LinkedIn Arabic Advertising – The time to start is now!
LinkedIn might not be at the top of your list when choosing social media platforms for advertising, but don’t write it off! LinkedIn is massively popular throughout the Middle East and North Africa for professionals and businesses looking to network. LinkedIn is a great choice for advertising because the platform has done an excellent job in optimizing it for Arabic-language use. Arabic LinkedIn’s popularity goes hand in hand with the extremely high social media usage rates in the region. Social media penetration rates are on the rise throughout the entire Middle East, led by the Gulf region countries […]
The Middle East Arab Consumer Profile
The Arab consumer is unique and needs to be treated differently than consumers in other parts of the world. Below we will examine some of the consumer behavior, traits, characteristics and demographics of a Middle Eastern Arab consumer that set them apart from consumers in other parts of the world. It should be noted that many of these points are broad generalizations with the intent to help inform businesses looking to operate in the region on how they can better reach their target audience. Since these are broad generalizations about Arab consumers there will always be exceptions to these traits […]
7 Middle East Online Payment Methods
Despite the opulent wealth in many of the Gulf countries, payment methods in the Arab world are still catching up to what they are in many western countries. Many Middle Eastern countries have typically been cash-based societies and the use of credit cards has been a relatively new thing in the region. To add to this laws about interest in the Quran and the Hadith have made it hard for many interest-based payment methods to take hold in the region because they are considered to be against the practices of Islam. In this article I will outline some of the payment […]
Arab Business Meetings: A Comprehensive Guide
The Middle East is currently a focus for many Western companies looking to expand their reach and take advantage of this region’s fruitful opportunities. Conducting business in the Middle East and the Arab World means forging international partnerships and bridging cultural gaps: a solid foundation of cross-cultural understanding and respect should be established to ensure success. IstiZada is here to help – our guide on Arab business meetings will give you a comprehensive overview of what you need to know about making the most of Middle East business meetings.
The Ultimate Eid Al-Fitr Marketing Guide
Eid Al-Fitr – What is it? As one of the biggest Muslim holidays, Eid Al-Fitr presents a great opportunity for marketers to engage with consumers across the Muslim world. By understanding the cultural and religious background of the holiday and the ways in which it is celebrated, marketers will be able to effectively target their approaches to a vast audience of consumers. From the holiday’s history to current market trends, this guide will break down what you need to know about Eid Al-Fitr to make the most of this opportunity.
Arab World Seasonal Promotion Guide
If you’re looking to take your marketing in the Arab world to the next level this post will provide and in-depth look into seasonal marketing opportunities in the Arab world. Feel free to use this post to help you plan out your seasonal promotions to Arab consumers in countries across the in Middle East.
Arab Snapchat Marketing in the Middle East – A Guide
Visually-led social networks have grown exponentially in the Middle Eastern region, with Snapchat at the forefront of the social media trend. According to Snapchat user data, the mobile app currently has about 33 million users in the Middle East. Company growth in this region has far out-paced growth in many other countries. Saudis are among the highest active daily users of Snapchat, with residents of Riyadh and Jeddah using the camera 40 times a day on average, and spending approximately 35 minutes a day surfing snaps. These figures are huge when compared to Snapchat’s global average of 25 times […]
Top 25 Social Media Influencers in the Middle East
Social media influencers are users of one or more social media platforms who have amassed large followings that are continuously engaged with their content. Coming from a variety of backgrounds – with some of them being reality TV stars, makeup artists, or fitness gurus – they curate and post content that highlights items, hobbies, activities, or places. Often, influencer posts are sponsored by larger companies who offer payments for the advertising service or offer commissions based on the activity of people who have engaged with the social media posts and then completed the action desired by the company. These actions […]
Middle East Ad Spend Trends
According to the Northwest University Qatar estimates in their Media Industries in the Middle East 2016, the total ad market in the Middle East was valued at 5.5 billion USD in 2015. While it only accounted for a small percentage of global ad spend in 2015, the market in the Middle East is ripe with opportunities for marketers to expand their advertising. Though the current market structure differs greatly from that of the global market, or even other underdeveloped markets, the MENA region is seeing a gradual shift into the modern era of digital marketing, an area especially pertinent to […]
6 Ways to Increase Arab Sales Online
Any market entry plan should include strategy and tactics for reaching your target audience effectively within that region. How a product is marketed in some regions of the world may be very different from how it should be marketed in the Middle East. In this post we will examine some of the unique ways you should be marketing and selling your products to Arabs. 1. Think Tribe & Family with Arabs Arabs are considered to be collectivists. Collectivists show a high degree of loyalty commitment to their group, family, and tribes. They are committed to their extended family unit […]
10 Surprising Things Arabs are Searching on Google
Ever since Google came out with their Autocomplete feature in their search results in 2008, people have been fascinated the suggested search queries that populate below the search bar as they type. Google is known to use the most common search queries related to keywords you are typing in to auto populate the suggestion box and this is no different in the Arab world. Just by looking at what appears in this box you can quickly get an idea of some of the most common things people are searching for in Google. In this article we explore some of the […]
Top 10 Arab Comedy Channels on YouTube
YouTube is exploding with Arab content these days. We wanted to take a look into the most popular comedy channels in the region. We looked at the number of channel views and subscribers to come up with this list of the top ten comedy channels in the MENA region. Three company names kept appearing when we were doing our research on the best Arab comedy on YouTube – Telfaz, Sa7i, and Kharabesh. Each of these production companies has a wide array of online content in Arabic, most of which we weren’t able to explore on this list. What is so […]