DIGITAL & TRENDS

Digital marketing in India

 Table of Contents

01 Global outlook 04 Marketing trends

Leading digital marketing channels worldwide 2022 03 Digital marketing and advertising budget breakdown in India 2022 21
Changes in spending on digital platforms by marketers worldwide 2023 04 Social media usage for digital marketing in India 2022, by marketing content type 22
Social media platforms used by marketers worldwide 2023 05 Influencer marketing industry distribution India 2022, by vertical 23
Social media platforms with highest ROI worldwide 2022 06 Preferred platform for social media influencer collaboration India 2022 24
Popularity of AI in marketing worldwide 2018-2022 07 Share of influencer marketing campaigns India 2022, by tier 25
Investment in digital marketing in India 2022, by marketing technology 26
02 Digital marketing overview
Yearly digital advertising spend share India 2016-2024 09
Priorities in digital marketing in India 2022 10
Digital ad spend in India 2022, by industry 11
Investment in digital marketing technology in India 2022 12
Challenges to growth in digital marketing in India 2022 13

03 Key contributors
Distribution of FMCG digital advertising expenditure India 2022, by format 15
Distribution of e-commerce digital advertising expenditure in India 2022, by format 16
Share of pharmaceutical digital advertising expenditure in India 2022, by format 17
Distribution of consumer durables digital ad expenditure in India 2022, by format 18
Share of auto industry digital advertising expenditure in India 2022, by format 19

1
CHAPTER 01

Global outlook
 Leading digital marketing channels according to marketers worldwide as of July
2022
Leading digital marketing channels worldwide 2022

50%

45% 44%

40%
36%
35%
35%
32%
Share of respondents

30%
30%
26%
25%
25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Social media Website/blog Email marketing Content marketing Influencer marketing SEO marketing Virtual events

3 Description: During a 2022 survey of among business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) marketers from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, it was found that social media was the most popular
digital marketing channel, used by 44 percent of respondents. Website/blog and email marketing followed, with 36 percent and 35 percent, respectively. Read more
Note(s): Worldwide; as of July 2022; >1,600; among B2C and B2B marketers from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States
Source(s): HubSpot
 Planned changes in spending on digital platforms according to marketers
worldwide in 2023
Changes in spending on digital platforms by marketers worldwide 2023

Share of respondents

Increase Stay the same Decrease

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%

TikTok 76% 20% 4%

YouTube 57% 37% 6%

Google 53% 43% 4%

Twitch 50% 40% 11%

LinkedIn 46% 45% 9%

Instagram 46% 43% 11%

Amazon 44% 47% 9%

WhatsApp 37% 50% 12%

Spotify 37% 52% 11%

Facebook 23% 47% 30%

Twitter 19% 53% 28%

4 Description: According to a survey among marketing professionals worldwide, 76 percent of respondents said they were planning to increase their spending on TikTok in 2023. Under 60 percent of respondents also stated they were planning to increase their
spending on YouTube, while increased spending on Instagram and Amazon was cited by a respective 46 and 44 percent of respondents, respectively. Read more
Note(s): Worldwide; as of January 2023; 1,700 respondents
Source(s): MarketingCharts; WARC
 Leading social media platforms used by marketers worldwide as of January 2023
Social media platforms used by marketers worldwide 2023

100%
89%
90%
80%
80%

70%
64%
Share of respondents

60%
54%
50%
44%
40%

30% 26%

20%

10%

0%
Facebook Instagram LinkedIn YouTube Twitter TikTok

5 Description: As of January 2023, Facebook was the most commonly used social media platform among marketers worldwide. According to a global survey, 89 percent of responding social media marketers used the network to promote their business, while another
80 percent did so via Instagram. Read more
Note(s): Worldwide; January 2023; 2,133 respondents
Source(s): Frankwatching; Social Media Examiner
 Social media platforms with the largest return on investment (ROI) according to
marketers worldwide as of October 2022
Social media platforms with highest ROI worldwide 2022

25%

22%

20%

16% 16% 16%

Share of respondents

15%

10%

7%

5%

0%
Facebook Instagram YouTube TikTok LinkedIn

6 Description: According to a survey released in October 2022 and conducted among B2B and B2C marketers worldwide 22 percent of respondents said that Facebook was the social media platform with the highest return on investment (ROI) that year. Interestingly,
Instagram, YouTube and TikTok all ranked second with 16 percent of respondents, followed by LinkedIn with 7 percent. Read more
Note(s): Worldwide; as of October 2022; 1,200 respondents; among global marketers from across B2B and B2C companies
Source(s): HubSpot
 Share of marketers using artificial intelligence in their digital marketing strategies
worldwide in 2018, 2020 and 2022
Popularity of AI in marketing worldwide 2018-2022

