FMCG brands need to use social media to engage housewives – Sanil Jain

In the last couple of years we have seen increasing digital presence of the companies and approximately 1-2% of entire marketing budget is being allocated for the digital marketing. However, for the FMCG companies, the digital medium will have only a limited role to play for some time, given the low internet penetration in the country (12.8%) out of which housewives who have access to internet comprises a meagre .5% of the Indian population. Hence, the medium is not suitable for mass market brands as the target audience is not present online. It is better suited for brands targeted at urban consumers and professionals.

The 6 million Indian housewives who have internet access, by large comprises the women from metros and other tier-I and few tier-II cities. Despite the relatively low cost of digital engagement compared to the other mass media, it is not advisable to put the resources and capital just for the sake of it without any substantial returns. Isn’t television already an effective medium to reach the 160 million housewives in India out of which more than 125 million actually have access to television.

There is no denying the fact that internet penetration is increasing at a rapid pace but it is still largely concentrated among the youths and the working professional and is likely to remain the same for the next 3-5 years. And hence it is high time for FMCG brands to realize this and stop finding answers for every marketing problem through social media.