Digital
Accelerating the growth of your digital marketing agency with the right performance marketing tracking platform in 2023
Mumbai: WWW changed how we communicate and share information and laid the groundwork for many new business sectors, including online marketing. Indian companies have transitioned from traditional methods to modern digital tactics to connect and engage with prospective and current customers innovatively. And, digital marketing agencies help businesses navigate the evolving digital landscape and achieve their marketing goals.
Many digital marketing agencies have been founded in recent years to tap the potential of India being the second-largest online market globally. The digital market industry of India was valued at USD 3.93 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 19.27 billion by 2028 (Source: Express Market Research-Indian Digital Marketing Market Share, Size, Growth, Analysis). As per Crunchbase, around 4000 digital marketing agencies are operating in India and have cumulatively gained a total funding of $838.8M (Source: Crunchbase–India Digital Marketing Companies 2023.
But with increased opportunity comes increased competition and complexity, and starting up a new marketing agency demands immense effort and time–more than just the excitement of anticipating a market share. Many marketing enthusiasts start out excited but eventually give up in the face of challenging obstacles.
Many challenges crop up when creating a new digital marketing agency in a highly saturated market.
The biggest challenge is stirring visibility and reputation in the market. Clients often want to see the work of digital marketing agencies to understand the agency’s expertise, creativity, and ability to deliver results before deciding to work with them. With zero reputation in the market, it is pretty challenging to onboard clients. Not to forget, it is not only about acquiring clients but winning and retaining them, too.
While founders might have strong networks and relationships with business professionals, clients would want to zero in on what the agency can offer instead of the founder’s reputation.
Additionally, limited funds, lack of talent , and other resources aggravate this challenge as they are pressured to deliver measurable results with limited resources.
When it comes to mainstream problems, consistently working hard is frequently not the answer.
Nevertheless, agencies can embark on the right path to success with a correct strategic approach.
Every agency claims to deliver tangible results–more customers and sales. How can a new digital marketing agency stand out? Here, the agency should dig into what its competitors are not offering. Since customers always want something fresh and unique, they should focus on value-added tasks that give customers beyond link building and sales, increasing client satisfaction, loyalty, and referrals.
Having said that, agencies can encourage value addition by looping together people and technology.
People: Digital marketing is incomplete with data. With abundant data availability, hiring professionals with strong data analytical skills who can quickly interpret complex data sets, churn insights, and create actionable recommendations have a competitive advantage. Additionally, they should be able to communicate these insights effectively to clients, making excellent communications skills and adopting a personalized client management approach necessary.
Technology: Along with these skills, deploying a reliable performance marketing tracking partner can be the difference between success and failure for digital marketing agencies. By automating repetitive tasks, marketing agencies can free up their teams to focus on more strategic and creative work, reduce the time and effort required to execute campaigns, and save costs while delivering better client results.
Agencies that invest in talent and technology can differentiate themselves from their competitors, build stronger relationships with clients, and ultimately, deliver more value to them.
With plenty of tools available to choose from, marketing agencies should give serious consideration when selecting the right performance marketing platform.
First and most important should be automation. Automation of campaign optimization and data driven insights automates repetitive tasks, fostering productivity, quality consistency, and transparent processes. For example, gaining greater accessibility to performance metrics, which allow marketers and partners to see tracking and revenue numbers in real-time..
Besides price and value for money, a strong support team that works proactively can help digital marketing agencies get the most out of the platform and ensure that any issues are resolved quickly and effectively.
An easy-to-use platform that is accessible to all members can improve collaboration and help ensure that everyone is on the same page, leading to more effective campaigns and better results.
Plus, the team should not have to spend much time learning how to use the platform. An easy onboarding process is critical to ensure that users can quickly and efficiently get started with the platform, providing quick wins that demonstrate the platform’s value. With the easy-to-use interface, users can quickly access the key performance metrics and data that are most important to them. A well-designed and intuitive dashboard gives users the insights to make data-driven decisions and optimize marketing campaigns and automation sequences for better results.
But real-time analytics and reporting are essential for new digital marketing agencies to beat the competition. For instance, the innovative analytics and reporting tools in the market provide easy drag-and-drop action to get all the data users need, sort and filter combinations, managing billions of events within seconds. With faster access and analysis of data available in intuitive reports, marketers no longer have to go through huge excel sheets of data, saving time and fostering precision. Agencies can send the reports directly through the platform to customers and partners hassle-free and efficiently.
While new marketing agencies may have limited resources, choosing an innovative tracking partner as well as focusing on a highly skilled talent pool, and being flexible and adaptable are all crucial factors for success. By staying ahead of the curve and embracing innovation, digital marketing agencies in India can augment the impact of their work and help businesses achieve their marketing goals in an ever-evolving digital landscape.
The author of this article is Swaarm CEO & co-founder Yogeeta Chainani.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