90%
84%

80%

70%
62%
60%
Share of respondents

50%

40%

29%
30%

20%

10%

0%
2018 2020 2022

7 Description: According to a 2022 study conducted with marketers worldwide, 62 percent of respondents reported using artificial intelligence as a part of their digital marketing strategy. Two years earlier, in 2020, the reported usage rate stood at 84 percent which
was a big growth from the 29 percent rate in 2018. Read more
Note(s): Worldwide; June 30 to August 8, 2022; 6,000 respondents; marketers who use AI across 35 different countries
Source(s): Salesforce Research; Salesforce.com
CHAPTER 02

Digital marketing overview

 Share of digital marketing spends in India from 2016 to 2022, with estimates until
2024
Yearly digital advertising spend share India 2016-2024

50%
45%
45%
40%
40%
35%
35%
Share of market spend

30% 29%
26%
25%
20%
20%
17%
15%
15%
12%
10%

5%

0%
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023* 2024*

9 Description: Of the overall advertising and marketing expenditure made in India, 35 percent was allotted to digital media in 2022. This reflected an exponentially growing trend that emerged in 2016. Forecasts predicted digital's share of marketing spends to
further increase to 45 percent by 2024. Moreover, India's digital media marketing spend share was expected to surpass marketing spends on television 2023 onwards. Read more
Note(s): India; 2016 to 2022; *Forecast Read more
Source(s): Dentsu Aegis Network; exchange4media
 Key priorities in digital marketing in India in 2022
Priorities in digital marketing in India 2022

Share of respondents
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Brand awareness 67%

Generating leads and sales 56%

Creating more innovative and data driven campaigns 35%

Growing market share 29%

Using data more successfully 23%

Creating a more integrated marketing mix 22%

Brand loyalty 16%

Leveraging marketing technology 11%

Employing greater measurement 3%

10 Description: According to a survey conducted among marketing professionals in India in 2022, about 67 percent of respondents reported that brand awareness was the key priority in digital marketing. Meanwhile, generating leads and sales was the next most-
prioritized aim, as indicated by another 56 percent of the respondents. Read more
Note(s): India; July to September 2022; 133 marketing professionals
Source(s): MMA; WARC
 Distribution of digital advertising spending in India in 2022, by industry
Digital ad spend in India 2022, by industry

Share of ad expenditure
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

FMCG 38%

E-commerce 30%

Other 14%

Consumer durables 6%

Automotive 5%

Pharmaceutical 5%

Telecom 4%

Education 3%

BFSI 3%

Media & entertainment 1%

Retail 1%

11 Description: As India`s content consumption moved increasingly to online platforms, advertisers also followed their audiences to the digital world. Among the various industry verticals in the country, the FMCG sector had a 38 percent share in the total digital ad
expenditure in 2022, making it the highest spending sector that year. The e-commerce sector followed with a 30 percent share of total digital ad spends that year. Read more
Note(s): India; 2022
Source(s): Dentsu Aegis Network
 Investment in digital marketing technology by Indian marketers in 2022
Investment in digital marketing technology in India 2022

60%

51%
50%

40%
Share of respondents

34%

30%

20%

13%

10%

2%
0%
0-10% 11-25% 26-50% More than 50%

12 Description: According to a survey conducted among marketing professionals in 2022, about 51 percent of Indian marketers planned to spend about 10 percent of their budgets on digital marketing technology. Comparatively, only two percent of the respondents
expected to allocate more than half of their budget on marketing technology that year. This was despite most marketers expecting their digital marketing and advertising budgets to increase in 2022. Read more
Note(s): India; July to September 2022; 133 marketing professionals
Source(s): MMA; WARC
 Key challenges to growth in digital marketing in India in 2022
Challenges to growth in digital marketing in India 2022

Share of respondents
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Budgets 36%

Skills 33%

Metrics and measurement 33%

Ad fraud 24%

Consumer concerns about privacy / security 24%

Internal challenges and silos 20%

Education 20%

Poor quality apps 16%

Guidelines and best practices 16%

Fragmentation of the marketing and advertising ecosystem 13%

Data pricing 11%

Ad blocking 9%

Privacy requirements (such as GDPR) 7%

Lack of user friendly sites 7%

Content creation for mobile 4%

13 Description: According to a survey conducted among marketing professionals in India in 2022, about 36 percent of respondents were of the opinion that their budget was the biggest constraint for the growth of digital marketing. The lack of skills as well as metrics
and measurement were some other critical barriers within this sector, with the latter being attributed to the transition to a third-party cookie-free environment Read more
Note(s): India; July to September 2022; 133 marketing professionals
Source(s): MMA; WARC
CHAPTER 03

