The E-commerce market in the Arab world is worth at least $7bn and that is why tech and communication companies like Facebook are looking to MENA and in particular KSA to establish and grow their brands in the region. Facebook has even implemented tailor products to help meet this objective.
However, this is not an article of why Facebook is in KSA. This is the story of why you should start using Facebook actively as a part of your online marketing strategy if you haven’t already.
Before we dive into the social media platforms that are active in KSA let’s have a look at the numbers across the MENA region.
Of the about 99 million or 88% of people that use social media sites daily in MENA, about 58 million are on Facebook and only 6.5 million on Twitter. And a fewer 5.8 on LinkedIn. In order to reach the most people with your message, then Facebook for business is the right tool to use. We go over the advantages that it has over the other social media platforms here as well.
In a narrow view, the numbers are in and Facebook is one of the leading social media platforms in KSA and with that many people on the platform, daily, why would you not want to use this platform to reach more people and maintain a foothold of this campaign.
28.8 million people in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
83% mobile internet penetration
16 million facebook users - these aren’t just casual users, 81% of them are on the site daily and spend about 2.5 hours daily on the site.
Let’s compare this with the rest of social media usage in MENA and the KSA
Meaning of the 28.8 million people that live in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, about half use Facebook. What’s even better is that since Facebook owns Instagram and the Audience Network, you have even more chances to reach your target consumers directly.
And if you think that users of Facebook/Instagram don’t use the platform as e-commerce, consumers then you would be wrong.
It turns out that 45% of KSA users searched for prices of their local goods online.
40% of users were likely to search for contact information and then a business’s location. These are users are willing to drill all the way down to finding information about the local business hours and then the contact information of their local businesses.
So why not meet these people where they already are. Provide details about the information they are looking for anyway.
You might be thinking to yourself. Yes, but users in KSA buy their products in person, there’s no need to reach them online.
Again, you just might be wrong - there are currently 11.1 million e-commerce users in Saudi Arabia. By 2020 there will be 17.1 million people. Fashion, followed by electronics will be the largest selling product categories. Right now, it’s the other way around.
So, let’s recap. There are over 28 million people in KSA, over half are on Facebook and about half on Instagram, not to mention the 14% growth on the AN. Of those millions on Facebook, we can assume that about 83% of them are on mobile and constantly connected to their phones. They use the internet to research product before buying them.
You might be tempted to say, I’ve run ads on Facebook/Instagram but they do not work. The answer to that is Facebook for business is a robust tool and with any tool like that you have to know how to use it and sometimes that means a little help.
Here are just three of the many tools that you may not be aware of that can help you:
Dynamic Creative Optimization: It is a testing tool that can help you to reach the right people at the right time with the right creatives. No more manual A/B testing or constantly second-guessing your work.
Lead Ads: If you need to collect information about your customers or give them information, then avoid incomplete forms or drop-off. When your forms are built into your ads then users don’t have to leave Facebook, providing them with a seamless user experience.
Facebook Marketing Partners: Now, this is not strictly a Facebook tool but we thought it might be helpful. Facebook Marketing Partners, like us, have additional tools that can help users to reach their true potential with Facebook/Instagram advertising.
One of the benefits that we’ve helped our clients with are our tailored solutions. We found that users in MENA still prefer to visit stores in person after doing their research online. Sometimes even preferring to purchase online and then pick up with COD. We were able to create a tailored solution to track how Facebook/Instagram ads affect offline purchases by merging these two pieces of data. The first of its kind in the MENA region.
Facebook/Instagram is not the social media tool of your parents but a robust advertising tool that can help you to reach actual business goals. We’ve put together this infographic that breaks down the reasons why you should be using Facebook for business, if you have not already. You can get in touch with us directly to http://getstarted.roihunter.com/ and get started with your free trial.
