Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
Digital advertising in India is projected to grow by 33% to reach Rs 62,045 crore by 2025
India’s digital ad spending overtook television for the first time in 2023 reaching a 40% market share
Programmatic advertising contributes to over 42% of the total digital ad spend in India
India has over 467 million active social media users as of 2023
Instagram is the most preferred platform for influencer marketing in India with a 78% share
The influencer marketing industry in India is valued at INR 1275 Crore and expected to grow at 25% CAGR
The Indian e-commerce market is expected to reach $111 billion by 2024
India has the third-largest online shopper base globally with over 230 million online shoppers
60% of online shopping orders in India come from Tier 2 cities and beyond
India has over 820 million active internet users as of 2023
Rural India drives internet growth with over 53% of active internet users coming from rural areas
90% of internet users in India access the web primarily through mobile devices
Voice search queries in India are growing at 270% year-on-year
Hindi is the second most used language for voice commands globally driven by Indian users
The Artificial Intelligence in marketing market in India is projected to reach $1.3 billion by 2026
Digital Ad Spending & Strategy
- 1Digital advertising in India is projected to grow by 33% to reach Rs 62,045 crore by 2025
- 2India’s digital ad spending overtook television for the first time in 2023 reaching a 40% market share
- 3Programmatic advertising contributes to over 42% of the total digital ad spend in India
- 4Search advertising holds the second largest share of the digital media pie in India at approximately 27%
- 5The FMCG sector is the highest spender on digital media in India contributing 34% to total revenue
- 6E-commerce platforms are becoming key advertising venues with ad revenue projected to hit $1 billion by 2025
- 7Video advertising is the fastest growing segment in Indian digital ads with a CAGR of 26%
- 8Mobile advertising accounts for roughly 70% of total digital ad spending in India
- 9Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) advertising in India is growing at a rate of 16% annually
- 10Affiliate marketing spend in India is expected to cross $800 million by 2025
- 11The Indian digital marketing industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 32.1% through 2028
- 12Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) in India allocate 15-20% of their marketing budget to digital ads
- 1380% of Indian CMOs plan to increase their digital marketing budgets in the coming fiscal year
- 14The Cost Per Mille (CPM) for Facebook ads in India averages around $0.30 - $0.60
- 15Branding campaigns constitute 55% of digital ad spend while performance campaigns constitute 45%
- 16Real-money gaming (RMG) sector ad spends grew by 35% in 2023
- 17Connected TV (CTV) ad spending in India is estimated to reach $395 million by 2027
- 18Automobile sector digital ad spend has grown by 18% year-on-year
- 1965% of Indian marketers currently use a multi-touch attribution model for ad spend
- 20The average Click-Through Rate (CTR) for display ads in India is 0.45%
Interpretation
Think of India’s digital ad market as a smartphone-powered monsoon: it has already swamped television to take the lead, is growing at roughly a third annually toward Rs 62,045 crore by 2025, and is being driven by mobile-first, programmatic and video formats as FMCG and e-commerce pour in budgets, CPMs stay low, CMOs and SMBs boost digital allocations, and emerging channels from CTV to DOOH and affiliate keep expanding to create a measurement-minded, cost-effective ecosystem where branding and performance compete almost evenly.
