India sees 163% surge in contextual marketing revenue, reveals WebEngage Report

The revenue from contextual campaigns has skyrocketed by 163%, with businesses across India and the broader APAC region increasingly leaning on advanced data strategies to deepen customer engagement and drive conversions, reveals Global Trends & Benchmarks Report 2024–2025 by WebEngage.

As per the report, brands using AI for engagement have seen a 25% increase in customer retention, while behavioral segmentation and predictive analytics have driven 40% more conversions.

Additionally, as global data privacy regulations tighten and third-party cookies phase out, 60% of businesses are now prioritizing first-party data strategies—marking a decisive shift toward privacy-compliant, owned-data ecosystems.

Despite these advancements, the report points to a paradox in the Indian and APAC markets, while personalization is acknowledged as essential, the region still lags behind in key engagement metrics. This gap highlights a significant opportunity for optimization, particularly as customer expectations continue to rise in a competitive digital environment.

Avlesh Singh, Co-founder & CEO of WebEngage, commented, “This year wasn’t just about keeping pace with change—it was about embracing it, steering it, and, at times, even challenging it. From AI-powered personalization to reimagined engagement strategies, our partners have shown that innovation isn’t a buzzword—it’s a necessity. As we look ahead to 2025, we believe AI will continue to drive real-time, hyper-targeted marketing at scale. The fusion of AI and automation is enhancing efficiency, deepening engagement, and boosting marketing ROI, ensuring that AI-driven businesses stay ahead in an increasingly digital-first world.”

Sector-specific insights further reveal that the BFSI industry in India and APAC is leading in performance, with an impressive 33.56% open rate and 7.28% click-through conversion. Meanwhile, the media and entertainment sector tops the charts in messaging volume, sending over 138 billion messages—a reflection of the sector’s heavy reliance on real-time user engagement.

The report also underscores the continued importance of omnichannel strategies, with push notifications, email and WhatsApp emerging as key channels for building deeper customer relationships. As AI becomes foundational to business innovation, industries like BFSI, e-commerce, and healthcare are expected to further integrate technologies like fraud detection, recommendation engines, and predictive analytics into their customer experience stacks.