Regional Language PR, Publicity and Buying Influence

April 28, 2021

Why Vernacular language connect is important?

You can make a Bengali happy by serving him Kaju Katli but can win his heart with a bowl of Rosgulla. With the above sentence, I wanted to make you realize the fine line between formality & affinity. Whether it’s language, apparel, food, or books, one wants to make oneself comfortable & connected. In other words, affinity attracts.

Speaking the language of consumers is critical. Global studies have also proven that consumers respond the best (more so on mobile) when spoken to in their own language. One of the key reasons it is attributed to is that they connect to their personal memories in their own language far better than they do in English. The preference of Indian consumers towards vernacular and regional language content is constantly on the upswing, with 93% of the time spent on videos in Hindi and other regional languages.

New content consumers and creators are both being added every month. As per a report by TRAI, March 2017, BCG CCI Digital Influence Study, 2017 >50% of India’s internet growth in next 3-4 years is expected to come from rural India. If brands want to reach out to these audiences, what better way than regional content? In 2017, Hindi and regional languages comprised more than 90% of popular videos watched online according to an Industry report.

The exponential increase in the creation and distribution of regional language content has led to an explosion in terms of content consumption. This offers a huge growth potential to target these Indian language Internet users, which are expected to account for nearly 75% of India’s internet user base by 2021.

WHY REGIONAL LANGUAGE PR, MARKETING, AND OUTREACH IS IMPORTANT THESE DAYS? some quick facts.

  1. As per the Google KPMG report, the Indian internet user base will increase to 735 million by 2021. Indian language internet users are expected to grow at a CAGR of 18% to reach 536 million by 2021, while English users are expected to grow at only 3% reaching 199 million within the same period. Clearly, the growth opportunity for brands lies in the regional markets.
  2. While 95% of YouTube videos consumed are in regional languages, apps such as DailyHunt and ShareChat are allowing people to consume content in multiple languages.
  3. The use of regional languages in digital content will definitely help companies by getting a better rate of user engagements and responses. You can easily measure this with social media responses and advertisements and PR.
  4. Better customer connect
  5. Moderated and personalized content
  6. Regional influencers
  7. Increasing customer base

Now what are the channels you can use regional/vernacular languages to engage the TG and influence them:

  1. Your own website:
    1. Create section/landing page with specific regional language
    2. Integrate translation tool
    3. Integrate Google map with regional verification
  2. Google places/Google my business:
    1. Keep adding reviews in vernacular languages
    2. Share images in regional languages
    3. Update store activities in the language where the store is verified
  3. News portals – Print and digital: [Earnes Media]
    1. Explore online and digital news release
    2. Explore interviews, bi-line articles etc.
    3. Use the print clipping onto website + share the same over my business posts
  4. Influencers (bloggers, YouTubers)
    1. They are the gems of the digital age
    2. Vloggers are the key here to influence the buying decision
    3. With local language video, people do consume the content a lot and thus brand got register into the minds, they show the aspirations towards the products
    4. Regional language Bloggers write content and do pass SEO value to the target pages
  5. Social and other paid ads on vernacular language:
    1. Many of the brands already started this
    2. Social media dark posts with vernacular language and region targeting is the key
    3. Mostly display media comes under these strategies – GDN, Social media, Taboola, native ads
  6. Banner and Affiliate campaigns – again use regional language communication to drive the traffic to your target pages.
  7. Automated Emailer, SMS would be the keys to connect the TG and create aspiration.

PR Trends are shifting towards the small towns and cities, the future of PR lies there.

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

This phrase fits perfectly when it comes to the role of the small towns’ market in India and can’t be ignored. PR agencies are turning to small towns to establish their identity and stronghold. It becomes almost necessary to establish a great connection with the target audience, which happens when Vernacular PR comes into practice.