It would be wise to say that the growth of its rural market marks any country’s actual growth. The economy of the country is directly related to the evolution of the rural market. Many have attempted to understand and utilize the rural markets to their best. Most of them have failed with a few exceptions. That is why the concept of Rural Marketing came up in existence, so the industries, businesses, and marketers that want to penetrate the rural market to accomplish their marketing goals can do this in an utilize, channelized and result-oriented manner.
The rural market has a lot of potentials that need to be attended and researched thoroughly. The entire concept of rural industrialization is very new and promising. Rural marketing tends to provide a bright future for those who want to go rural.
As per research, the rural per capita consumption expenditure has grown by 11.5 percent whereas, in the case of urban, it grew by only 9.6 percent in the year 2003-2004. This shows that there is a lot of scope in the rural market.
Therefore, paying heed to effective Rural Marketing Strategies and implementing those in an adept and conversion-driven manner will, for sure, be highly beneficial for you. In this post, we will dive deep into the world of Rural Marketing and understand the key concepts, strategies, and implementations of Rural Marketing Campaigns. So, without delaying any further, let us get started right away-
What Is Rural Marketing?
Rural marketing is a strategic plan of gauging the demands of the rural market base and supplying them with the goods and services that are of their use.
By allowing such marketing strategies, not only will the villagers and their lifestyle will be affected positively, but the company associated will also flourish.
In simple terms, Rural Marketing can be understood as the successful channelization of marketing fundamentals such as principles, concepts, processes, planning, theories, etc. for connecting, convincing and converting the rural markets.
Most of the cities in the country are directly related to the rural areas for the production of mainly agricultural items. At the same time, rural people are more inclined to use advanced urban technologies and goods.
Thus, there are two features, mainly in rural marketing. One is the selling of agricultural products from the rural market to the urban market. And the other thing is the selling of manufactured products from the urban regions to the rural market.
The marketing strategy in both the rural-urban areas is not that different, but the customers are. Thus, proper care has to be given to the varied demands of the users in these two distinct regions.
What Are the Features of a Rural Market?![What Is Rural Marketing]()
Certain features differentiate the rural market from the urban market. Some of these essential features are briefly discussed here.
1. The Standard of Living
The standard of living in rural areas is meager as compared to urban areas. Here, the people are more concerned about the necessities than the luxury items. So, this has to be kept in mind as to what are the products which have more demand in these regions.
2. Scattered Market
The population of the villagers is different in these different villages, and these villages are scattered all over the vast country. Thus, it is difficult to manage such a diverse and broad market.
3. Agriculture
Agriculture is the primary source of income in the villages. In the case of crop failures, the yearly income of any farmer reduces a lot.
4. Infrastructure
There is a massive shortage of infrastructure in rural areas. Like cemented roads, communication, transportation, banks are scarcely available in these regions. This is one of the prime reasons why rural markets have not flourished as the urban ones when they have a lot more potential.
5. Heterogeneity of Market
There is a diversity when it comes to religion, culture, social and economic cultures of the people living in the villages. As a result, there is also diversity in their needs and demands.
All these above factors affect rural marketing strategies.
These strategies are checked from time to time and in case they do not come up with the expected results, they are updated accordingly.
Examples of Rural Marketing Campaign
You must have seen and heard about the Nokia 1100 mobile phone.
It was an affordable mobile phone, which was robust and quite useful for the Rural Market segment. It adeptly understood the demands or requirements of rural people and incorporated features like a bright torch, alarm clock, cost-effectiveness and rock-solid, sturdy design.
This made it one of the most preferred phones, even for those rural places where electricity is not available.
Another example of the rural marketing campaign is the cold-drink brands like Pepsi. These brands came up with different pricing and distribution strategies for penetrating the rural market.
They came up with credit facilities, refrigerators and iceboxes sorts of pricing and distributing facilities for increasing their number of retailers and distributors in the rural markets.
Why Does the Rural Market Hold A Lot of Potential?
As said before, the rural market coms with a lot of opportunities for the industries and these are some of the essential reasons why this happens.
1. Overcrowding of Urban Market
Since the urban market has become so saturated, and it has all the products available to them. Thus, companies turn to rural areas to increase sales. Also, the competition is very less in rural regions as compared to urban places.
2. Employment Opportunities
There are many schemes of the government through which they are trying to incorporate the villagers in the job sector other than the agricultural industries. This gives the industrial companies to make their own space in the rural market.
3. The Rural Consuming Rate
With time, there has been a change in the rural consumer behavior. Thus, the demands for goods vary from time to time. With the advent of technology, the need for mobile phone and laptops are increasing in this market, and thus there is a rapid growth of techno-companies in the rural market.
4. The Large Population
Rural markets come with the large untapped population of villagers. This is one of the most important reasons for the growth of the rural market. All these consumers with their demands and needs become very profitable for the industry.
5. Uncaptured Market
The rural market is uncaptured, and there are so many options that can be explored and experimented with. Thus, most of the companies are turning towards this vast pool of opportunities.
Challenges Faced in Rural Marketing
Every good thing comes with its challenge.
Similar is the case of the rural markets. There are so many challenges that come with rural marketing strategies. The first one that may come up on the list is the communication and promotional strategies.
Since most of the villagers are uneducated or have a minimum education, there is a lack of communication between the villagers and the companies. As a result, understanding the rural customer and their needs become very difficult.
Also, the villages are distributed all over the country, and in most of the villages, there are no proper infrastructure or transportation facilities. This is a big issue as the goods need to be transported to such villages in the first place to establish an adequate industry or market.
Also, the media is not very prevalent in these paces. Thus, advertisement strategies are very limited to rural areas.
How to run a Rural Marketing Campaign
To run a rural marketing campaign, you can do the exchange of goods and services in three different ways- and they are- Rural to Rural, Urban to Rural and Rural to Urban.
So, to run a Rural Marketing Campaign, you can opt for these three different ways. Let us discuss these three in detail-
1. Rural to Rural
This kind of rural marketing comes in place when rural manufacturers make products for rural consumers or villagers. In this kind of marketing, different types of products used are carts, cattle, pottery, etc.
2. Urban to Rural
In this kind of rural marketing, products that are manufactured in cities or urban units are made accessible to the rural market base. Different products that come in this category are consumer durables, FMCG, fertilizers, etc. Rural marketing is used for widening the reach and conversions of these products to a rural segment of target audiences.
3. Rural to Urban
This sort of rural marketing is used when products that are grown or manufactured are sold to the urban market. Different products comprised in this category are crops, handicraft items, agricultural products, etc. This kind of marketing is also quite useful in boosting the economic standards of the rural population by helping them get good value and market for their goods, and popularising their skills.
Rural Marketing Wrap Up!
Although rural areas have a lot of potentials to come up as the new industrial hub, there are so many challenges that come with it as well.
But with proper rural marketing strategy, some of these problems can be dealt. Winning the rural market is very important in widening the loyal customer base, leads, sales, and profits.
This will also help businesses in having the connectivity between rural and urban areas. This connectivity is the most critical factor of inclusive growth which will ensure sustainable existence to the companies.
How important do you consider rural marketing strategies for your business? Share your viewpoints about the significance of rural marketing campaigns with us in the comments.
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