Tanushree Basuroy
Research expert covering India
Social media advertising in India - statistics & facts
From carrying out political debates on X to posting a picture of one’s morning coffee, social media is intrinsically woven into everyday life in India. The need to stay connected and in the know keeps Indians hooked to their smartphone screens. The land of over a billion presents massive potential for brands and businesses to expand their consumer bases at lower costs and higher returns on interest compared to traditional advertising.
India ranks among the leading advertising markets worldwide, with Indian marketers and companies increasingly adopting digital advertising and marketing strategies. Among the various digital formats, social media advertising has emerged as the most effective with the country spending over a billion U.S. dollars on it in 2023 alone.
The introduction of online retail and e-commerce platforms alongside a booming mobile app market has boosted consumerism in the country, thus making social media an almost indispensable means of reaching potential customers. Facebook led in terms of advertising reach as well as web traffic referrals to third-party sites. Other digital marketing practices such as influencer marketing and branding are also heavily dependent on social media platforms. In this regard, Instagram was the popular choice among influencers and brands as well as users. Fashion, beauty, and lifestyle were the leading product categories on the platform supplemented by the significant social media ad expenditure of the retail and FMCG sectors.
India ranks among the leading advertising markets worldwide, with Indian marketers and companies increasingly adopting digital advertising and marketing strategies. Among the various digital formats, social media advertising has emerged as the most effective with the country spending over a billion U.S. dollars on it in 2023 alone.
Why advertise on social media?
Globally, social media is employed to improve exposure and help advertisers amplify their reach. Indians spend roughly three hours a day on social media on average. Commonly carried-out activities included watching videos on YouTube, texting on WhatsApp, or scrolling through one’s Facebook feed. However, social media usage is not limited to networking and entertainment. It presents a vital source of information as Indian consumers turn to it both for news consumption as well as product and brand research. It is no wonder that advertisers spend increasing portions of their advertising budgets on this format.The introduction of online retail and e-commerce platforms alongside a booming mobile app market has boosted consumerism in the country, thus making social media an almost indispensable means of reaching potential customers. Facebook led in terms of advertising reach as well as web traffic referrals to third-party sites. Other digital marketing practices such as influencer marketing and branding are also heavily dependent on social media platforms. In this regard, Instagram was the popular choice among influencers and brands as well as users. Fashion, beauty, and lifestyle were the leading product categories on the platform supplemented by the significant social media ad expenditure of the retail and FMCG sectors.
Advertising in a stricter social media environment
The dominance of global tech giants in the country has made the Indian government wary. Meta Platforms Inc. controls most of the Indian social media market. Over the past few years, several instances of the government being embroiled in legal tussles with the conglomerate as well as X, formerly known as Twitter, have surfaced. Under the pretext of protecting user rights, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) has introduced stringent policies under the IT Rules 2021 that regulate the content on these platforms and requested several accounts to be taken down. This is in addition to the existing ASCI guidelines that moderate social media and influencer advertising in the country.
