Language is a thread that connects humans instantly. It is a vital symbol of a shared human experience across generations.
With the growing interest in social media, it is no surprise that even our grandmothers are updated on the current news and trends as much as we are! But how is this happening? Our Septuagenarian mate of course has lost touch with ‘The English’ in the transition period or doesn’t know the language at all. The credit for her staying up to date solely goes to the relevance of local language.
With the digital boom comes the most sacred boon of all-the birth of smartphones for every baby boomer and Gen Y, for the rural and the urban. Every person we see is glued to the screen and watching some or the other video or say reels.
What is making them extend their screen time? Of course the possibility of enjoying what they are watching. This enjoyment comes only when you understand the content!
Creating content in regional languages is necessary in 2022 as India boasts of 120 different languages. Around 430 million of India’s population have accessibility to the internet and over 70% of them prefer to use their native language while on social media.
It is high time to build bridges between the urban and rural audiences. Let us walk you through some pointers as to why communicating in regional language with your audience is essential in 2022:
Builds Trust
When you communicate with your audience in vernacular languages, your audience tends to understand you more. When your audience understands you better, they begin to trust you more. Remember the first time you needed help understanding some difficult concept in school? What did your teachers do? They slowed it down and encouraged you to think of the processes slowly in a language that you speak regularly. This made the concept easy to interpret and perhaps stayed with you forever!
Xiaomanyc is a great example. He learns foreign languages and further goes up to strangers and practices them through conversation. You can see how instantly people are hooked to him and are willing to trust him and sometimes, even give him things for free!
Makes you Customer-oriented
No matter what you say, your customers make you or break you. It is really important that your brand revolves around the actual needs of the customers. It is a win-win situation when you reciprocate in their regional language and promote yourself. People understanding your brand in their local language is all that is required for your content to boom.
Customers Feel Heard
Every person needs to be heard! When you focus on your consumer’s needs, you in fact grow your chances of tapping into the market. When you speak to your customers in their native language, you are creating an emotional bridge between yourself and them. They tend to understand you from an emotional perspective.
Consumers Love Personalisation
People love it when things are personalised for them. When you create content in a regional language, it actually tells your consumers that you are especially tailoring content for them. Once every regional person starts understanding and adapting to your creation, then there is no denial of your success.
Creates Brand Identity
In order to reach the target audience, it is required that your brand reaches the target audience in the most remote locations in the country. There is no other tool other than creating content in a regional language so as to upscale your brand identity. It is always an advantage for you if you choose to populate your content in the native language. This enables your message to reach the right audience on a limited budget.
What is the Role of Regional Language in Social Media?
Although English is spoken in the metros and is considered one of the working languages, the majority of Indians do not speak or communicate in this language. The hold of regional or native languages amongst the public is quite strong. The Indian crowd loves communicating and getting heard in their own local language.
Off late, a lot of brands are foraying into regional languages on social media. Facebook is one of the many. Right from the local paanwala to kanta bai are using Facebook, and the brand has realised its consumption. This is the reason that Facebook is available to users in several local and regional languages.
Creators like Naveen Singh a.k.a bihariladka has a whooping 1.5 M followers on Instagram. He creates content in his local language for his native people. The catch here is, that people from all over India follow him. People are finding his content relevant to their situation and enjoying what he is serving them.
Likewise, English-speaking influencers are adopting the creation of content in regional languages. They zero down the region from where most of their consumers are and bang on! There is no doubt that the birth of low-cost smartphones with low data plans has really made internet accessibility in rural areas much easier.
But, I don’t really speak any regional languages!
Of course, there are creators that do not speak regional languages but it is important to accept the massive potential that the vernacular has. The idea is not only to make content in different languages but to identify the various demographics that you can cater content to. Interpret the different formats that work well with these new demographics.
Summary
Padhega India Tabhi Toh Badhega India! Whoever came up with this phrase really saw the unseen. With a 76% literacy rate in India, only 10% know English. So, this 10% can read, write, speak, and communicate and get their doubts resolved. But, how do you think the remaining 66% of the population gets educated?
People from rural areas were the most affected when it came to keeping up with the technology and digital divide. Social media does play an important role in spreading education to all corners of the world. People now are more open to accepting and embracing their regional language than ever. English no longer remains a reason for bias.
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