in rural areas. 

Biswapriya Bhattacharjee, Kantar’s Executive Vice President of Insights Division, said, “In rural India, there will be more internet users than in metropolitan India by 2025. As a result, the digital ecosystem will need to develop to meet the expectations of this new demographic”. 

Now it’s up to the Digital Rural Marketers to re-propose and re-plan their rural marketing strategy and techniques to reflect this new reality.

KEY MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR RURAL COMMUNICATION IN THE DIGITAL ERA

3.1. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STRATEGY 

According to CSE e-governance services data of 2020, the total Internet data consumption for YouTube and Facebook in rural areas was 23418 GB and 17527 GB, respectively. This shows that both these social media channels are gaining more popularity in the rural areas of India.

Nevertheless, Rural people of India are consuming YouTube channels. Hence, Businesses and Rural Marketing agencies in India can effortlessly target and communicate with the target audience in rural areas by developing their digital rural marketing strategy using the YouTube channel. This involves communicating through visuals which is a more effective way of communicating the values your products or services will deliver. 

Additionally, other social media channels like Facebook and Instagram can be used to post pictures and videos to deliver a valuable message regarding your offerings. Target audiences and consumers can interact via chats, comments that may include feedback on the products/services or queries. 

For instance, we got an opportunity to work with Stanley Earth. We weaved the content strategy and communication in a campaign that addressed all the issues and made the brand image a prestigious and dependable brand with assured services and warranty commitments. They got huge traction on Facebook from semi-urban and rural pockets, and the communication also got across the TG well, translating in enormous engagement as likes, comments, and shares.

3.2. MOBILE ADVERTISING AND COMMUNICATION STRATEGY 

With India’s rural development picking up speed and agricultural purchasing power increasing, this customer group has a great chance to blossom into a significant commercial potential. On the other hand, rural consumers are a diverse group with various needs and just a rudimentary comprehension of digital media. 

Effective rural communication marketing methods should focus on right-sizing and consumer segmentation to improve the ROI of marketing efforts. Because rural marketing is primarily done through mobile devices, enabling advertising campaigns for mobile search, simple navigation, the usage of local languages, adaptable layout, and easy-to-understand content should all be priorities. For instance, we at Ascent adopted a mobile marketing communication and promotion strategy where farmers’ issues were sorted out for Shriram Bioseed. 

Hence, to engage with rural consumers, a mobile-first strategy is essential, and it may be utilized for brand creation, product refining, and even expanding the target demographic. Mobile has such a broad reach in rural areas of India that many companies are coming up with new methods to use it as a communication channel to build client relationships and boost sales. 

CONCLUSION

Businesses and Rural Marketing Companies in India that invest the time to learn about their customers’ journeys and decision-making processes can improve the effectiveness of their rural marketing communication strategy by customizing their brand message to where their customers are on their journey.