Marketing in India has evolved rapidly to keep up with technology and ever-changing consumer demands. Global trends further suggest a greater focus on marketing rather than advertising. Digital media has emerged as a strong contender that is expected to become a major marketing channel in the coming years. Given the tech-savvy nature of the country, marketers were wise to adopt digital strategies quickly, as evidenced by the increasing proportion of digital marketing budgets over the years.
Moreover, the digital media market is expected to grow by more than 30% annually, driven by significant media spending by the FMCG, e-commerce, and financial services industries. A large digital advertising industry is at the heart of this country's marketing ecosystem. However, advertising is an aspect of a broader marketing process that involves other aspects such as production, pricing, and promotion.
Digital marketing practice
Over time, Indian businesses have realized the importance of building an online presence and are choosing to handle marketing tasks in-house or outsource them to digital marketing agencies. Among the myriad digital solution providers present in the Indian market, agencies such as iProspect and WatConsult are major players. To optimize online marketing efforts, businesses need to carefully consider the platforms and channels that will help them reach their target groups.
While Facebook Marketplace was once a popular choice for driving online sales, marketing executives are looking to return to their e-commerce platforms to drive sales in the coming years. At the same time, online video turned out to be the channel with the highest return on investment, followed by branded websites and email newsletters.
With the advent of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) era, Indian companies are already considering implementing AI in their marketing strategies. India is adopting generative AI tools to improve customer experience, with chatbots and content creation emerging as the most popular use cases. However, given concerns about data privacy and the trustworthiness of AI knowledge, there remain signs of anxiety and caution even among companies that have fully incorporated AI into their marketing strategies.
Industry outlook
As the digital world gears up for the Web 3.0 era, Indian marketers are now exploring investment options in marketing technology. Reaching newer audiences and increasing brand awareness remained a top priority when developing our digital marketing strategy. The report further shows that social networks remain the primary online source used for brand research. Moreover, the influencer marketing industry in India is in a rapid expansion phase and is expected to reach a value of INR 28 billion by 2026.
Even though technological advancements have enabled marketing to be enhanced in India, a significant proportion of marketing agencies continue to face challenges on their digital transformation journey. The main drawbacks identified include limited budgets and the general skill level of employees.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of the information provided. Due to different update cycles, statistics may show more recent data than the data referenced in the text.
