The ABC's of content marketing in India
Content marketing is amongst the most popular marketing strategies in the world today. Defined as any format of marketing which involves the creation, publishing and sharing of content with a view to acquire customers. Content marketing as a principle is not new. In as early as 1895 John Deere launched a magazine titled The Furrow providing information to farmers on becoming profitable.
One key aspect of content marketing is obviously the content. While it is obvious that the content being developed has to be inline with the product or service being marketed, there are some subjects which can act as an ideal support. Read on to know about the ABC’s of those subjects for India.
The content topics mentioned below are not the be all and end all for the development of content for the Indian market. Rather they act as support platforms. They will provide brands with an more accepting entry into a consumers consciousness.
A is for Astrology (and religion)
It is not completely incorrect when people consider India to be the land of the mystics and the gods. 4 of the worlds major religions developed in India. The diversity of the religious belief system in India today is reflected in the spiritual and religious behaviours of the people. Even those that are not superstitions believe in the Gods and rites and rituals that are required to please them.
Content related to religion and Astrology is amongst the highest requested and highest consumed content in India. An example of this is the Panchang (Religious calendar) app which usually appears amongst the top 10 apps across all the major mobile app stores in India.
B is for Bollywood
The second category of content is derived from the Indian film industries. Wether it be Hindi or other regional languages like Tamil, Telugu, or Bhojpuri. Indian fans have an insatiable appetite for their silver screen idols who are in some cases (in South India) worshipped as Gods.
Movie stars act as some of the biggest endorsers for products, with some of the largest like Amitabh Bachchan endorsing more than 25 products.
Bollywood endorsements and content partnerships are amongst the biggest reasons and draws for purchasing products in India. An additional example is of the Nokia Lumia 625. A large screen phone, one key content partnership on the device is an exclusive availablity of 3000+ movies available on device for streaming and downloads.
C is for Cricket
If Cricket is a Religion, Sachin is God, so says the title of a biography on Sachin Tendulkar by Vijay Santhanam and Shyam Balasubramanian. That one phrase also explains the importance of cricket in the heart and mind of the everyday consumer in India.
While leading cricketers enjoy the same level of hero worship as movie stars when it comes to product endorsements, the accessable nature of the game of cricket means that more people involve themselves with the game even if a star player is not available as an endorsement.
The variations of the game of cricket that are created by its players are interesting in nature and significant in their quantity. Some of these variations include – 10 over matches during school lunch periods. Street cricket played without the aid of bats or wickets. One tip on hand catches rules for small playing areas. Teams sharing fielders when equal player division not possible. Every street corner game has some variation of the basic rules to make that game unique to that location.
For products and services each variation is a unique way to present its content and communication.
So there you are. The basic three content platfroms for developing content for an Indian consumer. By using one of these three, most brands can ensure that their product or service atleast interests a consumer to read more. Ultimately its that first instance that we need to reach, isn’t it?.