On Tuesday 29th March 2022, Twitter and Campaign ME hosted the final session of their exclusive four-part Spaces series on @TwitterMktgMENA, which has welcomed a series of experts offering listeners engaging insights on marketing tactics and consumer behaviour during Ramadan. Focusing on ‘Ramadan for good’, the fourth and final session hosted Jawaher Abdelhamid, Public Policy Manager for Twitter MENA, who was joined by Hani Al Zubaidi, CEO of Make-A-Wish UAE. Once again led by Austyn Allison, Campaign ME, Senior Editor, the episode explored how consumer habits evolve during the Holy Month and Twitter’s role in driving philanthropy and donations.
Make-A-Wish UAE, Hani Al Zubaidi, CEO, said: “At Make-A-Wish we do one thing and one thing only: we grant magical wishes. Children can wish for their dreams to come true in four categories: ‘wish to go’, ‘wish to meet’, ‘wish to be’ and ‘wish to have.’ It can be anything in their mind that we will make come true. Many of these children are selected through Twitter, via messages from their families.”
“People believe in the mission of Make-A-Wish and in giving hope to children, so we are lucky to have a lot of people who believe in what we are doing”, he added. Commenting on what is particularly special for Make-A-Wish UAE at a time like Ramadan, Hani said: “Most of the charities in Muslim countries are focusing much more on Ramadan for their activities. At Make-A-Wish and other charities in the region, between 30%-50% of donations come during the Holy Month. People love to give and Ramadan is the month of giving.”
Recognising the role Twitter plays in philanthropic endeavours, Hani expressed that Twitter is one of the most important platforms for connecting with the community. He stated that Twitter is one of the most critical platforms and that Make-A-Wish always reaches the public via Twitter and makes full use of its tools, especially during Ramadan.
Jawaher Abdelhamid, Public Policy Manager for Twitter MENA, commented on Twitter as a platform for giving during Ramadan: “Twitter is what’s happening and what people are talking about right now. The content that is published from not for profit organisations and brands is what helps our audiences see and feel the impact of Twitter during Ramadan. Over 90% of our audiences engage with charities and react positively to charitable content during Ramadan. This emphasises the importance of building a strategy and leveraging the receptive audience to tell your story on Twitter.”
Addressing the tools available for use by brands on Twitter, Jawaher added: “The best stories that we’ve seen on the platform are the ones that use a variety of our tools and different elements of our products. If used correctly, we can say that every tool on Twitter can be leveraged to tap into those meaningful conversations. People want to see positive content, they want uplifting stories, they want to do good and engage with those conversations – and these conversations usually start on Twitter first.” She also mentioned that Lists are a useful tool to collaborate with a partner charitable organisation and to find meaningful ways to engage, and that video has been one of the best ways to reach people and tell a story in a very meaningful way during the Holy Month.
Leading up to the session’s conclusion, Hani highlighted the range of tools available for engagement on Twitter for a nonprofit organisation and the typical level of subsequent results: “At times we have been surprised at the level of engagement with our content. We are seeing the impact we are having as a company, especially in the UAE.” He pointed out that the first 10 and the final 10 days of Ramadan are the usual focus for campaigns because many people are more inspired to do good then, and this is when the majority of funding comes in for Make-A-Wish UAE.
As a closing note, Jawaher stressed the importance of ongoing discussion around the topic of philanthropy: “The conversation around philanthropy must be a continuing dialogue, and must be consistent throughout the year. It doesn’t start or end during Ramadan, it is simply a time when the subject is further amplified.”
