Consumer brands set to write the influencer marketing playbook to push rural sales?

To bridge the divide, companies are experimenting with strategies such as turning viral moments into campaigns and partnering with smaller, regional influencers. This trial-and-error approach aims to crack the code for effective influencer marketing that will appeal to rural consumers.

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“Rural markets are challenging, but also full of untapped potential,” said Rajiv Dubey, vice president and head of media and Dabur India. The executive highlighted that the return on investment (ROI) in rural influencer marketing is lucrative compared to urban markets due to lower costs, encouraging the industry to invest 30-35% of influencer marketing budgets on rural and semi-urban segments.

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The internet penetration in rural India has played a major role, especially during covid. “Traditionally, TV and local events have been one of rural India’s most effective and popular marketing channels. However, rising mobile penetration has played a catalytic role in expanding the reach of digital content, enabling influencer marketing to gain deeper traction even in remote regions,” said Tarun Arora, chief executive officer (CEO) of consumer wellness brand Zydus Wellness, that is the parent company of seven household brand names including Complan, Glucon-D and Nycil.

“The average rural FMCG basket grew 14% from Q1 2024 to Q1 2025. So while challenges remain, the rural opportunity is greater than ever, and brands that successfully leverage tailored communication and distribution strategies can significantly capitalize on this evolving opportunity,” Arora added.

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Growing internet adoption in rural areas

According to a January report by industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and consulting firm Kantar, internet adoption in rural India has grown 85% since 2019. In fact, there are 39 million more internet users in rural India than in urban areas.

Despite that, brands struggle to fully utilise the potential of these markets and shrink the 71% rural-urban monthly per capita consumption expenditure gap identified in the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023-24, published in January.

“The complexity lies in their linguistic, cultural, and infrastructural diversity. Unlike urban India, where digital penetration and purchase behaviour are more uniform, rural India demands hyper-localization—both in messaging and media. The trust deficit is also higher; rural consumers rely more on community word-of-mouth and visible proof,” explains Dabur’s Dubey.

Influencer marketing agents observe that the lack of proximity heightens the cultural gap. “The marketers belong to an urban setup, making it easier to devise campaigns for an audience they relate to. That is because they speak the same language as them, and consume the same products and content,” said Praanesh Bhuvaneswar, CEO at influencer marketing firm Qoruz.

“With rural consumers, however, they don’t have a playbook to go by, so there is a lot of trial and error that goes into designing influencer marketing campaigns for them, and you never know what will click,” Bhuvaneswar added.

This draws influencers to the centre of consumer brands’ various marketing experiments. Take Delhi’s Nangloi-based 16-year-old who goes by the name Ayush Chaurasiya on Instagram. The schoolgoer recently went viral for mispronouncing croissant as ‘Prashant’ while playing around with the ‘name this thing’ filter on Instagram, gaining him over 75,000 followers on his Instagram account @ishowayuu in just three months.

Prashant croissants

“I wanted to be a creator and was making content on YouTube for 7 months, but saw no growth. I downloaded Instagram for the first time in February on my friend’s recommendation when I entered 11th grade, borrowed my brother’s id to sign in, and boom, my second video just randomly went viral, gaining almost 22 million views,” Chaurasiya said.

Brands such as Britannia, Myntra and Philips quickly hopped on to turn the boy’s virality into a marketing opportunity. “A large chunk of my followers are from villages in UP and other parts of north India. Since my Indianized way of pronouncing English words is relatable content for them, the viral video led to a lot of brands approaching me for campaigns to attract them,” he said.

He said he was initially overwhelmed by the world of influencer marketing. But now, as he is slowly warming up to it, he is creating more content and working with brands that come his way. He has worked with 19 brands.

Although viral metro-based creators like Chaurasiya appeal to rural audiences, brands are not letting go of the authentic connection that regional influencers offer. They are capitalizing on the potential of vernacular creators, tapping into their organic appeal and genuine connections with rural communities.

FMCG sector and regional influencers

India’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) leader Hindustan Unilever (HUL) is betting on regional influencer marketing. “We have taken a committed leadership position on social media. We have close to 8,000 influencers, which we will expand further. We are building a strong network of vernacular influencers because local languages are very critical on social media,” Rohit Jawa, CEO and managing director of the consumer giant, said in a speech at their capital markets day 2024 event in November. The executive said that 40% of the company’s media budget is dedicated to media expenditure, and influencers are a large part of it. Further queries shared with HUL on Wednesday remained unanswered till press time.

Similarly, fashion e-commerce brand Myntra views regional language influencers as an important tool to tap into markets beyond the urban setup. “With the rapid rise in digitization, e-lifestyle adoption is accelerating across Tier 2 and beyond markets. A vibrant wave of content is now emerging from creators in these regions—rooted in local languages, cultural nuances, and everyday relevance,” Sunder Balasubramanian, Myntra’s chief marketing officer, wrote in response to queries emailed by Mint.

Balasubramanian highlighted that hyper-local creators deeply resonate with their local audiences, fostering a strong sense of trust and authenticity. Their content often mirrors the latest trends in fashion and beauty, serving as a go-to source of inspiration for their audiences

“By tapping into these authentic and hyper-local voices, we have deepened Myntra’s presence in Tier 2 and beyond markets. Thousands of regional creators present across Instagram and YouTube are helping us drive discovery, spark inspiration, and build stronger brand affinity,” Balasubramanian added.

Regional dialects

Maharashtra’s Devbag-based influencer Ankita Walawalkar, who has 1.1 million followers on her Instagram handle @kokanheartedgirl, is a prime example of this. She started creating content in December 2022 in Hindi. But when one reel of her speaking her regional language, Malvani, a Konkani dialect that borrows a lot of Marathi words, became very popular, she pivoted to regional language content.

“Those were the days when regional influencers were not in the spotlight, so I figured it’s better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big one,” Walawalkar underscored. She has followers from all over the country and even abroad, but a majority of them are Marathi-speaking folk from different parts of Maharashtra. Roughly 60% of her followers are from a non-urban set-up.

“This language helped me connect with everyone, and now I see a promising future because regional influencers are bringing authenticity to the digital space. Our connect is more relatable to our people and gives us sustained engagement, which is valuable for brands seeking to tap into regional markets,” Walawalkar added. She has worked with brands like Dabur and Santoor.

While Walawalkar has a million-plus followers, brands also lay a massive focus on regional micro and nano influencers who have less than a hundred thousand followers but have a deep connection with their local audience.

“Unlike urban influencer strategies that often use broad-based celebrity endorsements, rural influencer marketing hinges on micro and nano influencers who possess deep local ties, authentic connections, and fluency in regional dialects. Their culturally nuanced storytelling helps build credibility, reduce scepticism, and drive genuine product adoption,” Arora of Zydus Wellness noted.

Dabur’s Dubey also highlighted that despite the content being less polished and more raw, these influencers rake in twice the organic reach per rupee spent, especially during peak seasons. Thus, Dabur collaborates with such creators across platforms, including Instagram, YouTube, and Indian content platforms like Moj and Josh. However, Dubey added that despite the better ROI, the revenue volumes are smaller, so brands must focus on quantity to scale and reap the benefits from this rural influencer marketing strategy.

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