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Cricket, commerce, and conversations—the trio has long defined the Indian Premier League (IPL), the advertising juggernaut of India. As IPL 2025 approaches, brands have a new ace up their sleeve: Click-to-message ads on WhatsApp. This isn't just about grabbing eyeballs anymore—it's about pulling fans into real-time conversations, turning passive viewers into active participants.
The monetization of private messaging apps has long been a challenge for tech giants, but IPL 2025 might be the moment where WhatsApp finally proves its worth as an advertising powerhouse. With over 500 million WhatsApp users in India, brands can now directly tap into their most engaged audience with high-impact, high conversion campaigns.
Vartika Verma, Senior Director-Global Marketing at Gupshup, puts it succinctly, saying, “IPL has always been India's biggest advertising playground. Now, with Click-to-Engage Ads, brands can go beyond impressions and drive measurable customer actions.” And measurable they are. Click-to-WhatsApp ads give advertisers a direct line to first-party data, turning mere exposure into actual conversions—right within India’s favorite chat app.
For years, IPL sponsorships and media buys were the biggest game in town, with brands competing for prime spots during match breaks. While these placements will still be valuable, the focus is now shifting toward direct engagement with consumers. Imagine a beverage brand offering an IPL-themed drink during a match. A Click-to-WhatsApp Message ad allows fans to instantly order via WhatsApp, complete with live delivery tracking and special offers based on their location.
This is a game-changer. “The traditional IPL ad funnel was all about reach and recall,” says Verma, adding, “Click-to-Engage ads shift the focus to personalized, goal-driven marketing.” Imagine a sports apparel brand running a Click-to-Engage ad during a high-stakes match. A fan clicks and instantly receives a WhatsApp message from the brand’s AI agent, nudging them to check out limited-edition jerseys for their favorite team. Personalized, direct, and way more effective than a generic digital ad.
Interactive advertising formats like these create stronger brand recall and allow advertisers to track each touchpoint in a customer’s journey. More importantly, they provide immediate feedback on consumer sentiment, enabling brands to adjust their messaging and offers in real time.
Gopa Kumar Menon, Chief Growth Officer at Successive Digital, sees this as a fundamental shift in IPL advertising metrics. “Instead of just measuring reach, brands are tracking conversation initiation rates, completion rates, and micro-conversions,” he explains. In other words, it’s not just about who saw the ad—it’s about who acted on it. He notes that brands running Click-to-Engage campaigns, especially on WhatsApp, during the IPL have seen a 30% uptick in customer engagement compared to static display ads. “The level of intent is significantly higher. If a fan clicks to chat, they’re already halfway down the conversion funnel.”
With AI-driven targeting and real-time WhatsApp engagement, the IPL ad funnel is becoming shorter and sharper. “The awareness-to-consideration gap is closing with instant WhatsApp activations,” says Menon. “AI analyzes viewer behavior in real time, delivering hyper-personalized WhatsApp messages.” Take a fintech brand running a Click-to-WhatsApp ad on JioHotstar. A cricket fan clicks, and an AI agent instantly offers them an exclusive IPL credit card deal—no clunky forms, no redirects, just seamless engagement.
Venugopal Ganganna, Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer at LS Digital, calls this the holy grail of advertising: precision attribution and real-time engagement. “Traditional success metrics like impressions are giving way to engagement quality, lead qualification, and Customer Lifetime Value (CLV),” he explains. And the numbers back it up—Click-to-WhatsApp ads in India boast 45-60% conversion rates, crushing email marketing’s dismal 1-5%. IPL advertisers on JioHotstar have already seen a 1.4x boost in category awareness, 1.3x better brand favorability, and a 1.7x jump in purchase intent thanks to AI-powered engagement.
For example, luxury auto brands can now engage users actively researching premium vehicles, ensuring that ads reach relevant consumers rather than broad demographics. WhatsApp’s interactive nature enables direct engagement, replacing static landing pages with real-time AI-powered conversations.
Brands can use WhatsApp to answer queries, schedule test drives, offer IPL-exclusive deals, and provide financing options—all within a seamless chat interface. This enhances customer experience, improves lead nurturing, and drives higher conversion rates.
Ganganna sees personalization as the real disruptor. “With 82% of Indian consumers open to AI-generated recommendations, brands can target high-intent audiences based on browsing history, past purchases, and digital behavior.” That means luxury auto brands can push Click-to-WhatsApp ads to users actively researching premium cars, ensuring hyper-relevant engagement. But it’s not just about selling—WhatsApp lets brands extend the conversation post-purchase with financing options, test drives, and IPL-exclusive deals.
Another emerging trend is the integration of influencer marketing with WhatsApp engagement. Imagine an IPL star promoting a product on Instagram with a ‘Swipe Up’ link that leads directly to a WhatsApp chat. Fans could interact with a brand’s AI chatbot as if they were chatting with their favorite cricketer, adding a new level of engagement and authenticity.
As AI and automation improve, WhatsApp campaigns will become even more sophisticated. AI chatbots will be able to hold more natural conversations, making product recommendations based on tone analysis and purchase history. This will make WhatsApp advertising even more intuitive and personalized.
Mohit Dua, Co-Founder of AiSensy, believes WhatsApp QR codes add another powerful tool to the mix. “Brands can place WhatsApp QR codes on TV ads, Hotstar screens, hoardings—anywhere. Fans scan and instantly start a chat, whether it’s to redeem an offer, enter a contest, or get product details.” This creates an instant bridge between ad exposure and action, making WhatsApp more dynamic and measurable than traditional platforms.
For Dua, re-engagement is the secret sauce. “Brands can use WhatsApp Broadcasts to keep the conversation going—sending exclusive IPL deals, match-day discounts, or behind-the-scenes content.” This turns a single ad interaction into an ongoing customer relationship. AiSensy’s tracking tools let brands measure exactly how many people engaged after seeing a QR code, down to read rates, click-throughs, and quick reply interactions.
The approach is already proving successful. A major food delivery app ran a Click-to-WhatsApp campaign during IPL 2024 and saw a 50% increase in order conversions. Instead of merely seeing an ad for a special match-day meal deal, fans could instantly start a chat to customize and place their orders. “We’re seeing a shift from broad targeting to one-to-one conversations, and the results are undeniable,” says Dua.
The shift to conversational commerce isn't just a passing trend—it’s the new frontier of digital marketing. The traditional ‘spray and pray’ model of digital advertising, where brands push messages out and hope for engagement, is being replaced by real-time, measurable, two-way interactions.
So, what’s the final takeaway? The era of passive IPL advertising is over. Brands that embrace conversational commerce, AI-driven personalization, and real-time WhatsApp engagement will dominate IPL 2025 and beyond. Whether it’s personalized offers, WhatsApp QR codes, or AI agents that chat like a pro, one thing is clear: The future of IPL advertising isn’t just digital—it’s conversational. And brands that don’t adapt? They might just find themselves bowled out of the competition
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