12 strategies for successful digital marketing campaigns in UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has a rich and diverse population.

Most importantly, it has the amazing ability to attract people across countries, demographics, fields of work and varied interests. Plus, it is affluent with a massively vast range of industries, products and services including technology adaptation, integration etc.

No wonder it is a dream come true for any marketer to design, develop and implement marketing strategies, especially digital marketing across UAE. But unlike how marketing works across many other locations, wherein discounts, freebies, deals, coupons etc are core factors that appeal to users, in UAE things work a little bit differently.

In UAE, it is more focused towards building Trust, credibility with culture, unique product or services integrated with the best customer journey & experiences and finally, value that is both measurable and empowers the brand and its customers in every sense of the term.

Here are 12 strategies that are core when it comes to digital marketing especially in UAE across industries:

1. Visual wins Big: Rich media content is not only highly desired, but is an integral part of a digital marketing campaign in the UAE. The respect for quality creative is immense and irrespective of which industry you focus on, make sure you have high resolution creative and or high HD videos that will form core parts of the campaign strategy. No wonder why sites like INSTAGRAM have a great impact across UAE.

Some interesting stats:

• Instagram hit 63 million users in MENA region
• 500,000 advertisers are already using Instagram to grow their business
• 70 per cent of Instagrammers follow a business, with 75 per cent saying they take action after seeing a post

No wonder there is such a massive increase in Instagram influencers especially across regions like DUBAI, ABU DHABI etc (Stats Source: UAE BUSINESS REVIEW as on Feb 21 207)

So whether you are working with a Real-estate brand or a Retail store, integrating rich interactive content experiences like Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), HD Videos etc ensuring that “VISUAL WINS BIG” goes a long way to ensure integration of virtual world of conversation and real-time engagement between brands and its end users.

2. TRUST is core: Sales in UAE, whether it is through direct marketing or through digital, needs to go through a process where it’s not just about selling, but rather, “relationship building”. The consumers in UAE value trust and a sense of reputation when they associate themselves with brands. This needs to be a core aspect of any digital strategy. It’s not just about freebies and discounts here, rather, ensure that consumers see you as a great opportunity for long-term association.

Let’s say you are from an investment banking industry or finance industry, ensure that your customer testimonials are bespoke and not just generic.

So to speak, a customer success story about reaching from point A to Success in terms of what they were looking for may be as a working professional or a long-term future goal or a family that dreamed about not just ensuring their kids get the best education but also a wonderful and luxurious lifestyle etc could resonate better than having a standard general video advertisement.

Numbers when integrated with real results goes a long way to build trust among end users in UAE.

3. Team work is respected, appreciated and expected: UAE is about a strong work culture. You cannot design and implement a digital marketing strategy in isolation as a digital team from some corner of the world by just posting on social networking sites of the organization for which you are running a digital campaign. Communication, coordination and ensuring that the different teams within the brand or organization for eg. Sales, IT, Corporate Communication, Legal even Finance etc are well aware of the digital strategy and plan while implementing these campaigns.

4. Customer experience triumphs everything else: UAE is very serious when it comes to customer journey and experience. Ensure that not just the product and or service are personalized, but also the process to engage with brands. For eg. if your business deals financial or health, mental wellness etc in other words, industries that deal with sensitive issues and information, make sure that you have a distinct process for end users to engage privately with the brands. So if your core landing page is a blog, instead of a public comment, make sure your blog allows for a private call or a private chat or a private messaging platform. Same goes for facebook messenger, twitter direct messaging etc. On similar lines, it’s always advisable to have someone who can very well converse in Arabic too or at least a website that has options for content in the local language too as an additional option. Here it is core to note that using “automated language translations” are a strict NO because many times literal automated translations might end up doing more harm than good as it has the tendency to lose the relevance, importance and emotion behind that message.

5. Discipline: UAE is serious when it comes to having discipline. Digital Marketing in UAE is all about pure strategy and very clearly defined steps and goals with a vivid outline of the digital marketing campaign plan. Strategic process presented, planned and followed in a disciplined manner goes a long way irrespective of which industry you are working with. Here again, goals need to be extremely clear, for eg. You might be able to get away in other countries by having a social media or digital goal as “increase in brand mentions” but when it comes to UAE, numbers are crucial. So a better goal plan with a digital strategy for organizations in UAE would be “65% increase in brand mentions on Twitter, 60% increase in brand mentions on facebook, 45% increase in brand engagement on instagram, 25% increase in sales across industry vertical A etc in the next 60 days using organic, content marketing, SEO and paid digital campaigns”.

6. Ecommerce and ANALYTICS: Like I said, numbers form a crucial part of digital marketing campaigns in UAE. Understanding customers using analytics is not just advisable but 100% necessary. For eg. In a retail industry or a brand selling fashion clothing or perfume or custom designed diamonds or jewellery etc online across their ecommerce platform, understanding customers browsing patterns, their preferences, the type of brands they seem to be inclined towards, understanding why they have abandoned carts and using such data to create better product placements, reminding them of their various buying options, about their abandoned carts, creating a more personalized shopping experience online will create a power packed impact and ensure greater sales among customers and prospects in UAE.

