The Central Bureau of Communication (CBC), the I&B Ministry’s arm responsible for government advertising, is working on ways to effectively promote government schemes and target the set of audiences. According to a report by The Indian Express, CBC is planning to actively advertise on websites and social media platforms like YouTube. Key social media influencers will also be roped in for these advertising campaigns. Currently, CBC is working on ads rates and guidelines for its new media promotions.
Women-oriented schemes such as Ujjwala, Beti Padhao Beti Bachao or Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (to extend maternity benefits) will be advertised on YouTube channels where there is a larger women base. Similarly, YouTube channels and non-news websites that have 18-28 year old youngsters as the main content consumers, will be targeted, stated the report. In December 2022, the government mentioned that between 2017 and 2022, they spent over Rs 3,700 crore on ads.
A few months ago, senior Union ministers Rajeev Chandrashekhar, S Jaishankar and Piyush Goyal, among others, appeared on YouTube channels of influencers Ranveer Allahbadia and Raj Shamani. Several YouTubers were also invited to talk about various issues like popularizing handicrafts, benefits of millets and consumer awareness. The high-profile interviews that appeared on influencers’ YouTube channels with the tag “Co-presented with MyGov” gathered millions of views but drew the ire of social media users.