Advertising Throughout Ramadan and How an Engagement Platform Helps

Editor’s be aware: Ramadan advertising and marketing/vacation season, a time of sharing, caring, and constructing neighborhood, is only a month away. Whereas the final couple of years has been restricted to digital interplay, this 12 months guarantees to be a trendsetter. 

For sure, this brings a wonderfully opportune second for entrepreneurs to drive engagement however with care and empathy. To emphasize extra on these factors and what might be anticipated on this particular season of Ramadan by way of developments and techniques, we caught up with Rohan Kapoor, Head of Digital Advertising at Careem.

Please share a short introduction about your self, your background, and your function at Careem.

Rohan: 12+ years of expertise throughout Retail, Journey, Classifieds & Leisure within the area. Labored for some high manufacturers in management roles, corresponding to Emirates, Souq (Amazon), Property Finder, OSN+, and at present, I head the Digital Advertising staff at Careem. I’m commissioned to arrange your complete digital infrastructure, construct a staff from the bottom up and personal the entire digital P&L of multi-million {dollars}. I’m actively main digital branding, efficiency advertising and marketing (Activation and Retention), content material, and partnership methods at Careem to develop the super-app within the area together with the a number of companies the App provides.

How do you anticipate this 12 months’s Ramadan Season to be? Do you suppose there can be some new developments noticed in comparison with 2022?

Rohan: This 12 months, Ramadan is anticipated to be related and totally different on the similar time. Whereas among the developments which have been noticed within the final couple of years will stay, there might be some new developments being fashioned, both as a result of seasonality or simply pure demand.

1. Elevated Advert Spend: This 12 months Ramadan being in March and April coupled with standard seasonality, it’s anticipated that many advertisers will improve their advert spending to interact their audience successfully.
2. CTV Platforms: As customers spend extra time in consuming content material in the course of the interval, video content material is anticipated to play a major function in Ramadan promoting. Manufacturers are more likely to spend money on creating visually interesting and interesting video content material to seize the eye of customers on CTV platforms.
3. Personalization and AI:  Many manufacturers are anticipated to make use of AI to personalize their content material and make their campaigns extra impactful. By utilizing information and insights, manufacturers will create extra tailor-made messages and provides that resonate with Ramadan.

Ramadan is a interval of prayers, reflection, and neighborhood. How do you see manufacturers together with empathy of their campaigns? Is there any marketing campaign that you can imagine for instance of this?

Rohan: Sure, Ramadan is a major time for many individuals all over the world, marked by religious reflection, elevated devotion, and acts of charity. Manufacturers can present empathy and sensitivity in the direction of their viewers throughout this time by creating campaigns that replicate the values and traditions related to Ramadan.

For instance, a brilliant app corresponding to Careem may create a marketing campaign that focuses on selling their supply companies to assist customers who’re busy with their Ramadan preparations. The marketing campaign may spotlight how Careem companies make it simpler for folks to organize meals and break their quick with their family members, with out having to fret about going to the shop or cooking.

One other instance might be a monetary companies firm corresponding to a financial institution or an insurance coverage firm, making a marketing campaign that promotes their services and products that assist households throughout Ramadan, corresponding to financial savings accounts or insurance coverage insurance policies. Whatever the particular marketing campaign, the important thing to making a profitable Ramadan-themed marketing campaign is to point out empathy and understanding of the cultural and non secular significance of the vacation and to give attention to how the model can assist and enhance the lives of individuals throughout this time.

One other vital side we’ve noticed is that prospects choose buying after a sure time period or gross sales witness a spike at a sure time of the day. Much like these, what are some insights that you simply have a look at whereas constructing a Ramadan Marketing campaign?

Rohan: Completely, throughout Ramadan, prospects have totally different buying habits and behaviors, corresponding to elevated spending on meals supply or a shift of their buying conduct from brick-and-mortar shops to on-line platforms. Careem understands these adjustments to make sure our campaigns are efficient. 

When constructing a Ramadan marketing campaign, Careem additionally considers quite a lot of different insights to make sure the success of campaigns. A few of the key insights embrace:

1. Timing: as everyone knows, Ramadan is a time-bound occasion, and we want to pay attention to the precise dates and instances of the vacation to plan our campaigns successfully. For instance, the timing of Iftar can differ by market, and we want to pay attention to this to make sure we’re selling our companies on the proper time.
2. Demographics: Understanding the audience is vital for any advertising and marketing marketing campaign, and that is very true throughout Ramadan. Careem understands the age, gender, faith, and cultural background of our viewers to create related and efficient campaigns.
3. Knowledge evaluation: As a brilliant app we might additionally use information evaluation to grasp buyer conduct and preferences throughout Ramadan. This might embrace information on the preferred companies throughout this time, in addition to developments in buyer spending patterns.

An extension to the earlier query – the function performed by a buyer engagement platform to supply you the insights?

Rohan: A buyer engagement platform performs a vital function in offering us with insights that inform our Ramadan campaigns. The platform permits us to gather and analyze information on buyer conduct, preferences, and engagement, offering beneficial insights and is used to form our campaigns. For e.g –

1. Surveys and suggestions: we conduct surveys and collect suggestions from prospects on their experiences and preferences throughout Ramadan. This info is then used to tell marketing campaign methods and guarantee they’re related to our audience.
2. Knowledge evaluation: we gather and analyze information on buyer conduct, corresponding to buy historical past, preferences, and demographics. This info can be used to grasp developments and patterns in buyer conduct throughout Ramadan, and to tailor campaigns to the wants of the audience.
3. Personalization: Buyer engagement instruments are used to create customized experiences for patrons, corresponding to focused promotions and provides based mostly on their earlier purchases or preferences. This helps Careem construct a deeper reference to prospects and improve engagement with their Ramadan campaigns.
4. Buyer segmentation: Buyer engagement instruments are used to section prospects based mostly on their conduct and preferences, permitting us to tailor our campaigns to particular teams. 

In brief, through the use of a buyer engagement platform, it helps us to construct buyer loyalty, improve engagement, and drive gross sales throughout Ramadan.

What are some methods manufacturers ought to develop to make sure that there may be not a serious drop in engagement metrics put up the vacation season?

Rohan: To make sure that there may be not a serious drop in engagement metrics put up the Ramadan vacation season, manufacturers ought to develop the next methods:

1. Repeatedly interact with prospects: Manufacturers ought to proceed to interact with prospects and supply them with beneficial content material and experiences even after Ramadan has ended. This might embrace creating new promotions and provides, in addition to common communication via channels corresponding to e-mail, social media, and SMS.
2. Keep relevance: Manufacturers ought to make it possible for their campaigns and choices stay related to prospects even after Ramadan has ended. For instance, they might give attention to creating promotions which can be aligned with different necessary cultural occasions or holidays, corresponding to Eid al-Fitr.
3. Spend money on know-how: Manufacturers ought to spend money on know-how and instruments, corresponding to buyer engagement platforms, that may assist them join with prospects and supply customized experiences. This can assist to extend engagement and construct buyer loyalty, even after Ramadan has ended.

Thanks a lot Rohan for connecting with us and sharing your ideas on how manufacturers can interact with prospects throughout such a particular time.

Readers, you’ll be able to join with Rohan for extra ideas and recommendation on buyer engagement throughout Ramadan.