Key contributors
 Distribution of digital advertising expenditure in the fast moving consumer goods
industry across India in 2022, by format
Distribution of FMCG digital advertising expenditure India 2022, by format

50%

45% 43%

40%

35%
Expenditure share

30%
25%
25%

20%
16%
15% 14%

10%

5%
2%
0%
Online video Social media Display banners Paid search Others including classifieds

15 Description: The online video format accounted for over 43 percent of the digital advertising spends within the fast moving consumer goods industry across India in 2022, overtaking social media. The latter followed with a 25 percent ad expenditure. Compared to
last year, the industry also increased its spending on the paid search format. The FMCG sector was also the leading contributor to the digital advertising industry that year. Read more
Note(s): India; 2022
Source(s): Dentsu Aegis Network; exchange4media
 Distribution of digital advertising expenditure in the e-commerce industry across
India in 2022, by format
Distribution of e-commerce digital advertising expenditure in India 2022, by format

Expenditure share
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Paid search 52%

Online video 19%

Social media 15%

Display banners 12%

Others incl classifieds 2%

16 Description: In 2022, the e-commerce industry across India spent more than half of its digital advertising budget on paid search ads. Meanwhile, the online video format's share of digital ad spend dropped to 19 percent. The e-commerce sector retained its position
as the second largest contributor to the digital advertising industry that year. Read more
Note(s): India; 2022
Source(s): Dentsu Aegis Network; exchange4media
 Distribution of digital advertising expenditure in the pharmaceutical industry across
India in 2022, by format
Share of pharmaceutical digital advertising expenditure in India 2022, by format

Expenditure share
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Paid search 53%

Social media 20%

Online video 16%

Display banners 12%

Others incl. classifieds 0%

17 Description: In 2022, the Indian pharmaceutical sector spent a whopping 53 percent of its digital advertising budget on paid search advertising. Trailing by a wide margin, social media ads accounted for 20 percent of the verticals digital ad spends. Notably, the
vertical did not spend any of its budget on classifieds that year. Read more
Note(s): India; 2022
Source(s): Dentsu Aegis Network; exchange4media
 Distribution of digital advertising expenditure in the consumer durables industry
across India in 2022, by format
Distribution of consumer durables digital ad expenditure in India 2022, by format

Expenditure share
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Paid search 35%

Social media 20%

Display banners 20%

Online video 11%

Others incl. classifieds 14%

18 Description: In 2022, the consumer durables industry across India spent 35 percent of its digital advertising spend on the paid search format. This was followed by expenditure on social media and display advertising accounting for 20 percent each. Read more
Note(s): India; 2022
Source(s): Dentsu Aegis Network; exchange4media
 Distribution of digital advertising expenditure in the automotive industry across
India in 2022, by format
Share of auto industry digital advertising expenditure in India 2022, by format

Expenditure share
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Paid search 31%

Online video 26%

Display banners 17%

Social media 16%

Others incl. classifieds 11%

19 Description: In 2022, the Indian auto industry dedicated over 30 percent of its digital advertising budget to paid search advertising, followed by the online video format. Classifieds accounted for approximately 11 percent of digital ad spending that year making the
automotive sector the second largest contributor to this format after consumer durables. Read more
Note(s): India; 2022
Source(s): Dentsu Aegis Network; exchange4media
CHAPTER 04

Marketing trends
 Breakdown of digital marketing and advertising budget in India in 2022
Digital marketing and advertising budget breakdown in India 2022

Share of respondents
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Social 29%

Video 17%

Search 16%

Display ads (not including video) 16%

Others 14%

Branded content 11%

Messaging 10%

OTT 10%

Influencers 10%

Audio 4%

Gaming 2%

21 Description: According to a survey conducted among marketing professionals in India in 2022, social media was the prime marketing and advertising format having been allocated the largest chunk, that is 29 percent, of digital marketing and advertising budgets. In
contrast, audio and gaming accounted for less than five percent of the total budget, respectively. Read more
Note(s): India; July to September 2022; 133 marketing professionals
Source(s): MMA; WARC
 Social media usage for digital marketing in India in 2022, by marketing content type
Social media usage for digital marketing in India 2022, by marketing content type

