By Mohamed Junaid, director at Pivotroots
The holy month of Ramadan is a deeply meaningful time for nearly two billion people around the world who engage in daily fasting and reflect on their spiritual and personal growth. In particular, the Middle East and North Africa region has a strong cultural tradition of observing Ramadan, which often includes gift-giving and shopping as an important aspect of the season. As we look forward to the arrival of Ramadan in 2023, we can anticipate several media trends that will shape how people celebrate and engage with the holy month.
During the holy month of Ramadan in the Middle East and North Africa region, where the occasion is both a significant cultural and commercial event, advertising clutter can be a major challenge for marketers and brands. In order to cut through the noise and resonate with audiences, it’s essential to be relevant and authentic.
To achieve this, marketers and brands should:
- Personalise consumer experiences
In an era of rapid change and shifting values, integrity, morals, and trust have become increasingly important to customers as they engage with brands. According to a recent report by Salesforce, 89 per cent of respondents from the UAE believe that trust is even more critical during times of transition.
To create a personalised and authentic consumer experience that fosters trust, brands must focus on building meaningful connections with their audiences. This means developing relevant content that resonates with customers and provides real value to their lives. By doing so, brands can enhance their customers’ comfort level and confidence when transitioning from an advertisement to making a purchase.
However, in order to achieve this goal, brands must develop future-proof strategies that balance innovation with a human touch. In other words, they must create immersive experiences that are engaging and meaningful to consumers, while also remaining personalised and authentic.
In order to, achieve this balance, it’s crucial for brands to tap into powerful human insights and use them to build meaningful stories that resonate with their audiences. Authenticity is key to establishing trust and credibility with consumers, and brands must be transparent and honest in their communications and interactions.
2. Be a storyteller
Storytelling has been a popular means of communication for centuries, and it remains a powerful tool for connecting with people. Through storytelling, brands can create emotional connections and convey complex ideas and information in a way that is both memorable and easily understandable.
One effective strategy for using storytelling in marketing is to create a multi-story series. This approach allows brands to build on previous content and create a more immersive experience for their audience. By developing a series of interconnected stories, brands can explore different themes and ideas, keeping the content fresh and engaging.
Using a storytelling approach and creating multi-story series can help brands connect with their audiences on a deeper level. By tapping into emotions and values that resonate with their customers, brands can foster a sense of trust and loyalty. This, in turn, can increase engagement and help build a lasting relationship between the brand and its audience.
3. Win with relevancy
To effectively connect with their target audience, brands must create content that addresses real user needs, speaks to their true passions, and addresses relevant real-life issues. In order to achieve this, brands must base their content strategies on real consumer insights.
By developing content that is relevant and valuable to their target audience’s needs and passions, brands can build trust and establish themselves as thought leaders in their industry. By focusing on delivering high-quality, insightful content that meets their target audience’s needs, brands can create a deeper level of engagement and help foster long-term relationships with their customers.
4. The root of every strategy is data
Although businesses are under pressure to make omnichannel consumer interactions into a personalised experience as in-person interaction reemerges, it is undeniable that customer engagement has now become digital-first.
To stay abreast of our consumers, it is critical that we take into account the information that can assist us to comprehend our consumers’ psychographics and affinities if we want to keep on top of them. Enabling brands to use predictive analysis to produce great customer experiences, data, and analytics integration can give them a competitive edge. By using this method, brands can better anticipate and meet the requirements and expectations of their customers by developing a deeper understanding of their demographics and psychographics. As a result, businesses can develop experiences that are more seamless and unique, increasing consumer happiness and loyalty.
