As the holy month of Ramadan fast approaches and businesses once again gear up for a period of heightened consumer activity and engagement, similar questions tend to arise for advertisers.
Should they follow the same trusted formula as previous years when devising their audience and comms strategy? Or is there new information or a growing trend that would require a shift from previous Ramadan strategies? What will never change though, is the desire for advertisers to capture the attention of this region’s audience.
A true connection and message, without it being loosely applied or force fitted, between an advertiser and an audience in this Ramadan, has never been more important. ‘Good old fashioned’ marketing practices that consist of deriving insights from your audience’s interests, behaviors and actions are more pertinent now than they ever have been.
Audience insights around Ramadan continue to prove invaluable. With a return of pre-covid levels of investment during Ramadan, the demand to ensure higher ROI from digital activity remains high for all parties. From a local media owner perspective, and one that is home to millions of Arabs during Ramadan, Mawdoo3 Group feels ideally placed to shed some light on what audiences are looking for, and how marketers can best leverage.
Whether it’s the quest for traditional recipes, the search for a heartfelt Ramadan prayer, or the exploration of fashion or self-care routine, a deep dive and a focus on data can uncover the pulse of the Arab consumer’s interest with unparalleled precision.
RAMADAN DATA-DRIVEN ANALYSIS
For some context, there were over 42 million visitors to Mawdoo3 Network sites in Ramadan 2023. 35 per cent of those visitors came from Saudi Arabia with an additional 24 per cent from GCC, the data reveals remarkable shifts compared to 2022.
We categorise the Ramadan period into 4 distinct phases: Preparation, Excitement, Reflection, and Celebration. The search & shopping behaviors of the GCC consumers across these 4 distinct phases greatly changes during Ramadan.
During each phase, we saw dramatic peaks in traffic and content consumption vs. Ramadan 2022. During the Preparation phase, ‘Food recipes’ saw a 900 per cent+ increase, with other notable increases in kitchenware and home appliances (140 per cent).
During the Excitement phase, ‘selfcare’ products and content tends to have the largest growth, with 291 per cent with health routines related to fasting a 175 per cent increase. The Celebration phase saw a higher demand for Eid shopping, gifts, travel, and entertainment options – we saw an 80 per cent increase overall vs. 2022.
While the Reflection phase experienced significant growth, with searches surging for self-reflection, meditation, prayers towards the final days of Ramadan seeing a 750 per cent growth rate.
Deeper analysis shows that whilst COVID-19 seems a long time ago, the pandemic’s affect continues to remain. Since then, there has been a transformed consumer search behavior throughout the years, witnessing a notable shift towards online self-education, self-care products, home cooking searches, mental health-related searches, and wellness-focused activities.
In fact, mental health-related searches on the network’s medical platform,Webteb, skyrocketed by 3000 per cent, reflecting a growing emphasis on holistic well-being.
An additional noteworthy observation is the significant rise in test-your-self tools and content the group has created off the back of growing demand, (200 per cent increase), which consists of a series of questions designed to help visitors better understand their mental and physical health as well as their personality during Ramadan.
WHATS IN FOR RAMADAN 2024
As Ramadan approaches, early indications in the Preparation phase suggest a continuation of trends that shaped Ramadan 2023. Food remains a cornerstone of the audience interest, with early indications revealing a heightened passion for a diversity of recipes and experimentation in the kitchen.
The timing of Preparation started early this year vs. last year – suggesting a more focused and determined approach to the start of the Holy month than previous years.
The best engagement remains, as we have seen to date, through advertisers utilising all available audience information and building it into their profiling, messaging and call to action.
So same same really, but with a hint of different.
-By Luca Allam, CoFounder and Deputy CEO at Mawdoo3 Group
