Industry overview
What is shaping agriculture
Agriculture supports a large share of rural livelihoods, and its buying decisions are made close to the soil: at the village dealer, the cooperative and the neighbouring lead farmer. Seasonality, weather and credit shape almost every choice a farmer makes.
- Purchase decisions cluster in short pre-sowing windows
- Trusted dealers and lead farmers carry more weight than advertising
- Digital payments, agri-fintech and crop insurance are changing how farmers buy
Client background
A crop protection company, working in Hindi-speaking states. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A crop protection company
- Sector
- Agriculture
- Team engaged
- Digital Marketing
- Services
- Content marketing, Social media marketing, WhatsApp marketing
Client challenge
The client’s digital adverts reached many rural users but generated little trust or engagement. Farmers told the sales team they wanted practical advice on pests and diseases, not product promotions.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: reaching farmers online with useful crop advice, not just adverts.
- Set measurable targets and a tracking baseline before launch.
- Improve results through structured testing, reported in plain language.
Target audience
Scope: Hindi and regional-language content across three crop seasons.
Audiences we typically reach in agriculture
Farmers and growersAgri-input dealersCooperatives and FPOsAgronomists and extension workersAgri-fintech users
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Hindi-speaking states. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
A test-and-learn programme: a clear baseline, focused campaigns and weekly optimisation against agreed targets.
- 1Brief
- 2Video content
- 3YouTube & Facebook campaigns
- 4WhatsApp advisory service
- 5Insight
We built a content plan around the crop calendar: short videos in Hindi showing how to identify common pests, when to spray and how to stay safe, presented by agronomists rather than actors. Viewers could opt in to a WhatsApp advisory line to share photos of affected crops and receive guidance from the client’s agronomy team.
Content marketingSocial media marketingWhatsApp marketing
Sampling strategy
- Audiences were defined from the client's customer data and platform targeting, with test and control groups where possible.
Data collection
- Campaign, website and CRM data were tracked daily through analytics and ad platforms.
Data quality & validation
- Conversion tracking tested end to end
- Consistent UTM tagging on every link
- Numbers reconciled between ad platforms and analytics
- Two-person check before anything goes live
Data analysis
- Funnel analysis from impression to lead or sale
- A/B test results on creatives, keywords and pages
- Channel and campaign attribution
Key findings
- Engagement and opt-ins grew steadily across the seasons, and the WhatsApp line became a valuable source of field intelligence on pest outbreaks.
Helpful content earns attention in rural digital channels far better than promotional messages.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: helpful content earns attention in rural digital channels far better than promotional messages.
- Keep testing creatives, keywords and landing pages against the new baseline.
Business impact
- Product recommendations were made only where relevant, which farmers said made them trust the brand more.
Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Campaign assets and landing pages
- Monthly performance report
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: how do credit and insurance shape adoption?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.