Ramadan is an exciting time for all followers of Islam; it’s a time to celebrate, to connect with family and engage with friends near and far!Ramadan is also the time to give and receive gifts. During Ramadan, we see an increase in the number of people who evaluate product brands via social media. In 2013, FaceBook interactions went up by 30% and Twitter saw a 33% increase in brand engagement online during Ramadan.
Why There’s Greater Brand Engagement During Ramadan
If you’re wondering why people seem to be spend more time online during Ramadan, there’s a reason for it. During the holy month, people in the Middle East enjoy shorter working hours; therefore people have more time to network. A lot of time is spent on charity, with people visiting their Facebook and Twitter accounts to initiate charitable endeavors. Overall, there’s an increase of 10 to 15% in social media traffic during Ramadan, with people spending about 30 to 40% of their time online.
People also check out product brands with a view to buying gifts for their loved ones during Ramadan. When a person likes a particular product brand, he or she tweets about it, and these tweets and re-tweets increase overall brand engagement.
What Companies Should Do To Take Advantage
Middle Eastern product companies should boost their campaigning expenditure by 20% during Ramadan. Apart from offline campaigns, a great deal of effort should be put into utilizing social media to increase brand engagement. Product companies with blogs are advised to focus on content that is tailored to entertain or add value to various audiences.
During Ramadan, social media helps companies to reach a wider audience, opening the doors to greater brand engagement. Given the increased interest in social media during the holy month, brand engagement is definitely multiplied during Ramadan. Any savvy business should be able to leverage this opportunity to engage with its customers and expand its customer base.
Increase In Advertising Spend During Ramadan
Opportunity For Both Large And Small Businesses
Large companies are investing heavily in advertising campaigns during the holy month. Needless to say, investments of $200 million (Dh734 million) by telecom giants Mobily, Mobinil and Zain do bring in results. That doesn’t mean smaller businesses don’t succeed. They do - because when it comes to social media, it’s the savvy marketer who gets noticed. Given this increase in brand engagement, companies are advised to launch special Ramadan sales and discounts to encourage shoppers.
It’s Not The Budget, It’s The Approach That Counts
Studies indicate that those brands that integrate their marketing campaigns to include social media along with traditional media tend to benefit greatly during Ramadan. Engagement rates tend to be organic during the holy month. This means no matter what a company’s budget is, it’s the right content push that counts.
The Timing Is All-important
Early morning prayers are very important during Ramadan, even if people tend to miss them during other times. This is followed by a day of work and fasting. People check their social media accounts mostly during the evening, with 7 P.M. being the peak time, just before people break their fast. Savvy companies should aim to push their content out during this time if they want to grab more eyeballs.
It’s Important To Follow The Trend
The trend during Ramadan when it comes to social media consumption is towards spiritual needs, charity endeavors and entertainment. Businesses that want to attract more brand engagement during the holy month should push content that’s in line with the trend.
It’s Important To Be Linguistically Realistic
Language matters; 74% of the total tweets generated during Ramadan 2013 were in Arabic, as per Arab Social Media Report. Over the past year alone, the Arab World’s Twitter users have gone up from 2 million to 3.7 million. Twitter generated no less than 336 million tweets – mostly in Arabic. Arabic therefore should be the language of promotional content during the holy month.
Arabic Tweet Stats:
- Saudi Arabia: 86%
- Kuwait: 94%
- Oman: 79%
- Egypt: 68%
Palestine, Jordon and Lebanon seem to prefer English over Arabic, and businesses in these regions must note this fact.
Social Media Channels To Watch Out
Businesses in the Arab World should watch out for certain social media channels in the Arab World, as these tend to be used more during Ramadan. Activity timings may differ – for example, on the Suhoor, channel, peak traffic is seen just before dawn.
How Businesses Should Communicate With Social Media Users
During Ramadan, social media activity tends to be relaxed, friendly and conversational. People tend to have a little more time to truly engage with their friends. They’re more open to join brand-related conversations, or to even start conversations on their own. Text chats are more common than just links and hashtags. Businesses are advised to follow suit, join conversations and increase brand engagement.
Image source - https://www.flickr.com/photos/mkhmarketing/8539048913
