Rural Marketing Mix

While strategizing marketing campaigns, businesses consider and combine various tools, tactics, and actions. They drive the promotion and sales of their products/services by blending or mixing these products. The core components of the marketing mix are product, price, place, and promotion.

As the first component, a product or service meets the precise needs of the targeted customers. Price, as the second component of the marketing mix, impacts the demand for and sale of the product in the target marketing. Place, as the third important component of the marketing mix, ensures that potential customers can access the product without any hassles and delays.

As the fourth important component in the marketing mix, promotion refers to the marketing tactics required to make potential customers aware of the offering and influence them to purchase. However, marketers customize and extend the urban marketing mix while promoting and selling goods/services in rural markets.

While preparing the rural marketing mix, rural marketers consider these 4 P of rural marketing – product, price, placement, and promotion. In addition, they make the rural marketing mix impactful by considering 4 A of rural marketing – affordability, awareness, availability, and accessibility. These 4 A of rural marketing make the rural marketing mix different from the urban marketing mix. We can understand the rural marketing mix clearly by discussing these 4As and 4 P of rural marketing.

4 P of the Rural Marketing Mix

Product

The development of rural infrastructure created opportunities for companies to provide a variety of products or services to non-urban consumers. The tangible and intangible products available in rural markets can be divided into various categories based on their usage and value. For instance, rural families buy products like ceiling fans, pressure cookers, induction cookers, watches, and clocks – for immediate use.

At the same time, rural consumers keep women productive and stress-free by buying televisions, radios, DVD players, refrigerators, washing machines, and mixers. While developing products for rural marketers, companies focus on simplicity, usability, convenience, and maintenance. In addition, they convey the features and benefits of the product clearly by writing information on its pack in local languages.

Price

The seasonal income of rural consumers makes rural markets more price-sensitive than urban markets. Many companies generate demand for products in rural marketers by adopting differential pricing models. They usually make the product affordable by offering it at a reduced price in rural markets. Also, they consider three Cs – the cost of production, competitor prices, and customer value – when pricing products for rural consumers.

Placement

Companies often find it challenging to make their products available in rural areas due to a lack of transportation options and distribution channels. As they find it difficult to store products in rural areas, businesses distribute products through middlemen like wholesalers, retailers, and dealers. Also, they incentivize local retailers to make their products available by offering higher margins.

Promotion

Smartphone and Internet penetration has created opportunities for businesses to attract, engage, and influence rural consumers using digital channels like search engines and social media. However, many companies still promote and market their offerings in rural markets using conventional media like print ads, television commercials, radio ads, posters, billboards, and local events. They further make the content and advertisements impactful by considering local language and cultural differences.

4 A of the Rural Marketing Mix

Affordability

The income level of rural consumers is lower than the income level of urban consumers. Hence, rural consumers usually do not buy luxury products like luxury cars and designer clothes. Instead, they spend their money on essential or basic goods. These essential products help them maintain a reasonable standard of living by meeting their basic needs. Companies cater to distinct needs or demands by introducing budget-friendly products in rural markets. They ensure that the product fulfills the needs of rural customers without affecting their budget.

Availability

A surge is being noticed in the demand for products like smartphones and two-wheelers in rural markets. However rural consumers often purchase such items from urban dealers or retailers. Often companies find it challenging to make their products available to rural consumers on demand. Companies boost product availability by organizing logistics. In addition to storing products in rural areas, they explore ways to transport them without any delay. The rapid rural infrastructure development helps companies make their products available in rural and remote areas.

Acceptability

Often companies customize products according to the precise needs, preferences, and behaviors of rural customers. However, they still find it challenging to generate demand for the product in the rural markets. Marketers overcome this challenge by exploring ways to increase product acceptability. Brands improve acceptability by developing user-friendly and budget-friendly products. At the same time, marketers make the product acceptable by making rural customers realize its value.

Awareness

It becomes easier for companies to increase rural market share when consumers recognize and recall its products in varying conditions. Companies popularize their products in rural centers by running targeted brand awareness campaigns. While creating content and composing messages for such campaigns, marketers address the preferences and expectations of rural consumers. At the same time, they increase brand awareness by reaching urban consumers at local festivals and events. Also, they make rural consumers recognize the brand running print, television, and radio ads. However, many companies these days create brand awareness by running localized digital marketing campaigns.

Conclusion

Rural consumers differ from urban consumers in several aspects, including needs and behaviors. That is why; strategists customize and extend the marketing mix while promoting and marketing products/services in urban geographies. Like the urban marketing mix, the rural marketing mix considers the 4Ps product, price, place, and promotion.

However, the rural marketing mix, unlike the urban marketing mix, considers the 4 A – affordability, awareness, availability, and accessibility. The 4 P and 4 A of rural marketing help strategists cater to the distinct demographic characteristics of consumers or buyers living in non-urban areas.

Want to learn more about Rural Marketing?

We have been discussing different aspects of rural marketing by publishing a series of blogs. This is the 10th blog in the series. Please read our previous blogs on rural marketing and share your feedback.

Difference between Urban marketing and Rural Marketing

Rural Marketing in India

Types of Rural Marketing

Challenges of Rural Marketing

Scope of Rural Marketing

Innovations in Rural Marketing

Rural Marketing Books