When we talk about marketing the emphasis is always on urban areas and metro cities but with the advent of technology and the growing income of rural areas rural marketing has gained tremendous importance. Rural marketing refers to the process of promoting and selling products and services to customers in rural areas. It involves identifying the specific needs and preferences of rural consumers and developing marketing strategies that effectively reach and appeal to them. In order to understand this concept one should look at some of the important features of rural marketing –
Rural Marketing Characteristics
Smaller target market
The first and foremost feature of rural marketing is that the target market of companies doing marketing in rural areas has a smaller population compared to urban areas, so the target market for rural marketing is smaller and hence companies cannot expect bigger numbers from rural areas which is the case with companies doing marketing in urban areas.
Low literacy rate
Rural areas often have lower literacy rates, implying that companies doing marketing in rural areas cannot use complex marketing strategies or language rather companies should strive to make marketing materials and messages simple and easy to understand which in turn will attract rural customers towards the products of the company.
Low Income
Another important characteristic of rural marketing is that the rural populations have lower income if one compares it with the urban population and hence the products which the company is offering to rural areas should be priced accordingly. Hence, for example, one cannot expect people in rural areas to purchase expensive mobiles from companies like Apple and Samsung rather people living in rural will prefer to buy low-cost mobiles.
Limited Infrastructure
In the case of rural marketing companies should remember that rural areas often have limited infrastructure, such as roads and transportation, which can make it difficult for companies to distribute their products to the consumers of rural areas hence marketing strategy of the company should keep this thing in mind.
Agriculture Economy
Rural areas are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood and any problem like drought or weather-related issues can adversely affect the people of rural areas which in turn will make the task of companies very difficult as people will not be able to buy products as their income is completely dependent on agriculture unlike people in urban areas who many sources of income.
Use of Traditional Mediums
In the case of rural marketing companies will have to use traditional mediums of communication such as word of mouth, community gatherings, and other such activities for promoting their products as not all people living in rural areas have access to televisions, the internet, and other media mediums thus companies should keep in mind this factor before deciding about the marketing strategy for rural areas. Besides people in rural areas do not get impressed or influenced by fancy advertisements or promotions rather they require a personal touch, such as building relationships with local leaders and influencers.
Government Policies
Government policies and schemes have a big impact on how the company will be able to succeed in rural areas. Hence for example if the government is giving more subsidies, giving loan waivers to farmers, or giving other such soaps to farmers then it can give a boost to demand in rural areas and companies doing rural marketing should keep this aspect in mind because when there is high demand than even small marketing can give great results and vice versa.
As one can see from the above that rural marketing is a unique and challenging aspect of marketing that requires a different approach than urban marketing and that is the reason why any company thinking of doing rural marketing should carefully read the above characteristics and then only should take any decision regarding whether the company wants to go for rural marketing or not.