Digital marketing can be clearly called as one of the best marketing mediums owing to its effectiveness and simplicity. As compared to several conventional marketing tools, it is more accountable and enables companies to keep a track of their investment. Companies and brands are now investing in campaigns regardless of their budget and are able to measure the responses in real time.
Digital marketing is bigger than ever in diverse economies of Europe and the United States. Further, it is leaving a lasting impact on the Middle East and Asia Pacific region. The Middle East is an amalgamation of several markets with assorted cultures and preferences. It can be a tough task to target Middle East as a single market.
The Arabic consumer is looking for something specific and personalized. Even the best digital marketing firms in the Middle East face difficulty in understanding critical objectives of a marketing campaign which includes measuring and tracking results and stay more concerned with short term results. In order to put such efforts into perspective, you need to draft a thriving overall strategy and make digital marketing a part of it.
In the Middle East, digital marketing is showing certain trends, which will cause the digital transformation of the region.
Mobile dominance
The relentless increase of users accessing the web through mobile means its importance continues. There were two important markers for mobile:
- Google announcing a mobile-first web index.
- The fact that mobile traffic has overtaken desktop for internet usage.
Due to which there is a massive increase in developing and designing a mobile app for business and also increasing the revenues of mobile app development companies in the Middle East.
Native advertising
Native advertising is an efficient and effective medium to help marketers to send out their content and expand their reach with the connected Arab audience. It is probably the most used tool in the Middle East. The best digital marketing companies in the Middle East are making use of this medium and working with bloggers, influencers and site owners to market brand and products. There is significant room for using native advertising in different campaigns. For instance, AdZouk has its own platform for native advertising called Zoukontent.
Brand marketers are shifting gears towards adopting content marketing strategy as a key element of their marketing plan. They focus on creating content that searchable, shareable and sustainable too!
Local expertise
Local agencies are doing quite well in the Middle East market owing to their specialized knowledge about customer preferences and hence are performing quite well in the digital marketing vertical. International brands are increasingly pairing up with local agencies to create campaigns that inspire user engagement.
With such targeted campaigns, local SEO initiatives and geo-targeted mobile advertising are reshaping the digital marketing scene in the Middle East. These efforts help agencies and brands to not just create and run campaigns but get real-time analytics to measure the ROI and help in making future adjustments.
E-commerce turns to e-commerce
The e-commerce sector in MENA has touched the $10 billion mark, and much of the recent growth is coming from the influence of social networks– particularly when it comes to fashion. You just have to look at the impact of locally produced shows like House of Bazaar, hosted by Harper’s Bazaar Arabia and Fashion Forward at d3 to see the power of “people like me” driving the engagement and ultimately sales of brands both locally and internationally. As a result, there is an increase in demand of ecommerce development companies in Mena region.
Video content
Markets in the Middle East give preference to video content. It is estimated that over 45% of individuals with the internet, access YouTube at least once in a day. Marketers have realized the relevance of video and are creating engaging and exciting video content to up their marketing efforts.
As the shift towards video content takes place, advertisers and users in the Middle East countries are taking the same steps to connect with their target audiences. In countries like Iran and certain sections of UAE, infrastructure; particularly internet is more apt for video content. The best digital marketing companies in the Middle East are experiencing a sea change in their initiatives due to more prevalence of internet services in the region.
Conclusion
In near future, we shall see the digital marketing landscape in the Middle East changing and more international brands coming in to collaborate with local talent. Technology giants like Lenovo and Sony are already present in the Arabian market. More tools and resources are being developed to allow smaller firms to take advantage of new trends.
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Around three years ago, only 1% of ad spending was focused on digital marketing; but this figure is set to grow up to 18 % by the year 2018. It will be fascinating to know how the market further expands with digital marketing as the chief component.
The Middle East market has been slower than the rest of the world to adopt the sweeping changes in the digital marketing realm. However, inflection point has come and the market has matured enough to give more opportunities to consumers as well as marketers for growth and expansion.