Dos and Don’ts of Rural Campaigns
“Plan your work and work your plan” – Napoleon Hill
The focus is on the importance of organising and taking action. Devising a rural marketing campaign can be challenging because of the many hurdles it brings along the way. The fact is that execution of any plan needs solid groundwork as well as scheduling of available resources in the rural areas and small towns. Conservatism states that it is necessary that plans should include detailed provisions for the unpredicted circumstances that may surface at the time of completion of the campaign. All that being said, prevention remains to be a better option than cure, however, the formation of such a strategy sounds very tiresome. It is nearly impossible to remember each and every detail while implementing a highly functional rural marketing campaign. The success rate of the execution of any strategy banks upon a list of dos and don’ts because it forms a loose boundary around the formations which is not rigid enough to distract creativity but clear enough to avoid mistakes.
The DOs
Branding on the Road from Village to City:
The economic activity is happening between the cities and villages where the customers from villages move towards the city to buy the products. So in order to influence the consumers, the branding is done on the roads which connects the village and the city. But here the important point to consider is the posters should be done in such a way that the posters should face the consumers when they are going towards the city not vice versa. As the posters will be acting as a reminder to the consumer just before he makes a buying decision. The other way of putting up posters will be a waste of money.
Selecting Correct Branding Period:
The period of branding in villages, shops and the pathways should be selected very appropriately. The shop branding should be done just 15 days before the actual sales start. The village branding should be done two months earlier to make it a talk of the town. Other activities like call centre activity, vehicle campaigns and boards in villages should be done two months earlier. The pathways should be branded 10 days before the actual sales start for the optimum utilisation of the resources.
Mixing Advertising Tools Optimally:
To pursue multiple ambitions, it is a prerequisite to know what comes first and what goes next and understand fully the reasons behind the same. For example, the client might be looking to target one particular market before others as per their overall strategic goals. Once the priority has been sorted out, the planning can start full throttle. The marketer should focus on all aspects of the campaign, such as content development, selection of mediums and searching out touch points. One area should not be given the majority of the focus but all of them should be given the due time and effort. The same should be done because every step is essential to create a successful rural marketing campaign. Any campaign cannot be designed without sufficient planning which starts with market research about the audience type, constructing marketing objectives which are realistic and ambitious at the same time. It mainly involves the drafting of a suitable marketing strategy fit for the brand and the product. Once the planning stage is over, the importance is transferred to preparing for the campaign to ensure its implementation without many surprises or hurdles. Given the benefits using technology can provide, it should not be ignored due to the campaign being rural. Rather a way should be found to use technology for increasing operational efficiency and effectiveness of the campaign. Integrate and align online and offline activation activities to reap best results. The 360 Degree Marketing and Sales model explained in Chapter14 could be one of the examples to use.
Identify the Decision Makers:
In every rural family there is a decision maker. Identifying the decision makers and connecting with them is always a challenge. A lot of farmer meetings are done but only 30% of them are farmers in those meetings and if we talk about influential farmers, they are not more than 5%. So in order to get real results of such meetings, we need to identify the real decision makers and contact them and showcase our product. Similar is the case with the influencer meetings, be it a mason’s meet, an electrician’s meet, a carpenter’s meet, a beautician’s meet or any other meet of such kind. In every such meeting, we need to take care that we are interacting with the right customer. Similarly while using the mass media or hoarding board positioning, we need to do the survey before installing in order to get the optimal impact.
Flexible Approach:
The major challenge in the rural market is that every market is still at the amateur stage. There are no set principles of successful campaigns. The changes in the campaigns are required as per the region and target segment. Sometimes there are instant requirements of the region and circumstances, which have to be fulfilled. The monsoon rains may intensify the seed sales in a particular region and advertising may be needed at the specific areas. Such situations regularly arise in rural marketing. An experienced and well connected agency is required for it.
