The month of Ramadan is a time filled with as many challenges as opportunities. We’ve gathered all the Egyptian Ramadan insights that you need to launch your campaign in one article! By the end of the article you’ll able to avoid…
The Biggest Mistakes Egyptian Marketers Make During Ramadan
They Don’t Follow Their Audience
There are a few places that people flock to during Ramadan. Iftar tents, teta’s ornate dinner table, and suhoor spots in the heart of Cairo. We of course are not suggesting you peruse your audience (or their teta’s) whereabouts. Because the place that sees the biggest jump in traffic, more so than any of these traditional locales, is the world we carry around in our pockets. The internet.
By this point, a common Egyptian Ramadan insight is that people go the cool comfort of the digital world to escape the busy heat of day during Ramadan. This year with the ‘you know what’ keeping people in their homes and away from loved ones, this is more true than ever. In a report by Facebook, 70% of Egyptian respondents reported using technology for social interactions and 95% said they use at least one of Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp.
This is one of the few contexts where ‘follow the crowd’ is a sound piece of advice. But how can you increase your online presence without your production budget shooting to the hilal or posting so often that your audience grows bored? We’ve said it before in our article on the advantages of working with influencers, but we’ll say it again. Influencers help you create and share more content faster and for less work and money!
They Forget to Factor in New Behaviour
The month of Ramadan comes with a whole host of long standing traditions and behaviours. People leave work earlier, they get up later, and stay awake for longer. Naturally, these behaviours follow people into the online world. For example, thanks to iftar and suhoor, people tend to be more active online at around 7pm and 3am during Ramadan. People also go online for different reasons.
A Facebook report revealed some great Egyptian Ramadan insights. the most common reasons people use their platforms during Ramadan are to connect with friends and family, to watch entertainment while fasting, to share religious and Ramadan related content, and to plan social activities.
But that’s a little expected, we know. That’s why Google recommends digging around for insights unique to your niche. It’s pretty obvious that searches for food and entertainment spike during Ramadan, but did you know that the same is true for cars, makeup, and gaming? We didn’t! Some trends are invisible to the naked eye and require you to go the extra mile to find the best Egyptian Ramadan insights.
It’s not only people’s interests in content topics that changes during Ramadan. Their preference for how that content is packaged also changes. People are more willing to watch longer videos during Ramadan. Multi-part videos have also seen great performance during the month, with each entry into the series showing better performance. Content in Arabic has also been reported to do better during Ramadan.
They Focus on Ramadan Symbols
It’s tantalizingly easy to tack on a hilal, some fawanees, and a madfa3 to your Ramadan content and call it a day. Maybe throw in some khayamiya for good measure. But you know better than that. Because not only is it cliche, it also doesn’t work.
A Facebook IQ report about Egyptian Ramadan insight highlights that audiences connect much better to content that presents the themes of Ramadan rather than symbols. One study even reports a 7 point increase in recall for brands who utilize themes over traditional icons.
So, what are these themes? A very big one is charity. One study reports that 91% of the people surveyed had contributed to a charity during Ramadan. Family and togetherness are also common themes. But as we said earlier, many great insights are invisible to the naked eye. With the virus turning things topsy turvy, who knows what new interests are springing up? Make sure to take your time listening to know what values are most important to your audience.
They Spew Out Sales Messages
You’ve opened a new branch in 6th of October, launched a new flavour, and have a hot sale going on. That’s great for you, it really is. Mabrouk! But hold on a second. Regardless of how excited your audience may be about these updates, it isn’t all they want to hear about, especially not now. Ramadan is the perfect time to connect. In the online world, connection means comments, likes, shares, and messages, in other words engagement.
We highlighted earlier that according to a Facebook report, about 70% of people use technology to connect socially. This means that they’re open to having interactions and conversations. In the same Facebook report, 64% of Egyptian respondents said that their favourite way to connect with brands was through social media.
Ramadan is the ideal time for creating content with powerful calls to action. Egyptian Ramadan insights reveal that audiences are more generous with their likes and comments. This creates the perfect window for developing long term relationships with them. But don’t let your engagement efforts go to waste by forgetting to measure it! How else would you be able to measure and track your success? When you work with Trendster, we’ll take care of it all for you. We offer state of the art campaign reports. Check out this report from our campaign with McVities Minis for a small taste of what you can expect.
They Skimp on the Offers
Ramadan means daily outings and great big 3zoomat that leave you stuffed but your wallet empty. With the virus having taken its toll on the economy, the latter may be more true this year than ever before. You don’t need a list of Egyptian Ramadan insight to know that this means people are on the lookout for offers, and we’re not just talking about your penny pinching 3amma who forgoes the second egg on her macaroni bechamel. A report by YouGov claims that 40% of people search for offers during Ramadan while another by Facebook states that number to be as high as 75%.
Offers need to be made strategically though. Here are a few Egyptian Ramadan insights that can help you make your offers as effective as possible. It’s reported that about 40% of people start Ramadan purchases 3 weeks in advance. So it’s important to get those offers out ASAP. But what are the best offers that you can make? A YouGov study highlights that the offers which attracted the most consumers were buy 1 get 1 free, markdowns, and cash vouchers.
You shouldn’t worry too much about your offers eating out of your profits. Reports suggest that from 42-53% of consumers spend more and purchase more during ramadan.
They Spend Their Budget on Big Celebrities
Egyptian celebrities are great. Unlike hollywood stars, they’re a bit closer to home. If you wanted to spend a day shooting your ad with Asser Yassin or Nelly Karim, we wouldn’t blame you. They seem like awesome people to hang out with and are loved by many. But before you make that call, you’ve got to ask yourself, is it really worth the return on investment?
A google study reported higher engagement in ads that didn’t use celebrities. And it kind of makes sense. We love seeing celebrities live out idyllic romances and cooly walk away from explosions on screen. But at the end of the day, they’re stars. We admire them but they’re just sort of up there.
If not Celebrities then, who should your campaigns feature? It needs to be someone who people look to for inspiration but find relatable. Someone that they trust and aspire to be like. There’s a word for people just like that: influencers! A facebook report indicates that 89% of Egyptian respondents said that they follow public figures on social media, and there are a lot of them to choose from. With a free Trendster account you can search through our hundreds of influencers, filtering by industry, age, and more!
They Don’t Offer Value to Their Audience
Ramadan is a busy time for your audience. They’ve got a lot on their minds and in their hands. This presents a good opportunity to create content that offers them genuine help. If you’re a pasta brand for example, you can offer tips to help around the kitchen. This doesn’t need to be limited to recipes which feature your products. With the chaos of Covid still raging on over a year later, audiences may need more of a hand than usual. Spend some time studying your audience and the unique challenges that they may be facing during this month.
They start too late (and stop too early)
Perhaps one of the biggest ways you can miss opportunities is by staring too late. As we’ve highlighted, a Facebook IQ study reports that 39% of Egyptians start to make Ramadan purchases 3 weeks before the month. For 2021 this means your content needs to already be rolling.
Another way that you can miss out on opportunities is by stopping too early. Many campaigns start out strong and then fizzle out before Eid. A Google report notes that an increase in Youtube viewership continues into Eid. Another Google report reveals one of the most surprising Egyptian Ramadan insights: Ramadan related searches continue 3 weeks after the month is over. This offers a great opportunity to connect with your audience with less competition for their attention.
If you’re more worried about being too late right now, then we’ve got some great news for you. With a free Trendster account, you can set up and launch an influencer marketing campaign in less than thirty minutes.
We’d be happy to walk you through the campaign creation process and any questions that you may have. Feel free to reach us at info@trendster.io.