Nearly 50 per cent of followers of brands that are on Instagram are coming from tier-2 and -3 cities, and companies can capitalise on this wide reach to take their brands and products to a much larger audience, according to an official of Facebook India (Meta).
“In the last two years since we launched Reels, we have found that more than 50 per cent of followers of brands that are on Instagram are from tier-2 and -3 markets. It’s a fabulous way for brands and companies to reach them in a targetted way,” said Manish Chopra, Director, and Head of Partnerships, Facebook India (Meta).
“Also, if you look at top creators, around 48-50 per cent of their followers come from tier-2 and -3 towns. It is a very vibrant creator economy that is shaping up,” he added.
Meta’s ‘Creator Day’ event
Chopra was speaking on the sidelines of the Chennai leg of Meta’s ‘Creator Day’ event held on Thursday. The annual event is aimed at bringing together top Facebook and Instagram creators under one roof and providing them the opportunity to create, collaborate and learn from each other.
The five-city ‘Creator Day’ event was earlier held in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata. The Chennai event, which saw over 250 top content creators, will be followed by an event in Delhi.
Terming India as the ‘light house’ country for Meta globally, Chopra said, a lot of new product learning and incubation is done here, and Reels is an example of that since it is incubated and developed in India.
Referring to a research report by global consulting firm Bain & Company, Chopra added, “Today, around 200 million people watch short-form videos and spend about 45 minutes per day, and this figure is estimated to go up to 600 million people.”
‘Born on Instagram’ program
Chopra also highlighted the company’s ‘Born on Instagram’ program, which enables anyone to become a creator, grow their passion, and monetise their skills.
“The program enables any creator to start their creative journey. There is no restriction, no limit and it’s absolutely free of cost. As creators progress through the modules, they learn from other creators and in the next phase, these creators can participate with brands and launch brand campaigns and earn,” Chopra added.
He said the program has already received 2.2 lakh creators registrations since its launch three years ago.
Recently, Royal Enfield partnered with ‘Born on Instagram’ for the brand campaign of its Hunter 350 bike launch. The campaign saw over 40 ‘Born on Instagram’ creators from all over India developing Reels, Stories and Posts of the Hunter 350 rides.
“We partner with car companies, beauty brands, and mobile phone brands. We create the opportunity, where brands can collaborate with influencers and creators. About 65 per cent of ‘Born on Instagram’ creators are coming from tier-2 and -3 markets,” Chopra said.