Crisis Management:
While running a rural marketing campaign, performance indicators should be adopted. The calculation of ROI of the rural marketing campaign should be done by closely following numbers that show progress such as sales revenue, open rates, closure rates, value per lead, number of incremental contacts etc. This helps in understanding the results better and the crisis can be managed in a much better way if we have the measurements in hand. The local connects with the influencers play an important role in managing the crisis. The direct control over the local manpower is a must.
An advertising agency with rural roots is a must in such situations.
The DO’NTs
Do Not Move Out of Target Audience:
The target audience are the main focus of every campaign. But sometimes in the process of trying to cover more people, the campaigns go out of the target audience, thereby, wasting money and energy. Although the agency shows the ROI in terms of cost per connected consumer, to ensure that the connected person is a consumer or not is a very challenging question. Focussing on the right target segment and connecting the right consumers is very important. That is the reason why I always stress on sales in the ROI calculation.
Rural Areas Are Not Urban Areas:
Another common misconception among rural marketing agencies comes in the shape of believing that the lines between rural and urban markets have become completely blurred. While this may prove to be true after a decade, here and now, this approach can render your rural marketing campaign ineffective. Rural marketing starts with conversing to the customer whilst keeping their perception of the brand. The similarity in this connection cannot be established without the knowledge of the brand and the product itself. Therefore, the first and foremost rule of rural marketing is to pay attention to the client’s requests and needs, rather than hearing them out, listen to them carefully.
Listen to the Customer Feedback:
Every single request, advice and feedback of the customer should be taken very seriously. Yes, it is true that the customer may not be aware of the product when compared to the company. However, they are the users of the product and understand its use, their insights can be very useful and these should be considered very carefully. The biggest mistake a rural marketing agency can make is failing to realise the importance of engaging content. The scope of content development goes beyond its digital presence and the understanding of the same can make a lot of difference in the performance of the campaign. The engaging content actually helps the customer to understand in a much better way. If the engagement even allows the feedback it would be an excellent way to connect with the customer, building a loyalty at the next level. If a customer gives any feedback, the company should revert back in any way. And if somebody gives a valuable feedback, the customer should be awarded and even used as an influencer. These activities will actually create a brand loyalty in a much better way.
Content and Vernaculars are Important:
The importance of vernaculars have been discussed in many parts of this book. The content in vernaculars is required for every campaign in the rural India. But here I want to discuss about the translation or the dubbing we do in local languages. The translation should not be done just literally but the essence of the message should also be taken care of. The homogeneity in the branding is very important for brand building, but keeping the essence of the message intact is equally important. Otherwise, the effectiveness of the message may reduce. Even the literal translation could be disastrous as well. The translation of the content should be taken care of very minutely and carefully.
Dilemma of Over or Under Budgeting:
Thou shall not commit the cardinal sin of over budgeting or under budgeting. While spending too much is considered wrong, not agreeing to pay enough can also affect the campaign negatively. The right way is to be cautious in your spending but be firm to not let it affect the quality of your work. Over or under budgeting in a particular advertising service can also be harmful. The optimal mix of the budget is advised.
Do Not Mix Campaign with Religion:
Sometimes advertisers try to connect too closely with the customers through close contact with religion, but this can be dangerous. Sometimes, even using the religious identity to connect with brand can also backfire. The image used to connect with culture may cause a lot of damage to the brand, so using such images and connecting it with the brand, one certainly needs to be very careful. For such experiments a local designer or a local consultant is a must.
Conclusion:
Implementing a successful rural marketing campaign requires careful planning and execution. By following the dos and don'ts outlined in this blog post, a rural advertising agency can maximise the impact of their campaigns and effectively reach the target audience. From branding on the road and selecting the correct branding period to mixing advertising tools optimally and identifying the decision-makers, these dos provide valuable insights for creating effective rural marketing campaigns. On the other hand, avoiding common pitfalls such as moving out of the target audience, neglecting the uniqueness of rural areas, and ignoring customer feedback is crucial to ensure the success of the campaign. By adhering to these guidelines, an advertising agency can create campaigns that resonate with rural consumers, deliver a strong brand impact, and drive strategic growth for big brands in rural markets.
For more insights Read Book " Rural Market Unleashed " available on Amazon.in