1 April 2017

Digital marketing methods must change in the Middle East during Ramadhan

  Source: Think with Google website. Changes in statistics for Musalsalat, a hub for a Ramadhan TV series, during the month.

Source: Think with Google website. Changes in statistics for Musalsalat, a hub for a Ramadhan TV series, during the month.

Ramadhan requires specific digital marketing optimisation techniques in the Middle East and North Africa, says the Think with Google blog. According to blog authors Vrinda Singh, Google Analytical Consultant, David Lacklen, YouTube Specialist, and Younis Maqousi, Google Analytical Consultant, people access the Internet more often on their mobile devices, watch more YouTube videos, and use search engines more often during the month.

"We also notice that during Ramadhan people are more willing to engage with brands, they watch more ads on YouTube and they share, like and comment more. This heightened engagement behaviour is then sustained for the remainder of the year, so establishing a strong presence in Ramadhan is crucial for long term success," say Singh, Lacklen and Maqousi.

According to Google, average view duration during Ramadhan increases by 11%, users subscribe at 13% more quickly, and commented 57% more during Ramadhan 2016 compared to the rest of the year.
The top six learnings from top Ramadhan ads in 2016, garnered through the inaugural Lantern award, are:

1. Do multi-part stories

2. Think like a service provider, such as a bank or telco

3. Engage people

4. Try different ways to tell the story

5. Consider not using a celebrity

6. Eid is a good focus, too

Timing is important, too. The Ramadhan build-up begins a month before the start. Searches for recipes are 50% higher than the annual average at the start of the month, and cooking videos on Youtube increase in views a month before, spiking at almost 30% higher than average in the first week of Ramadhan. Think with Google says that there is a 44% decrease of viewership between the first and last week of Ramadhan, and 25% more viewership during the month than in other months.

Source: Think with Google page. Spikes in searches for recipes during Ramadhan.
Source: Think with Google page. Spikes in searches for recipes during Ramadhan.

Internet activity is typically up in the hours before the fast is broken, and down thereafter, for example. According to the blog authors, UAE food delivery queries go up 144% between 1pm and 7pm. The busiest search times for restaurant information then comes between 6 PM and 8 PM - just around iftar, but continues until around 2am.

There are more searches around faith and religion, particularly for music and film, but also animated movies, possibly to entertain children, the blog authors said. Other popular searches were for keywords around luxury vehicles, fashion and beauty.

Interested?

Browse the detailed statistics for Ramadhan digital behaviour in Ramadan Insights part 1, about data mining and insight generation