It feels like yesterday when the internet was a luxury not many could afford and the concept of smartphones was limited to accessing basic internet from our mobiles. The revolution in the internet industry from the 1st Generation of Mobile network to the 4th generation or commonly known as 4G has been phenomenal. From being the second largest and fastest growing telecom markets in the world just a couple of years ago, now India is the second largest and fastest growing broadband market in the world as well. In a year from December 2017 to December 2018, the number of Broadband users have gone from 362.8 million to 518.55 million, a whopping increase of almost 43% in just over 12 months.
With saturation hitting the major cities, and data prices crashing, this growth is coming from tier 2 states, or in telecom terms, category B and C circles. Beyond just cheaper smartphones, significantly lower data tariffs and the government’s marquee Digital India program that has ensured high-speed internet access in regional India, it is estimated that 90% of new Internet users over the next 5 years are going to be Indian language users. Easy access to high-speed internet in regional parts of the country has also lead to the availability of social media apps in the regional languages.
These apps are fast reaching to the local audiences who have the want to know what’s happening in their community. And it’s not just the availability in the regional language, but also the focus on user-generated content which helps the regional influencers to rise and shine and become stars in their local communities. These content generators are fast becoming the heroes of their local area – providing important and relevant content as per the region they belong to. The new breed of social media influencer is happy to connect with the world at large.
These regional influencers not only speak the language of the local community but also demystify relevant issues and present the larger picture in the way it can be consumed by the local communities much better. They may come with a few thousand followers, but the efficacy of these influencers as a marketer has made them the darling of the new age brands. The purpose that the local barbershop or tea stall served, when it came to below the line marketing, has now moved online with the regional social media influencer at the center. Other app features like proactive content moderation has allowed them to gain credibility for news and information sharing, adding to their ever-growing popularity.
To put things into perspective, social media influencers in Delhi or Mumbai could have lakhs of followers but the actual influence they may have would be of a very generic nature. Their followers are geographically spread across the country or even the world and therefore their efficacy as an influencer for a particular brand in a regional market is debatable. However, a regional social media influencers potentially have a few thousand followers in the same geographic area. He speaks the same language and, more often than not, shares the same sentiment on various issues. What’s more is the fact that they generally do not shy away from showing their emotions and biases. They are not as brand conscious as their city counterparts. With Helo, the leading regional social media app, these influencers are becoming larger social media heroes.
These new age influencers come from humble backgrounds. However, thanks to the regional social media apps, these kids have a reach most media houses would envy. Some find it by accident while others are able to use the apps to express themselves and as a consequence of the interesting and credible content they share, are able to garner a huge following.
Within Helo, there are some fascinating examples. One user, Prateek, participated in a contest and created a promotional video. Inspired by the feedback from a viewer, who was suffering from cancer, that it brought him happiness during a tough time, Prateek continued to create original content and now has 1.74 lakh followers, just in his regional language. Similarly, there’s Kishan, born and brought up in a small village, who has as many offline friends he can count with his fingers. But his proactive sharing of jokes and memes has found him as many as 2.3 lakh online followers.
The next phase of growth of the Internet is from the regional part of the country. With the increasing proliferation of smartphones using high-speed wireless broadband, coupled with apps designed for the regions of India, millions of Indians are getting their first access to the Web through their smartphones. With this access, the regional user is reaching out to the rest of the world and consequently becoming more empowered -- becoming the go-to social media influencer in their region. This ability to influence the local market just because they speak the same language, literally and metaphorically, and are able to garner high numbers of followers through original content, makes them crucial to brands planning to localise their marketing strategies.
The regional social media influencer is fast becoming a critical cog in the marketing machinery of some of the biggest brands in the country and the world. Given the regional diversity of our country, these regional social heroes are giving the larger influencers a run for the money. The simple fact is, apart from the reach and efficacy of influence, a brand gets far more bang for the buck by hiring a few regional influencers rather than a couple of non-regional influencers. That’s the power of localisation by social media apps made for the ‘real desis’.
