Abstract
Recently, influencer marketing has emerged as a transformative strategy in the digital marketing landscape, offering businesses a direct and engaging way to connect with their target audiences. Traditional marketing methods have dominated rural markets for decades, the rise of social media penetration and local digital influencers have presented fresh opportunities for startups in remote areas to build brand awareness, drive customer engagement, and enhance credibility. The major objective of the study is to understand the significance of influencer marketing strategy on rural start up enterprises and also to explore their challenges and opportunities while implementing influencer marketing strategies. The study employs descriptive statistical tools such as simple percentages and one-sample T-tests to test the set hypotheses. The study selected 61 respondents from Shivamogga district and employed a questionnaire as its instrument. The findings suggest that influencer marketing, when aligned with local culture, language and community values significantly contributes to customer trust and business growth in rural regions. The study concludes that localized influencer marketing has strategic potential as a cost-effective and impactful tool for rural entrepreneurship development.
KEYWORDS
Digital Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Rural Market, Rural Start-up Enterprises.
Seema H M1*, Sarala K S2
1Research Scholar, Department of Commerce, Sahyadri Commerce and Management College (Constituent College of Kuvempu University) Shivamogga-577203, Karnataka, India
2Professor, Department of Commerce, Sahyadri Commerce and Management College (Constituent College of Kuvempu University) Shivamogga-577203, Karnataka, India