Rural Marketing Course Training

Rural marketing Training Courses
Rural marketing is process of developing, promotion and distribution of goods and services, to cater to the needs and wants of the rural population. Over the years rural markets have grown drastically, and the rural population is slowly moving towards a trend of urbanisation; in terms of lifestyle; habits and consumption of goods and services. Rural marketing is a process through which urban goods and services are promoted and distributed in the rural areas and the rural goods and services are promoted and distributed in urban areas. Though rural market it is not much different from urban marketing, it still involves a lot of challenges. Therefore effective strategies need to be developed for the success of any business in the rural market scenario. The major goods and services categories which have demand in the rural market today are – FMGC products, durables, agri- inputs and two and four wheelers.

Rural Marketing executives need to keep the following things in mind:
Rural markets are geographically scattered, with lesser number of shops to market products and goods.
The income of the rural population is largely dependent on rural activities of agriculture and labour. Therefore in case of natural calamities leading to crop failure may affect the income of the rural population.
Majority of the rural population have low per capita income and low purchasing power. They have low standards of living and income. But introduction of government schemes have increased the employment status, income status and the standard of living of the rural population, leading to a new trend of consumer pattern.
The literacy level is low and lot of persuasion is needed to convince the rural people regarding any product and service. It requires a lot of effort and patience.
The infrastructure is not developed and inadequate; there is lack of proper roads, communication channels; power and storage facilities.
The rural population has a traditional outlook and take to changes at a slow pace.
Due to geographic scatteredness and remoteness of rural areas media reach is less and difficult.
The rural population can be divided into three segments, the rich farmers and land owners, they are very few in number, have money but do not form a large demand base; the middle class, they are the largest consumers in the rural market sector; the poor, they too form a large segment of the rural consumers, but have very low purchasing power and income.
A rural customer has the following characteristics – he purchases goods often and in small quantities; he is quality conscious at the same time values money; he is more concerned about the functioning of the product, rather than the frills associated with it which he cannot understand; he is influenced by the feedback he receives from different sources about the product; he is brand loyal, if he likes a product he will purchase it every time.
The rural market are dependent on seasonal demand, demand is high after harvesting or during the festive season.
Rural marketing involves a lot of competition from duplicate and low priced goods and services.
Rural marketing involves problems in promotion distribution and management of the goods and services.

Rural Marketing Course overview
The aim and objective of the rural marketing course and training Is to explore the possibilities and potential of the rural market. It aims at critically analysing the market opportunities, consumer trends and patterns and development of better marketing strategies for the rural areas. It also takes care of things related to efficient distribution of goods and services; developing long lasting relationship with the consumers; targeting of prospective clients; concepts related to how to overcome the specific challenges related to rural marketing.

 
Rural Marketing Course Description
The gradual increase in the purchasing power of the rural population has increased the avenues of rural marketing. A number of institutions today run courses and training programmes for rural marketing. These courses and training programmes ensure that the candidates get an overview of the rural market scenario and are able develop effective strategies and plans to increase their grip and success in the rural marketing field.

These courses cover the following aspects:
Understanding the  rural market scenario
Analyzing rural market potential and opportunities
Analysing the consumer behaviour and consumption patterns and understanding the affects of their behaviour on any business.
Analysing the positives and negatives of competitors and where they stand in their context.
Environment scanning of rural markets
Problems and constraints in Rural Marketing
Role of Financial Institutions in Rural Marketing
Role of Cooperative Institutions in Rural Marketing
Learning about segmentation and different segmentation strategies.
What are the existing Rural Marketing Strategies and how new innovative strategies can be developed.
Development of  a systematic framework for developing  product in line with the demands and consumption pattern  of the rural population.
How to create an image of the brand product; and how attract prospective consumers and retain the existing ones.
Understanding the pricing in relation to the quality of the product and the need and consumption pattern of the rural population.
To develop efficient marketing strategies in relation to the channels which influence decision making of the rural customers.
How to develop adequate and effective promotion and distribution strategies.

When the Need for Rural marketing Training is Felt
The need for the rural marketing training is felt in the following conditions
When an entrepreneur want to enter the rural market for promotion of his products and services.
To understand the rural marketing trends and ways to develop adequate strategies for success.
To train marketing executives in the rural market scenario.
To enhance the skills of the existent rural marketing executives
To tap the rural resources and consumers for making the business successful.
Course Pre-requisites
Candidates, who aspire to undergo rural marketing training, must come with an open mind to learn and should be ready to face the challenges in this field.
Rural marketing has its own challenges, the candidates who want to be trained in this field, also need to put in effort from their side to make the process successful. They should be ready to apply the theoretical knowledge into practise in the field.
Candidates should be able to communicate well with the rural population and should be a good observer to note down the consumer and market trends in various rural markets.

Target Audience for Rural marketing training
The rural marketing course or training programme can be pursued by anyone who wants to understand the rural market trends, challenges and strategies. The candidates who desire to undertake this course should be at least intermediate (10+2) pass. This course is very beneficial to people in the fields of product brand management; sales managers; Analysts and entrepreneurs. It is also beneficial to the people associated with marketing of products and services of the non profit organisations; and people who are involved in development of livelihood through self help groups and small scale industries in the rural areas