According to the latest report from The Times Internet and DMAsia, marketers in India are taking a severing approach to social media. In fact, social media marketing fell 30 percent in 2017, according to a survey of 150 marketers for the automotive, retail, pharmaceutical, FMCG and real estate industries.

A whopping 57% of interviewers said content marketing had replaced social media advertising in India. Part of the decline is due to the fact that social networks limit the influence of brand networks, thereby curbing their most fundamental visibility. In fact, visibility, audience authenticity, brand security, and precision have always been the biggest challenges for social media marketers.

Gautam Sinha, CEO of Times Internet Ltd., explains, "As we go all out toward a more digital audience, marketers need to be sensitive to identifying customer preferences and media preferences."

"There are some nuances that affect the overall environment. We hope to work with DMAsia to conduct an in-depth study and present the final results in the report so that we can help Indian marketers stay ahead of the curve and adjust their strategies and budgets accordingly. "

The survey also noted that among the main challenges in digital marketing, it was recognized that the challenges were to ensure an adequate budget (32 per cent), to measure return on investment (ROI) (27 per cent) and to identify the right technology (22 per cent).

Another 21 percent said marketing influence did not meet their expectations, in large part because brands failed to meet the "right" brand impact from the brand image or products they promoted.

At the same time, video advertising seems to be becoming increasingly popular in India's marketing market. Although 41% of marketers did not approve of viral marketing videos in 2016, this number dropped to 18% in 2017.

Interestingly, while marketers see measuring return on investment (ROI) as a big challenge, it is also one of the most important factors in justifying the inputs and outputs of digital marketing. Google Analytics, social media analytics and third-party tools are all tools that marketers use more roI measurement tools.

In 2018, 45% of Indian marketers plan to focus on customer engagement, 30% on content marketing strategies, and 27% on measuring return on market investment.