Share of respondents

Display advertising (including video) Partnerships/ Sponsorship/ Influencers Shoppable advertising

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

24%
Facebook 22%
48%
20%
YouTube 25%
48%
20%
Instagram 31%
41%
19%
LinkedIn 22%
40%
3%
Twitter 24%
35%
19%
Whatsapp 15%
32%
6%
Snapchat 16%
26%
4%
Spotify 14%
20%
10%
Sharechat 8%
19%
4%
Signal 4%
15%
8%
Telegram 12%
14%
7%
Roblox 2%
9%
2%
Reddit 2%
9%
4%
Twitch 2%
9%

22 Description: According to a survey conducted among marketing professionals in India in 2022, Facebook and YouTube were the leading social media platforms used for display advertising campaigns among 48 percent of respondents. On the other hand,
Instagram emerged as the popular choice for partnership, sponsorship, and influencer marketing as indicated by 31 percent of marketers who employed it in their digital marketing strategies. Read more
Note(s): India; July to September 2022; 133 marketing professionals
Source(s): MMA; WARC
 Distribution of influencer marketing industry in India in 2022, by vertical
Influencer marketing industry distribution India 2022, by vertical

Others 5%
Home furnishing 5%

Fintech 5%

BFSI 5%

Personal care 25%

Telecom 5%

Auto 5% Food and beverage

20%

Mobile and electronics 10%

Fashion and jewelry 15%

23 Description: Among the various sectors that invested in the influencer marketing industry in India, the personal care vertical held the largest market share at 25 percent, as of 2022. Other prominent sectors that were heavy on influencer marketing included the
food and beverage, fashion and jewelry, and mobile and electronics industries. Digital marketing in India has been lent a new degree of authenticity by social media as users create their own relatable brands and communities. Read more
Note(s): India; 2022
Source(s): exchange4media; GroupM
 Leading social media platforms for influencer collaboration across India in 2022
Preferred platform for social media influencer collaboration India 2022

Share of respondents
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Instagram 37%

YouTube 21%

Facebook 19%

Others 10%

LinkedIn 8%

Twitter 5.1%

24 Description: According to a survey on social media influencers across India in 2022, the majority of the respondents preferred Instagram for collaboration between influencers and brands in the country by a large margin. YouTube was the second-most popular
choice with 21 percent of responses, followed by Facebook during the survey period. The popularity of both short form and long format video content among Indian audiences resulted in both brands and content creators relying heavily on these [...] Read more
Note(s): India; 2022; 600+ respondents; 18 years and older; over 500 influencers and more than 100 brands
Source(s): Influencer
 Distribution of influencer marketing campaigns across India in 2022, by tier
Share of influencer marketing campaigns India 2022, by tier

45%
42%

40%

35%
Share of marketing campaigns

30%
26%
25%
20%
20%

15%
12%

10%

5%

0%
Nano Micro Macro Celebrity/mega

25 Description: A survey conducted in 2022 revealed that a majority of influencer marketing campaigns in India, accounting for 42 percent, engaged micro-influencers who had a following of 10 thousand to 100 thousand. Macro influencers accounted for the next
largest share of marketing campaigns that year. Read more
Note(s): India; 2022
Source(s): exchange4media; GroupM
 Investment in digital marketing in India in 2022, by marketing technology
Investment in digital marketing in India 2022, by marketing technology

Share of respondents
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Data analytics and collection 68%

Marketing automation 49%

Location data 36%

Programmatic advertising 36%

Chatbots 32%

AI and machine learning 26%

Augmented / virtual reality 19%

Live shopping 13%

Digital out-of-home (DOOH) 13%

Conversational commerce 9%

Internet of things and smart home 9%

Blockchain 6%

Voice interaction (e.g. Amazon Echo, Google Home) 6%

Rich communication services (RCS) 6%

Near field communication (NFC) 4%

26 Description: According to a survey conducted among marketing professionals in India in 2022, about 68 percent of respondents reported investing in data analytics and collection to improve digital marketing, especially in a soon-to-be cookie-free environment.
Indian marketers also exhibited a growing interest in the use of augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) as a means to enhance digital marketing strategies. Read more
Note(s): India; July to September 2022; 133 marketing professionals
Source(s): MMA; WARC
 Sources

Dentsu Aegis Network

exchange4media
Frankwatching
GroupM
HubSpot
Influencer
MarketingCharts
MMA
Salesforce Research
Salesforce.com
Social Media Examiner
WARC

27