E-commerce & Consumer Behavior
- 1The Indian e-commerce market is expected to reach $111 billion by 2024
- 2India has the third-largest online shopper base globally with over 230 million online shoppers
- 360% of online shopping orders in India come from Tier 2 cities and beyond
- 4UPI transactions for retail payments account for over 50% of digital payment volumes in e-commerce
- 5Social contribution to e-commerce (Social Commerce) in India is expected to reach $70 billion by 2030
- 651% of Indian online shoppers prefer free shipping over fast shipping
- 7Returns in the Indian fashion e-commerce sector average between 25-40%
- 8Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) brands in India became a $12 billion market in 2022
- 965% of online consumers in India abandon their cart if the checkout process is too complicated
- 10Mobile wallets are used for 27% of e-commerce transactions in India
- 11The festive season sales (Durga Puja/Diwali) account for 20-25% of annual e-commerce GMV
- 1280% of Indian consumers research online before buying offline (ROBO effect)
- 13Apparel and Accessories is the largest e-commerce segment in India by volume
- 14Quick Commerce (10-minute delivery) market in India grew 77% in 2023
- 15Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) payments in Indian e-commerce are projected to grow by 66% annually
- 1638% of Indian consumers discover new products through e-commerce platform recommendations
- 17Subscription-based e-commerce models in India have a retention rate of only 30% after 12 months
- 18Average Order Value (AOV) for online grocery in India is approximately INR 1000
- 1972% of Indian consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations
- 20Online pharmacy (e-pharma) market in India is projected to touch $2.7 billion by 2023
Interpretation
India's e-commerce landscape is sprinting toward a projected $111 billion by 2024 on the feet of 230 million online shoppers and a 60 percent order share from Tier 2 cities and beyond, fuelled by UPI handling over half of digital payment volumes, a D2C wave worth about $12 billion and a social commerce boom targeting $70 billion by 2030, yet brands face stark realities: 51 percent prefer free shipping to speed, 65 percent will abandon a complicated checkout, fashion returns range from 25 to 40 percent, subscriptions retain only 30 percent after a year, and success hinges on converting festive season spikes, 10 minute quick commerce growth, booming BNPL adoption, platform recommendations and trusted reviews into sustainable average order values and repeat customers while e-pharma climbs toward a $2.7 billion market.
Mobile, Video & Content Consumption
- 1India has over 820 million active internet users as of 2023
- 2Rural India drives internet growth with over 53% of active internet users coming from rural areas
- 390% of internet users in India access the web primarily through mobile devices
- 4India consumes nearly 20 GB of data per smartphone per month, the highest global average
- 5Video content accounts for 80% of all internet traffic in India
- 6The OTT video streaming market in India is expected to become a $12.5 billion market by 2030
- 7Vernacular (regional language) internet users in India are estimated to reach 536 million by 2025
- 870% of Indians prefer consuming digital content in their local language over English
- 9Smartphone penetration in India is expected to reach 96% by 2040
- 10Audio streaming apps in India have roughly 200 million monthly active users
- 11Podcast listenership in India increased by over 30% in 2023
- 125G adoption in India is expected to reach 60% of smartphone users by 2028
- 13Gaming app downloads in India reached 9.5 billion making it the largest mobile gaming market by downloads
- 14Educational tech (EdTech) content consumption increased by 2x in Tier 3 cities post-2020
- 15Short-form video platforms command 45% of the total time spent on social media in India
- 16News consumption on mobile devices in India grew by 15% in the last year
- 177 out of 10 Indians play mobile games at least twice a day
- 18User retention for video-on-demand apps in India is highest for regional content (Telugu and Tamil)
- 19In-app engagement for shopping apps in India increased by 18% in 2023
- 2040% of smartphone users in India use ad-blockers on mobile browsers
Interpretation
India's internet landscape is a mobile first, video dominated, vernacular fueled tidal wave—driven by rural adoption and enormous per‑phone data use that is propelling OTT, short video, gaming, audio and edtech growth, testing advertisers with widespread ad blocking but rewarding brands that localize, optimize for mobile and short formats, and prioritize user experience as 5G and near‑universal smartphone penetration arrive.
