This blog post was updated on 21 May 2025.
India is an attractive prospect to many businesses looking to expand internationally, and there are several reasons why.
The first reason is its size: it is a huge country, with the largest population in the world, which means there will likely be a market for your product.
The appeal of this market only grows stronger when you realise that, according to the International Monetary Fund, India is the fourth-largest economy in the world in terms of GDP, after only the US, China and Germany.
Looking at digital maturity, the country still has plenty of future growth ahead of it. As of April 2025, India has a population of 1.4 billion people. Of these people, around 56% are currently online. With almost half of people in India still to come online, then the reason why more and more global companies are looking towards India becomes obvious: the potential for growth is substantial. With every passing year, the internet in India is reaching a broader and broader audience and, with it, more businesses can effectively reach their target audience within the Indian market.
However, the country has a unique set of quirks that you need to understand in order to succeed. Never fear, this blog post will walk you through three things you need to be aware of if you want to succeed at digital marketing in India.
1. Social media
If you are targeting India, then you need to make sure you have a presence on social media. This is because social media is very popular, with the average Indian social media user spending 2 hours and 28 minutes on social media every day. The most popular platforms are WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Telegram, all of which are used by more than half of all Indian internet users every month, so focus your efforts on these.
2. E-commerce
E-commerce in India is growing in popularity. The most popular e-commerce platforms are Amazon, Flipkart, IndiaMART, Meesho and OLX. The consumer goods categories with the highest annual spend are food, fashion and electronics. The most popular payment option is digital wallet, with the most popular digital wallets in India being Google Pay, PhonePe and Paytm. You should also be aware that Indians are easily put off by high delivery fees.
3. Mobile
79% of internet traffic in India comes from mobile phones, meaning that your Indian website needs to be optimised for mobile. Be aware that internet speeds in India are variable, so you also need to make sure to optimise your website for speed. Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool is very useful for diagnosing any speed problems with your website and suggesting what you can do to make it faster.
Want to learn more?
I hope this blog post has given you a useful introduction to digital marketing in India. For more in-depth information and advice, read the full-length guide here. The guide covers:
- the current digital landscape in India, including internet penetration rates
- the typical Indian internet user, including their gender, age, location and online activities
- device usage breakdowns and internet speeds in India
- search engine marketing in India
- how to localise your website for India
- social media marketing in India
- the local culture and language in India
- e-commerce in India
One Response
Hi Anna, All the 3 points make sense but I feel Local SEO should make it to the list as a separate point for the year 2018.