Brands now rope in regional influencers to win over small towns, villages

Hindustan Unilever,

, PepsiCo, , Flipkart, Mahindra & Mahindra, , and Byju’s among several others are increasingly looking to tap the potential of what they call ‘Bharat social media influencers’ who have a specific genre of content with loyal followers that helps brands micro-target and connect with audiences in non- metros and villages.

They are helped by rising popularity of short video apps such as MX, Josh, Moj and Chingari that target people in tier II and III markets.

Take the case of Shubham Mapralkar, a Marathi content creator from Narayangaon near Pune who is popular for his videos sharing facts on a variety of subjects. Wild Stone, a perfume owned by McNROE Consumer Products, recently got him to promote its products on Moj.

Jasmine Mishra, an Odia creator known for her dance videos on regional songs, has worked with brands such as Pepsi and Byju’s to promote their campaigns on Moj.

Increasing adoption of short video content across both urban and non-urban regions of the country has made brands realise the effectiveness of such platforms in reaching their target audience, said Shashank Shekhar, senior director, content strategy and operations at ShareChat and Moj.

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Influencer marketing is changing the rules of brand outreach as social media has emerged one of the primary influences for people in non-metro regions to make buying decisions, experts said.

A recent report by ShareChat comparing Indians who prefer consuming content in English (‘India users’) versus regional languages (‘Bharat users’), found that Bharat users are more open to expressing themselves online.

Bharat is increasingly shopping online with 46% buying gadgets online in 2021, said the report titled The Neo India Report. Other categories like travel bookings, food, clothing and accessories, beauty and skincare are also popular in Bharat, it said.

“Combining Moj and TakaTak, the top short-video platform in India, we have a creator community of over 100 million and 300 monthly active users,” Shekhar said. “Generally, we have seen that over 60% of our creators are from Tier 2 and 3 cities which are also emerging as important markets to access smartphones, high-speed internet, and the rise of local SMBs.”

With growing digital literacy and language-enabled devices, there has been a rapid increase in users and creators from non-urban areas. People are using social media to express their creativity while also finding the opportunity to monetise their reach and content.

Consumer companies said brand endorsements and recommendations by YouTubers and local influencers have the potential to create a significant impact in the buying decision of consumers.

Consumers connect well when the communication is done in local languages, they said, adding that tie-ups with local influencers are also cost-effective for brands.

“This is the era of new-age marketing and influencers are an integral part of building brands,” said Veejay Nakra, president, auto, at leading automaker Mahindra & Mahindra.

“Reviews by influencers based on their product trials or ownership experience are seen as authentic and credible,” Nakra said. “Today, even micro-influencers with vernacular content are helping brands like ours reach their target audiences across geographies…(and) to go hyperlocal.”

Shashank Srivastava, senior executive director at the country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki, too, said, “We rely on these influencers during product launches as they can be effectively tapped as potential audience.”

Marketers say brands have been able to cash in on talent from various pockets of the country who are able to connect deeply with audiences within their community with common backgrounds and language preferences.

“Besides making ecommerce accessible to millions of first-time users, this collaboration also incentivises content creators in the Moj ecosystem,” Shekhar of Moj said.