Let us start this blog with a simple question. If there can be a single metric that the businesses have to see for expansion, then what shall be that metric? That metric as we feel can be the growth potential of a particular segment of industry. With political and economic turmoil in Brazil and Russia, growth slowdowns in China, and inflation in India, many analysts believe the BRIC countries have reached the end of their development peak status. However, even without double-digit GDP growth, these markets cannot be overlooked since they still offer considerable prospects. The bloc is home to 40% of the world’s population, 20% of global gross domestic product, faster growth rates than industrialized countries, and, most importantly, a rapidly increasing middle class. This brings us to the topic of our Blog, what is the potential of the much-famed BRIC countries and how can digital marketing and its tools can create a difference in that. BRIC countries comprise Brazil, Russia, India and China. For that we will be looking at some basic and important data about internet parameters in these countries and as we know the potential of digital marketing depends heavily on some of these parameters.
Because of vast and ubiquitous digitalization, the global economy is quickly reorganizing along digital lines. Digitalisation is the next revolutionary ingredient in every business, from agriculture to health care to tourism. Global value chains have evolved into global digital value chains, with technology corporations leading the way. As a result, the growth of the digital economy has ramifications for access to economic participation. Those who are included or excluded digitally are likewise included or excluded economically. Brands in the BRIC are more adaptable than brands in the West, as they are used to regular market shifts. Such responsive conduct pays off in an era where the most successful businesses are flexible, striving to distinguish out while never being static.The internet is becoming a more important gateway to actual products and services, especially critical commodities and services. People are becoming increasingly reliant on the internet for even fundamental services like health and education during the epidemic. The epidemic has accelerated the digitalization of welfare distribution. Overall, comprehending the many aspects of internet connection is a vital component of comprehending access to the digital economy.
Number of Internet users
The first parameter that we would like to get into is the number of internet users in these countries.This is the typical method of thinking about digital economy access. It goes without saying that having access to the internet is a prerequisite for comprehending the digital economy. With the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, having access to the internet has become even more critical for obtaining social benefits and basic services.
China has the maximum number of Internet users and the number of internet users in China stands out at 1030 million but China has a set of firewalls and a range of restrictions that makes the internet a splintered network to operate in, we will see in the social network penetration section coming up later in this blog, how the big giants based out of Silicon Valley have very less number of social media users as compared to other countries. Next comes, one of the fastest growing major economies of the world and a country of almost 1.3 billion people, the number of internet users in India stands out at roughly 845 million and many big social media giants and other technology companies are investing a great amount of capital and human resources to tap this emerging market. Next comes another country with a robust growth expectations, Brazil, the total number of internet users in Brazil stands out at roughly 162 million and the 4th spot of this BRIC grouping is occupied by Russia with the number of interest users standing at around 112 million.
Internet Penetration Rate
We just saw the number of internet users in the respective countries, so the obvious question that can come to your mind is that how is it different and why should it bother us as someone who is looking for the impact of digital advertising and marketing over these countries. The Internet Penetration Rate refers to the proportion of a country’s or region’s total population that utilizes the Internet.Many studies have showed that the increase in the online business and in turn the revenue generated through those is somewhat proportional to the growth and expansion of the technology companies. As the penetration rate of the number of people using internet increases so does the opportunities too. And of course the simple understanding is also behind this metric is that percentages show us the relative increase or decrease much better as compared to whole and absolute numbers. So let’s get into the data part and see the internet penetration rate in these countries.
The country that was standing at the fourth position in the number of internet users in the last section has topped this particulate metric of our concern. Yes, it is Russia that has the highest internet penetration rate out of the BRIC countries and it is 85%. The next two countries are close enough for a fight for the second spot, and it is occupied by Brazil with the internet penetration rate of 75%, followed in closely by China at the third position at 73%. The fourth spot is held by India having internet penetration rate of around 47%, and it is this number that shows the huge potential of Indian market for the companies and the tools of digital marketing that can be put to use as the internet is relatively freely available in India, not in terms of monetary value that we are talking of, but in terms of Government regulations. This internet penetration rate was almost in single digits just a decade or more back, and has really peaked up like a sky rocket, thanks to budget smartphones making into the market and the availability of cheap data. This will be reflected in our next section too, the number of mobile Internet users.
The number of people connecting through mobiles to the internet is also mimicking the trends as we observed in the number of internet users. Highest number of mobile internet users is in China and it is roughly 1028 million, followed in by India at 842 million and third and fourth spot among the BRIC countries is occupied by Brazil and Russia respectively at 161 million and 67 million users.
Social Media penetration
Social media penetration is one of the metrics that is of really great importance as social media influencers and just having right strategy and tools for interaction with the users over the social media is directly translating into positive revenue numbers for the business. Therefore, it is essential to see what percentage of the Internet using population in these BRIC countries is using social media and let’s compare them and see the numbers.
Social media penetration is highest in Russia with the percentage at 80, followed in by Brazil at 75. Next comes China at 55% but this is skewed in the sense that this percentage cannot be directly compared with other countries because of the existence of great firewall as they say it. This can be observed by the number of people using Facebook in these four countries.While India has 240 million Facebook users followed by Brazil having 150 million and 70 million Russians using Facebook, but merely 3 million Chinese users are on Facebook. And the last spot in terms of Social media penetration is India with 55%.
The pandemic gave a boost to digital delivery of essential services including health and education. In both the non-digital and digital worlds, the ability to start and run a firm is not evenly distributed. Economic structures are frequently altered as a result of technological advancements, and old types of company are subordinated to new types of business. In the digital economy, expanding access to undertake digital business also means encouraging competition and innovation. Stay tuned for more such intriguing Blogs in the future as we continue to watch the expanding potential in these attractive markets.