SEO, Email & MarTech/AI
- 1Voice search queries in India are growing at 270% year-on-year
- 2Hindi is the second most used language for voice commands globally driven by Indian users
- 3The Artificial Intelligence in marketing market in India is projected to reach $1.3 billion by 2026
- 4Email marketing in India delivers an average Return on Investment (ROI) of 4400% (Rs 44 for every Rs 1 spent)
- 5The average open rate for marketing emails in India across industries is 16.2%
- 686% of Indian B2B marketers use content marketing as a key strategy for lead generation
- 7Marketing Automation adoption among Indian enterprises stands at 48%
- 8Chatbots handle over 35% of first-level customer queries for Indian service brands
- 9Google commands 98.8% of the mobile search engine market share in India
- 10Local SEO searches including "near me" have grown by 500% over the last two years in India
- 1163% of Indian marketers are currently investing in Generative AI tools for content creation
- 12The Indian SaaS (Software as a Service) marketing sector is expected to reach $50 billion by 2030
- 13On-page SEO is cited as the most effective SEO tactic by 55% of Indian digital agencies
- 14SMS marketing open rates in India remain high at approximately 93%
- 1540% of Indian CRM users access their platforms primarily via mobile apps
- 16Customer Data Platform (CDP) adoption in India grew by 24% in 2023
- 17LinkedIn is the most effective channel for B2B lead generation in India contributing 80% of B2B social leads
- 18The bounce rate for mobile landing pages in India averages around 55%
- 19Video SEO is becoming critical as YouTube is the second largest search engine used in India
- 2075% of Indian businesses using AI in marketing reported a reduction in customer acquisition costs
Interpretation
India's online marketing landscape has gone decisively AI and mobile first, with voice queries up 270% year on year and Hindi surging, Google controlling 98.8% of mobile search while "near me" queries have jumped 500%, 63% of marketers investing in generative AI as the AI in marketing market heads toward $1.3 billion and 75% report lower acquisition costs, marketing automation at 48% and chatbots handling over 35% of first level queries, content marketing powering 86% of B2B lead strategies and LinkedIn driving 80% of B2B social leads, email returning an eye popping 4400% ROI despite a 16.2% open rate while SMS opens near 93%, CDPs growing 24% in 2023 and on page plus video SEO becoming critical as YouTube ranks as the second largest search engine, all pointing to a booming mobile first SaaS and marketing ecosystem headed for $50 billion by 2030, so marketers who speak Hindi, optimize for "near me" and marry AI with SMS are most likely to win.
Social Media & Influencer Marketing
- 1India has over 467 million active social media users as of 2023
- 2Instagram is the most preferred platform for influencer marketing in India with a 78% share
- 3The influencer marketing industry in India is valued at INR 1275 Crore and expected to grow at 25% CAGR
- 4India is the largest market for YouTube by audience size with over 462 million users
- 5The average Indian user spends 2 hours and 36 minutes daily on social media
- 6Micro-influencers (10k-100k followers) in India generate 60% higher engagement rates than macro-influencers
- 7LinkedIn has over 100 million members in India making it the second-largest market globally
- 870% of brands in India engage with influencers for product launches
- 9Facebook’s ad reach in India is approximately 314 million users
- 10ShareChat has over 180 million monthly active users primarily from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities
- 1154% of Indian consumers rely on social media influencers for purchase decisions
- 12WhatsApp Business App usage in India is the highest globally with over 200 million active businesses
- 13Snapchat’s user base in India crossed 200 million monthly active users in 2023
- 14Moj has emerged as a leading short-video app with over 160 million MAUs
- 1533% of Indian social media users use platforms specifically to find content from brands
- 16Twitter (X) has approximately 27 million users in India
- 17Fashion and Beauty contribute to 35% of all influencer campaigns in India
- 1892% of marketers in India plan to increase their budget for creator economy partnerships
- 19User-Generated Content (UGC) campaigns in India see a 28% higher conversion rate than professionally generated content
- 20Pinterest has seen a 25% year-on-year growth in searches related to Indian weddings and fashion
Interpretation
With roughly 467 million social users, the world’s biggest YouTube audience and a INR 1,275 crore influencer market growing at 25% CAGR, India has become a creator-driven economy—Instagram dominates influencer activity, micro-influencers drive 60% higher engagement and UGC yields 28% better conversions, 54% of consumers trust influencers for purchases and 92% of marketers plan to up creator budgets—so brands that don’t adopt platform-specific creator strategies across giants like Facebook, WhatsApp, ShareChat, Moj, Snapchat and LinkedIn, and lean into fashion, beauty and Pinterest-driven discovery, risk losing out during the average Indian’s 2 hours 36 minutes of daily social time.