7. Mobile: Right from responsive website design to paid marketing strategies for SEO and content mobile is a crucial part of users in UAE. Did You know: UAE features in the list of countries with the largest number of smartphone and internet users in the world. It also has the biggest Facebook user base in the Gulf region with more than 93% of the population logging on this platform.

8. Luxury not deals: UAE has a culturally and financially rich group of users who are more than happy and willing to pay premium price for products that can showcase uniqueness, value and luxury in every sense of the term. So when designing content, rather than using words such a deals, cheap pricing, offers etc reiterating aspects of luxury, distinct, limited editions etc will help you resonate as a brand with users in the long run. For eg. Tesla Inc has started selling its luxury electric cars in Dubai, marking its first foray into the Middle East. Sales of luxury cars in the Gulf states are among the highest in the world per capita (Stats / News Source: theglobeandmail.com ) So at the end of the day, UAE is a power packed and rich market across industries of real-estate, lifestyle, automobiles and across scores of other industries. Remember, when marketing in UAE, it’s about Lifestyle experiences.

9. Digital transformation: The difference between running a successful digital marketing campaign in UAE in comparison to the brands that have failed to do so can be brought down to one single aspect in majority of the cases. It is digital transformation. Organizations in UAE that are really serious about running a digital campaign need to ensure that, not only are their facebook content and twitter messages integrating new age media tools, but so is their website too. In other words, having interactive easy to use websites that are responsive is a vital factor in your digital campaign success. According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Information Technology Report 2015, the UAE has the second highest internet penetration in the world, with a ‘We Are Social study’ in January 2016 saying 96% of the population here is online. So for the digital transformation to truly work ensure it is reflected across digital platforms that is uniform and helps the brand and the organization stand distinct.

In case you are looking for Custom designed Digital Transformation process, or a customized Corporate training for your top employees as part of their Employee skill development programs in UAE – Check out our UAE Focused Training on “Digital Marketing Advanced with hands-on case study based approach” here >>> Advanced Digital Marketing Corporate Training UAE – DUBAI

10. Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC): In UAE, even as digital has grown by leaps and bounds there is still a great deal of value, trust and respect for traditional marketing. So a power packed successful digital strategy should ensure a process than can create a point of confluence of various digital technologies with a point of convergence for traditional marketing materials and media too like PR, branding collateral etc To give you a simple example, let’s say, a health care industry in UAE, could ensure that their PR campaigns have a barcode that can be easily scanned by users, has clear mentions of email ids, website links, apps for AR that can be easily downloaded on their phone by scanning the images or pictures, social networking ids etc and on similar terms the digital content uses these creative from traditional media optimally across their various channels online too. This also ensures uniformity of content across platforms which is a crucial aspect when it comes to corporate communication.

11. Respect traditions, guidelines and rules: While creating ads, ensure you follow certain rules, restrictions, guidelines that are clearly defined across various cities within UAE regions. Different locations have different laws and regulations when it comes to the types of content that can be created as advertisements etc. So ensure you strictly follow the same so as to not hurt their sentiments and at the same time respect their beliefs. Remember, a consumer does not buy from the brand, rather he or she builds a relationship for the long-term. This is especially true for consumers of luxury and lifestyle brands.

12. BRAND Reputation: Even though this aspect is true across countries, it’s especially core in UAE. A brand reputation is everything. With the power to make or break a brand resting with the customers online today, managing brand monitoring, brand reputation etc cannot be ignored at all in today’s context. Brands were an intangible asset, but as tools and customers are empowered every day, its measurability, visibility etc is soaring through the digital metrics more than ever before.

As an organization in UAE, to ensure you have a strong brand reputation, you not only need to be a successful organization in the eyes of the global market, but you also need to be able to influence consumers choices in a way that redefines how they think and speak about you online or otherwise.

So a successful digital strategy in UAE also needs to ensure it tracks, monitors, measures and at the same time has enough time devoted towards creating messages and content that give due importance to building strong brand reputation and is monitored to ensure customers concerns and or queries are addressed in real-time.

Social media is not about hits, likes or follows. It was, is and will always be about People. People buy from People they Trust. So always ensure to sincerely HUMANIZE Your BRAND.

Digital marketing is an integral part of reaching out to targeted customers and prospects with content that is personalized and relevant today. So at all times to ensure you follow the Corporate Communication‘s process, guidelines and keep it professional for a successful campaign strategy at all times.

Data is the heart of a Digital Marketing campaign and Content is the Soul of a BRAND.

UAE is a vast and wonderful market wherein you as a brand can reach out to its digital consumers in an innovative way every single day to not only ensure increase purchases but also exceptional customer experiences.

As a Digital Agency that has in the past 7 years that has catered to 43+ Client brands across 23 industries and 6 countries (INDIA, USA, UK, UAE, SPAIN, AUS), our experience with UAE market has also been simply wonderful, including our rapport with the Brands and esteemed Elite organizations in UAE.

What has your digital marketing experience as a consumer or a brand been in UAE so far?

Do share your views as comments with me here, would love to hear from you.

Thank You for taking your time to go through this post.

In case you are looking for custom designed Digital Marketing Campaigns, feel free to reach us using our Quick form link HERE

Have a wonderful day ahead.

Best Regards & BE WELL

Ananth V

Let’s Connect – Facebook – Twitter – Social Media Book – Corporate Training Digital Marketing – Website

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