Ramadan is a rather exciting month of the year for Muslims; loaded with festivities, happy family times and a chance to spiritually retune. During Ramadan, the whole routine lives of Muslims changes. Their sleeping hours, feeding habits, and both work and school hours are affected by the distinctive rituals of this month. Evidently; as a result, their engagement with media entirely shifts to accommodate their new routine and reflects directly on the advertising and marketing scene.

Since social media usage in Lebanon and the Middle East often peaks during Ramadan, it should be considered a primary medium for advertising. Especially that millennials are increasingly shifting away from television and towards the Internet.

Did you know that around 39% of the Arab World’s population uses social media?  Last year, Facebook had around 156 million users and Instagram recorded up to 7.1 million in the region. Additionally, tweets about Ramadan has previously reached up to 74.2 million. Those numbers have prompted Twitter to introduce special features for the holy month in order to ensure a distinctive experience for their users.

Undoubtedly, the festive season provides a great opportunity for marketers to reach out to their customers and tap into new markets. So we at SocialWeTalk have compiled 3 action items to consider when engaging your audience in Ramadan.

(1) Show a Story (not tell)

Persuasive and engaging visual content helps brands ‘show’ their customers a relatable story during a time in which they are inundated by content.

As studies have shown, fasting Muslims rely on social media in order to pass time. People love to share pictures of their Iftar meals, religious and spiritual content and of course to follow up and comment on their favorite series’ and shows during this month. So Ramadan is an opportunity for you to showcase your brand visually and attract more traffic to your social media accounts. However, remember to demonstrate how your brand embraces the principles of Ramadan by focusing on family and community, reflection, and self-improvement. This leads to building authentic connections with your audiences.

You can personalize your marketing campaigns further by engaging Muslim influencers. Story-showing is the most authentic way to prove you understand the intricacies of Ramadan and influencers are expert storytellers. They will be able to share your products with their audiences using their own experiences and expertise.

(2) Watch Out for Active Times

Marketers need to be aware of the changes in user behavior during this month if they want to launch successful online campaigns. Interestingly, users are most active before Iftar, as they are trying to pass whatever time is left before they break their fast. They are also most active around 10 pm and around the times of their favorite shows and between midnight and the early morning hours as they are up for their daily Sohour routine.

(3) Launch Games, Competitions & Puzzles

Since this increase in usage is mostly motivated by fasting Muslims looking to pass time while waiting for Iftar, entertaining and engaging content such as games, competitions, and puzzles is ideal. Those interactive features are attractive for they keep the users occupied and amused. In addition, the promise of winning prizes is a very popular notion in Ramadan. Ramadan is known for being the month of generosity. All television networks opt for featuring game shows that are heavily oriented towards awarding a major prize in order to display this generosity. The same principle also works in social media. When the user is promised a prize, they are more motivated to engage.

Most importantly, you need to always prepare an innovative social media strategy ahead of time to accommodate the behavioral shift in social media usage among customers during this month. This will guarantee the ultimate marketing and advertising opportunity for your product. However, remember to account for cultural and religious sensitivities, and always position the Muslim consumer at the forefront of your brand’s planning.

Do reach out to us to learn how to maximize performance on Facebook and Instagram, during Ramadan, and all year round!

Ramadan Mubarak for all!