How to Get Up to Speed in Digital Marketing in Dubai

If you are reading this, then there are high chances either you’re aiming to build a career in the Digital Marketing space or someone who wants to build a digital strategy for your business to convert more digital dollars.

Unlike other regions in the world, where marketers focus on formulating and executing campaigns plugging in the core factors such as discounts, deals, coupons, etc., the Dubai market has a different marketing ecosystem that gyrates around customer journey and experience with products and services.

United Arab Emirates ranks at number one in the world with highest social media and mobile penetration, both at 99%. What does this imply? That the region (including Dubai) is gearing for innovations in this field and you have a treasure trove of digital marketing opportunities lying ahead to capitalize on.

Despite this deep technology penetration in the recent times, digital and mobile still have not been embedded in the core marketing strategy by many businesses in the UAE today.

As competition over digital dollars shoots up every quarter in the business, it’s time to evolve the marketing function by skill enhancement of the existing workforce (like you, the digital marketers of today and tomorrow!).

It is not only the job of sales and customer support teams to build and strengthen trust with customers. You, as a marketer, need to learn and master this art through the assets you create for your target audience, channels for reaching them and resources you invest for the same. It would be more appropriate to say that you need to practice the skill of relationship building at every stage of the digital marketing model since the customers in Dubai value trust and long-term association the most, while working with brands.

Let us say you work in the hospitality technology industry in Dubai and your customers – the hotel owners – are struggling with selling their inventory in a fiercely competitive scenario. And, your company helped them traverse from point A to point B in revenue maximization by fixing the challenge they had been facing before using your software.

Now if you try to capture their success story, while that hotel owner basks in the success of making more revenue, and publish it on your website or different social media websites and other third-party websites to give them more brand mileage. This approach goes a long way in winning the trust of that customer and paves the way for a long-term association.

Next, let’s talk about your effort to learn more about digital marketing channels, tools, tips and hacks. Since UAE is home to the largest Facebook user base in the Gulf region and tops in mobile penetration, responsive web designing, content and SEO, paid campaigns for mobile viewers hold a lot of significance. If these skills are missing in your marketing arsenal, it’s time to upskill now.

As we mentioned earlier too in this piece that customer journeys are a critical component in the business fabric of Dubai, as a modern marketer, you need to have a good grasp of customer analytics. Let’s say you work for an eCommerce company, as a marketer, you need to have an in-depth understanding of your consumer’s browsing behavior on your website, their shopping preferences and brands, cart abandonment patterns, etc. Using all this data, you can propose better product recommendations, and persuade them to shop more with more personalized experiences. This smart digital approach is likely to fetch you increases sales and create a powerful brand in the UAE market.

Then there are some interesting trends that you need to watch out for in 2017, and accordingly, you need to chart out the road map for your skill upliftment in the area of your choice.

• Augmented reality

• Display Ads: Google Adwords

• Visual / Video Content

• Integrated marketing communications

• Marketing automation

• Online reputation management

• And, much more!

Thinking how and where to get started? Let us discuss.

Related Article: Get Started with your Digital Marketing Strategy