With 30 official languages and about 1,600 dialects, India has the unique advantage of having a booming vernacular content market. According to the BBC, only 125 million of India’s 1.3 billion inhabitants know English. The number of rural internet subscribers is increasing at a rate of 24% yearly. This has made it simpler to access the Indian market through vernacular content. According to KPMG research, around 73% of Indian internet users speak an Indian language.
Following are the things that describe the role of vernacular content in enhancing technology adoption:
Connect With Local Communities
According to a Lok Foundation survey, only 12% of urban and 3% of rural populations could speak English. Nine out of 10 new netizens are consuming internet content in Indian languages, according to a recent Google India study. This will lean more toward information in local languages as the years go by. The organizational leadership has started incorporating vernacular components into their digital solutions as they become aware of this concept to connect with local communities, expand their clientele, and take advantage of emerging prospects. The industries pushing innovation in this space include e-commerce, edtech, gaming, entertainment, healthcare, and agriculture.
Develop Brand Identity
Your brand needs to get in front of the target market in the most isolated regions of the nation. Offering content in the local tongue is the best method to strengthen your business identification. Generally speaking, it is advantageous for you to provide information in your native tongue, for instance, from English to Hindi. This enables your message to be delivered to the right audience on a budget.
Increases Engagement
The rise of a digital India kickstarts the production of vernacular digital content. Internet users from smaller Indian cities now outnumber major cities due to rising smartphone use and internet penetration. As 95% of YouTube users choose regional language videos, it is clear that these people like to read, hear, or watch content in their native tongue.
These audiences who do not speak English are the target of vernacular material that is organized, produced, and distributed in the native tongue. Also, the content sticks with them longer because it is written in the dialect they use daily. Furthermore, it increases engagement. The evidence is clear enough from a quick look at the Twitter accounts of an English newspaper like TOI and a Hindi newspaper like Dainik Jagran. Because it employs Hindi in all its posts, the latter receives significantly more likes, retweets, and replies.
Reflect Regional Characteristics
People from rural India have a clear taste for vernacular content. The fact that vernacular information reflects regional characteristics is one reason these groups find it more credible. Yet, there are other causes. Though English speakers are accustomed to browsing text-heavy information, e.g., Malay to English, this group prefers visual interfaces like video. It gave regional language video material a boost in popularity.
Businesses have invested substantially in videos because they are the most efficient way to guide clients through the marketing funnel.
