Live-Stream Marketing:A Rural Rags-to-Riches Story?

A big agricultural country en- dowed with rich agrarian resources， China has a longstanding tradition of intensive cultivation as well as a huge rural population. But for many years， premium agricultural products were unable to sell in faraway provinces due to a lack of efficient marketing channels， preventing them from accessing a wider， urban clientele. In most cases， because farmers failed to directly reach consumers， their heavy physical labor resulted in very little income； many profiteering middlemen， however， would make astonishing 100-to 200-percent margins on farm produce. In sum， cultivators and consumers were getting the short end of the stick.

Following the rapid development of ecommerce and， more recently， live-stream marketing， farmers and agricultural vendors in remote regions are now selling their goods directly to urban customers via interactive live-streams and bite-sized videos on social media platforms. Highquality farm produce can now travel to consumers nationwide at lower logistics costs， and higher speeds， than before.

In this business model， earning gains have seen a growing number of farmers raise their chins above the poverty line， with some rapidly climbing the income ladder.

Chen Yangfen （www.caas.cn）： As a result of quick urbanization， the problem of aging is more pronounced in the countryside， with over-60s accounting for one fifth of the rural population as of late 2021. To support agriculture and rural welfare， it’s important to find more people willing to immerse themselves in the sector and to find ways to help villagers get on their feet financially. In this regard， live-stream marketing may appeal to young migrant workers and convince them to return home in the countryside. Once back， they can introduce more digitally advanced approaches to agricultural management.

With the expansion of the industrial chain， many relevant businesses in and around China’s more isolated villages can “get a free ride.” Just think logistics， packaging， the deep processing of farm produce， etc. All these will create a lot of direct and indirect job opportunities and in turn increase villagers’ business revenues. Live-stream marketing and ecommerce platforms have created an effective strategy for income generation.

Wang Jinhe （www.yunnan.cn）： In Yunnan Province， southwest China， livestream marketing is currently the most popular way of pushing local products to consumers across the country. The expansion of 5G technology is turning the smartphone into a new farming tool by fashioning new “shopping centers.” Livestreaming has significantly boosted the province’s produce sales in the past two years.

We now have a great business model in place， combining premium products with high-quality live-stream plat- forms and support packages from the government. But we should also establish a complete supply chain based on strict standards. Anyway， the continuous development of live-stream marketing is poised to play a big role in raising rural incomes in a relatively backward province like Yunnan.

Zhang Zhaoxin （www.chinanews. com.cn）： E-commerce live-streaming is doing pretty well nowadays， but farm produce only accounts for a small share， mainly due to the lack of experienced hosts and infrastructure in rural areas. The question becomes： How to grow live-stream marketing for farm products？ Short videos or live-streams， the key is to meet consumer demand. High-quality products alone aren’t enough； they must consider buyer preferences as well.

This new take on marketing can be combined with the expansion of smart agriculture and smart villages. Supporting government policies and guidance should follow up and further standardize this business model so that rural live-streaming can gradually get on the right track and prop up rural welfare. BR