Over the last decade and more, Ramadan coincided around the middle of the year, dictating businesses to craft a distinct marketing strategy.
This approach involved distributing their marketing efforts across the year mirroring a bell curve budget model: starting with a soft communication in quarter one, then strategically allocating a hefty budget around Ramadan to establish connections and make a significant impact and then sustaining momentum till the end of year.
This gave a push for brands to reach their targets and make significant strides towards achieving end-of-year targets.
This time around, Ramadan has dictated a different set of rules. With the holy month falling in quarter one, brands need to revisit their marketing strategy as it represents a crucial building block that will set the tone for the rest of the year.
While Ramadan inherently poses as a short-term opportunity by itself, this year it will allow brands to capitalise on the efforts invested during this period, extracting maximum potential that can resonate throughout the year.
This, however, requires a strategic approach that is well-planned in advance of this period, particularly as consumers start their hunt up to two weeks earlier.
It is indisputable that during Ramadan, there is a general surge in online consumption, time spent online grows and consumers express eagerness to explore new brands and products during this month. It is a period where brand discovery is at its highest, with consumer taking more time to evaluate their choices.
This signifies a golden opportunity for brands as consumers are willing to share more information and preferences, if it means they get access to additional privileges from brand.
Even if consumers don’t end up converting, leaving this trail of information on a brand’s assets is of high worth. There is an opportunity for brands to build on the short-term goal of increasing impact during Ramadan by gathering valuable data and signals to feed their strategies for the rest of the year.
To execute this effectively, brands must prioritise having the necessary infrastructure set up, with an optimised website and/or app measurement in place. This includes not only having a well-established Customer Relationship Management system but also conducting a thorough audit if one is already in place to ensure the right data is captured.
Ideally having customer data platforms ahead of the launch is crucial. The combination of both will ensure a comprehensive ecosystem is in place to gather the right data for future implementation. While third party data holds value, the superiority of first party data is undeniable.
Brands should capitalise on their first party data in their long-term data driven strategies as it remains the most invaluable data resource a brand can have access to. Leveraging this data by re-activating it post Ramadan in less active periods will prove its significance worth.
For a successful activation of data driven strategies, segmentations and customisations are key. It involves understanding and analysing audiences’ preferences through their browsing history, time spent, pages viewed and actions taken. The crucial aspect is to reach audiences with the right message at a later stage, aligning with their interests and behaviours.
An integral component to achieve this is the adoption of Artificial Intelligence, which empowers businesses to process vast amounts of data efficiently, gaining insights that enhance the precision of personalised communication and engagement with the audience.
Implementing these strategies will not only make your consumers feel valued, as they highly appreciate personalisation, but it will also have a positive impact, building a brand’s equity and elevating the sense of loyalty among consumers.
The implementation of these technologies requires a significant investment. Yet, investing in technology shouldn’t be viewed as a short-term cost for the brand, the return it will gather in the long term will elevate your brand towards an enhanced level of digital maturity and will steer your brand to lead against its competition.
This is particularly true during Ramadan, given the heightened online activity of consumers during this period. To be future-ready means proactively embracing innovation and evolving trends to position your brand for long-term success.
Rather than viewing this Ramadan as a fleeting opportunity for immediate sales gains, brands should consider leveraging it as a foundational cornerstone for building a successful and sustained year.
By Rasha Mansour, Head of Strategy & Analytics at LeadGen
