Given the importance of social media in the lives of end-users, companies
flock to digital media platforms to reach their target consumer audience.
However, there is a content overload on social platforms and the competition is
quite high. In 2020 it will be even more difficult for your brand to stand out
unless you have a clear digital marketing strategy in the Middle East.
Let’s take Dubai as a reference point. According to the research conducted
by our digital agency, Dubai consumers are getting more responsive to:
Short-duration (Ephemeral) content like Instagram & Snapchat
stories
Video content
Influencer content
Contests, Q&A’s
Social Communities (like Facebook Groups)
Apart from the social Dubai audience, there are even more active users who
use social media for their customer service inquiries. Therefore, many Dubai
brands have started recognizing social media networks for “Community
Management”, which can be assigned to a full scope digital agency in Dubai
In order to reach the consumers, digital agencies in Dubai used specific
digital marketing methods in social media, some of which are:
Geo-targetted advertising
Social Commerce (from shoppable posts to Instagram Storefronts)
Influencer marketing
Remarketing (advertising according to browsing history of the
consumer)
Programmatic targeting (Look-alike audience based on past internet
behavior)
Short bumper ads (like 5-6 second long Youtube ads)
How
about 2020 trends? Do you need a full scope digital agency?
2020 is expected to be a year of milestones for social media marketing. Here
are some social trends to help fuel your digital strategy and make your brand
stand out in the crowd for 2020 and beyond:
Augmented Reality (AR)
We know AR from Selfie filters of Snapchat and Instagram and it’s already
affecting social media. More than 190 million people are using Snapchat and on
average are spending between 25 to 30 minutes in the app every day.
Adopting the AR and VR technology more into the social media will change the
rules of the game. Google realized this fact many years ago.
Back in 2012, Google had launched a device called Google Glass, an optical
head-mounted display designed in the shape of a pair of eyeglasses, that
became a catalyst for a huge surge in wearble tech, however it has officially
been pulled from the market due to heating and battery problems. Google’s aim
was simple: Bring the mobile phone camera in to the eyes and
use the AR
technology to socialize.
Meanwhile Apple worked on the subject thoroughly through the years and spent
big funds on AR research in silence. Finally September 2020 is expected to be
the day Apple launching
Apple Glass (or iGlass).
Apple Glass and similar gadgets will help consumers interact with each other
in real world using virtual objects inside AR based applications. You will be
able to see if a person is waiting for taxi in front of Dubai Mall to share the
cost, if he/she is single/married or which football team he supports just by
looking over the glasses. You will be able to see which restaurant in La Mer
has the highest Zomato score without using your phone, just by looking over
your AR glasses.
So what? How it will affect social media?
Consumers and brands will rejoice in this this technology and find new
opportunities to promote their products and services in unique and engaging
ways:
- Virtual stores on social media: Consumers
with AR headsets will not even have to visit your brand’s physical stores
any more. Using AR, they will be entering into your brand’s virtual store,
check out your products virtually and buy them directly with a hand
gesture. You don’t need to spend 2 hours of your weekend inside Carrefour
or Spinneys anymore.
- AR Outdoor Ads: Game
industry will boom with the launch of AR glasses and marketers will be
having a totally new medium: AR outdoor! Think of any game you play on the
street using AR Glassses, do you think you will see only virtual game
objects? Many brands will race to have a spot on the virtual streets of
popular AR games. As outdoor advertising is quite expensive in Dubai, AR
outdoor ads will give you a limited but filtered audience.
- AR videos: Many brands will be able
to further engage their audiences by creating interactive AR videos; such
as explainer videos on the go. When you are inside the Mall of Emirates,
think of navigation arrows guiding you to Ski Dubai. You may see some
videos of your favorite brands while you are nearby their real stores
inside the mall.
- AR Social Platforms: 4G
technology is limited for AR but with the launch of 5G, things will change
even faster. Facebook and Instagram will be providing full fledged AR
features to different brands. Take Sephora brand, which has already
activated its AR features for enhancing user experience on Facebook. An
end-user can check out different products offered by Sephora on Facebook
messenger and know if a specific product suits him/her or not.
As these platforms grow, consumers will look for engaging social
experiences. There will be opportunities for the brands that act proactively
and learn how to engage with them. We strongly suggest your brand to get
involved in these new technologies with the help of a professional digital
agency in Dubai.
Instagram may remove “likes”
During the second half of 2019 we have seen a decline in the organic
responsiveness of Instagram. It seems to become another Facebook, a paid-ad
platform where your post gets more views only if its interesting enough for the
first 50 people. According to our branch digital agency in Dubai, Instagram
recently tested this proposal in a beta test and may remove the likes globally.
The reason is that likes supposedly determine a person’s social value and
waiting for likes is detrimental to one’s mental health.
Because of this fact we don’t see Influencer marketing as a growing trend as
brands will not be able to measure the success of campaigns without likes.
Instagram may be doing this deliberately as they don’t gain any funds in
influencer marketing campaigns and they want to be involved.
Social Commerce will dominate
Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook have long been used by brands for product
sales. Social commerce has become a trending turnover portal for brands and
this is getting stronger day by day. Social commerce is becoming a mainstream
retail platform similar to Amazon, Noon and Souq. This trend will be more
popular and more social networks will start introducing pro-selling features
like shoppable posts.
From shoppable posts to Instagram Storefronts, we will see more social
platforms becoming retail platforms in 2020. Companies and agencies will
leverage these and incorporate social sales in their marketing strategies. As a
brand, you may require a full scope digital agency in Dubai to setup your own
Social Commerce portals.
Video Content will Expand
According to a Cisco study, by 2022, 82% of all online content will be
video. Especially short videos will soon dominate the social media as a clear
winner among other content types. Think of so many video walls
flourishing at Dubai streets during the past year. They certainly attract more
attention (which may cause distraction for drivers tough)
How about Youtube ads: it was 1, now it’s sometimes 2 before you watch
anything.
If you’re not currently creating videos, it is time that you include videos in
your brand marketing strategy. You don’t need a full crew of video production
company. Almost any digital agency in Dubai, (like Scarlet Media) can help you
generate quick and engaging social media videos, even without any shooting.
Here are some examples:
https://www.scarletmedia.net/showreel/
If you want to create a high scale Youtube videos, explainer videos,
customer testimonials, product reviews, etc, we suggest you to visit Skyrocket
media (
https://www.skyrocketmedia.org/
) who can provide you turnkey solutions.
Which
digital agency in Dubai?
If you are looking for a 360 full scope digital agency in Dubai who can help
you for social media marketing, remarketing, SEO, Email marketing, coding and
AR needs, please contact us at mail@scarletmedia.net or +971526998809
