The past decade has witnessed significant growth in the digital traffic for brand communications. The rise of digital literacy, increasing use of smartphones, and adoption of the internet regularly have helped brand communicators to reduce the gap between the brand and its audiences. A study by KPMG in India and Google in 2017 says that India already has more than 234 million Indian language online users in comparison with 175 million English users. The study further revealed that the Indian language user base on the internet is expected to reach 536 million by 2021 at a CAGR of 18 percent, whereas English users will reach only 199 million with a 3 percent growth. There has been significant growth in regional communications as brands have realized that people connect better when the communication is done in their own language. Recognizing this paradigm shift for the need of regional communicators, India has witnessed a subsequent growth in the number of regional influencers.
Go Regional
Regional influencers help brands pursue their audience in local languages which are deemed to be more realistic and credible, targeting the sweet spot that every Indian harbors. Locally connected influencers help the brand remain rooted, real, and raw. Using regional flavors, be it cuisine, attire, or language, they connect with their viewers. If a video tells its story, audiences are more likely to listen. Having regional influencers onboard can work wonders! Today, brands are going for the popular local influencers, getting them to curate content. They instantly click with their viewers because of their local dialect. Also, since most of these influencers don’t charge a hefty fee, brands find them cost-effective.
As per the Nielson report, online video consumption in India has grown two times in two years, to 3.7 billion videos per month, while the total online video audience in the country has grown 74% to 54 million users. The rise in online video viewership has led to the rise of regional influencers to fulfill the demand for creative, engaging, and interactive content that can be useful and relevant to the brands.
Adding a regional twang to online video content has emerged as one of the most effective ways to reach out to a large audience in a short period. Having a regional influencer in your team can help you understand the mindset of your target audience. Undoubtedly, regional influencers have a lot of followers with whom they interact regularly.
“Desi” Influencers connecting India
Reaching tier II and III market audiences have always been a hindrance for brands. Today, for brands, regional influencers have become a highly personalized model of knowing their customers. With an astounding engagement rate, these influencers connect with their followers regularly and look up to them for brand reviews and information. These influencers create much more personal and individualized content that their followers can comprehend easily, and can reach out to them for opinions without any reservation. Suffice to say that, content-led hyper-local categories are focusing on localized content and end-to-end Indian language enablement to attract more audiences. Lallantop, Lalluram, Indori Zayka, The Bong Guy, Ranveer Allahabadia, etc are a few popular influencer channels on youtube having a strong fan base.
Many regional influencers have ready-made segmented audiences making it easier for the brands to reach out to their target audiences at one go. They can make a better target plan by knowing the niche of the influencers like fashion, technology, agriculture, beauty products, etc. Most importantly, regional influencers break the barrier with customers that aren’t possible with celebrity brand ambassadors or big influencers. Regional influencers are like ‘mini celebs’ sharing the same set of values with their followers. As regional influencers know their region and have a pulse on the local activities and news, they can help brands effectively reach out to their audiences for their products and services.
Conclusion:
As modern digital storytellers, regional influencers have become an integral part of brands’ marketing machinery. With such regional diversity as our country, these regional influencers are giving the big influencers a run for their money. Suffice it to say, India is a content-driven and diverse market where there is a strong uptake for local content. Brands have now realized that regional influencers are the trendsetters of modern India. They are constantly reinventing themselves for better good.!