Rural Marketing is defined as any marketing activity in which one dominant participant is from a rural area. This implies that rural marketing consists of marketing of inputs (products or services) to the rural as well as marketing of outputs from the rural markets to other geographical areas.
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments. It is an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships and create value for their customers and for themselves.
Rural areas of the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture. Defra have a working definition, The Rural/Urban Definition, that was introduced in 2004 as a joint project between a number of Government Departments and was delivered by the Rural Evidence Research Centre at Birkbeck College (RERC).
Marketing strategies that worked for urban markets do not necessarily work for the rural ones. There are 7 differentiators identified in Why the rural market is different, JWT, 2009
1. Intra community influences are relatively more important than inter-community ones. Word-of-mouth in close knit communities is more powerful.
2. Scarcity of media bandwidth. Rural individual's access to media channels is limited and in the case of broadband the comparable upload and download speed may be slower. Online shopping is seen as a solution by many but will be dependent on broadband speed.[1]
3. Slow to adopt brands. Slow to give them up. Rural consumers will be slower to pick up trends or brands but will remain loyal when accepted.
4. Expenses are year long; income is seasonal. Many rural areas rely on seasonal tourism peaks when income will be high and to a lesser extent agricultural incomes from seasonal crops. This means there will be more disposable income at certain times with rural businesses and employees.
5. Information hungry; but entertainment starved. Isolation from entertainment centres has led to companies trying edutainment to get their message across.
6. Higher receptivity to experience advertising. Retail outlets in rural areas have many demonstration areas along with markets for tasting.
7. Commercially profitable; and socially acceptable. Brands with demonstrable local, rural, environmental and/or social credibility stand a better chance.