How a new wave of localised content is changing the face of content creation ecosystem

By Divyanshu Damani

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In the past few years, we have witnessed a humongous shift in content consumption patterns, especially in developing countries. The major factor that led to this shift is the ever-evolving technology and its increasing accessibility. According to a report by Zinov, a leading global management consulting firm on ‘The Future of Internet Content Consumption in India’, the 4G user base in India is estimated to increase from 600 Million in 2019 to 900 Million by 2022 across Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. This exponential rise in smartphones will enable the next generation of internet users in India. Witnessing this trend, all major brands are also gradually and swiftly entering and focussing on this untapped market for upcoming growth. For instance, Facebook recently made this announcement of launching Instagram Lite, an android app that only takes up to 2 MB of space in 170 counties across the globe.

Such initiatives will pave a way for the upcoming generation of content creators in emerging markets. Furthermore, the pandemic also acted as a catalyst to the growth of this wave as it forced the entire globe to move to a virtual world owing to the lack of options. Due to this, the entire ecosystem has witnessed a huge paradigm shift, and the amount of localised content produced has also significantly increased and is on the rise ever since. In my opinion, here’s how it’ll impact the ecosystem:

A deeper sense of belonging with the audience:

The creators from ‘Bharat’ bring familiarity and relatability. Thus, they can develop that deeper connection with the audience in shared areas of interest and sentiments. They truly understand the need and desires of the audience they’re interacting with and hence, caters directly to that. They also provide a sense of belonging to the audience in these markets. This deeper connection has led to an exponential rise in the audience in Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets, which ultimately has helped in the emergence of all new categories of influencers and creators.

A rise in subscription-based content:

The subscription-based economy is thriving at the moment and is much more deeply penetrated in India now than in comparison to 2 years ago. The rising adoption of OTT platforms is the reason for this penetration in the entertainment sector. Other industries are also following suit. The next-big industry following this league could be content-creation as the rise in the number of brands in comparison to the number of creators is disproportionate, which ultimately leads to a lack of monetisation options for creators and that’s where the subscription-based model comes to the rescue for the creators, by helping them gain financial stability as a creator even without brand associations. This could be the next-big-thing in the ecosystem as its adoption continues to increase. At TagMango, we are also building a brand-independent revenue stream for creators through a subscription-based model.

Diversifying forms of content:

Undoubtedly, the mushrooming numbers of regional creators are helping in the emergence of diversifying categories of content creators and are moving beyond the old-age defined categories such as food, travel, tech, and are experimenting with newfangled categories like education, marketing, health, etc. They are also solving for the language barriers and making social media inclusive for people who are not familiar with the regular languages. This has also led to a rise in unique niches.

For instance, a creator named Parrot Dipankar makes content on all information related to parrots.

This is a kind of content that was unheard of a couple of years ago but, as we move to a different era, distinctive niches that bring forth a unique perspective are expected to be the future of the industry.

The soaring trends:

We have observed a plethora of platforms that have emerged in the content creation ecosystem, especially in the regional markets amongst first-time internet users. These platforms are easy to use, luring as well as convenient for these new users as no pre-requisite knowledge is required. They bring unique fads time and again. However, not all fads continue for the long run to become trends. But, there are some that pick up the traction and continue to gain it in the longer run.

To quote examples of the two most popular trends, that’ve witnessed a huge surge since their inception and are likely to get traction in the future as well are Live Streams and Short-Form video content. Live Streams have carved its own niche as it promotes live engagement and is now used by a diverse set of creators, from education to entertainment, while on the other hand, the convenient and innovative short-form video content is a trend that is still soaring high, especially in the regional markets.

So, it can be ascertained that upcoming years will bring a plethora of opportunities and trends for existing as well as aspiring content creators, especially in the Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets and ‘Bharat’ will be in the limelight. Indeed, the face of the content creation industry is changing like never before.

The author is co-founder of TagMango. Views expressed are personal.

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