“Real India Lives in her Villages” – as rightly said by Mahatma Gandhi, the quote is relevant to the world of marketing and advertising. Tapping the right set of consumers to sell a product is the foremost step in building an award-winning consumer strategy. Isn’t that something every business wants?
The fact that villages are home to a majority of the country’s population they extensively aid in boosting the sales of your brand. Furthermore, applying a successful marketing mix and selecting your target audience not only helps expand the business but also achieves success in the long run.
This blog post will give an insight into the Indian Rural Market and how BTL activities help reach the untapped territories of our country. So, get ready to dive into the power of Rural India and BTL Activities!
Indian Rural Market
Rural India comprises approximately 70% of the country’s population and has a vast scope for establishing your brand’s presence. Understanding the dynamics of rural markets and exploiting them to your best advantage proves to be a crowning stroke for a business.
Large conglomerates and agencies like Godrej, Cadbury, Tata, etc., have started exploring and investing in rural markets due to their promising growth potential. Through innovative and engaging promotional methodologies, BTL activities create an exclusive on-ground marketing experience for your target audience.
So, what’s the catch? Let us walk you through how BTL activities tap untapped rural territories through their marketing tactics.
Simple Below-the-Line Advertising Tricks!
A few simple and hidden secrets of BTL Advertising are highlighted below:
- Segmentation of the Market and Audience
Categorizing the market into segments and then targeting a niche audience to communicate product information is what forms the base of BTL Advertising. Aligning your goals with consumer expectations and personalizing promotional messages makes consumers feel connected with the brand.
- Approaching the Locals
Roping in the village sarpanch, self-help groups or a local influencer seems like a great promotion strategy to spread brand or product awareness. Word-of-mouth helps engage the brand with consumers on a personal level.
- Audience Adaption
Adapting to the dialects or languages of local communities builds a two-way communication between the brand and the consumer, eventually building and inculcating a sense of belongingness towards the brand.
- Penetration Pricing Strategy
Introducing the product initially at a lower price to attract consumers is a prominent BTL strategy.
Furthermore, providing bulk discounts to stockists and gift or coupon promotions for retailers and wholesalers gives them the motivation to make products continuously available in the market for consumers.
- Educating instead of promoting
BTL initiatives produce a high top-of-mind recall value by disseminating product information to potential customers. They partner with NGOs and youth in villages and incorporate engaging games like Nukkad Nataks, puppet shows, or product & method demonstrations to attract consumers.
- Out-of-Home Advertising
BTL marketing makes use of unconventional Out-of-home (OOH) and Digital out-of-home (DOOH) promotional strategies such as:
- Wall Paintings
A cost-effective medium for advertising, wall paintings are a widespread method to increase reach and spread awareness. They enhance the visibility of a brand.
- Activation Vans
Promotion through audio-booming vans elevates the publicity of a brand to a great extent. It acts as a strong medium to deliver the intended message of a campaign.
- Kiosks
Kiosks are one of the main visibility elements used in places that see a large footfall of customers. They are run by one or two people and serve as a prime element for sampling.
- POS displays
These displays are installed by retailers and used to promote products in brick-and-mortar stores. They are a specialized form of sales promotion and increase the sales of a product by influencing customers towards a brand at the store level.
- Unconventional Platforms to Promote Brands
- Mandis
To establish a close connection with the audience, brands target high congregation points like mandis. They serve as a platform to promote products through sampling and other BTL activities.
- Haats
Brands can tap audiences from different age groups on these platforms. Haats encourage impulsive buying decisions among consumers as rural consumers visit them with purchase intent.
- Melas
They provide an opportunity for brands to reach the rural masses and present themselves to a larger audience through demonstrations and trials. Several brands, like Dabur, HUL, P&G, etc., conduct BTL activities every year in the Kumbh, Pushkar and Sonepur Melas for promotion.
- Pilgrim Sites
Such sites have become the new potential for brands to promote their products. Places like Vaishno Devi, Ayodhya, Tirupati, Shirdi, etc., have become hotspots for selling products to audiences.
- Rural Games and Tournaments
Engaging rural audiences through games helps to grasp their attention and develop a high top-of-mind recall value. It is increasingly becoming a popular BTL marketing strategy adopted by marketers.
- Primary Health Centre
Healthcare and hygiene brands find PHCs a good platform to promote their products in rural areas. NGOs, in coordination with Medical Councils or Anganwadis, execute their marketing campaigns through such channels.
- Schools
Educating and demonstrating product benefits to young children spreads awareness not only amongst them but also among their family members, who mainly influence the purchase decision in the household.
- Folk Theatre
Folk theatre is an effective way to influence rural audiences by conveying a brand’s message. It acts as a medium to associate with the target audience by communicating in the local language of the people.
- Utilizing Technology
Using innovative AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality) to educate and engage rural consumers has become a common BTL activity to spread product awareness. It builds top-of-mind recall value and helps the brand outshine its competitors.
- Ensuring Reach and Visibility
Brands need to be present to meet the demands of the consumer at the right time and in the right place. It is the responsibility of retailers to keep track of stock levels and make products easily accessible according to rising demand.
The Conclusion
Brands are increasingly becoming acceptable to rural markets as they have understood their importance for sustaining over a significant period of time. By tapping and identifying the untapped rural territories, BTL activities are becoming successful in penetrating the rural markets.
BTL activities are continuously thriving and getting ahead in the marketing game by not only selling products but also evoking emotions for the brand in buyers.
