Caroline Corr, Dubai Office, Bord Bia – Irish Food Board
As of 2016, MENA (the Middle East & North Africa) has a population of 437 million people across 21 diverse markets and is a region that should not be overlooked by Irish food producers. 47% of this population is now active internet users with the number of active social media accounts across MENA increasing by 66% from 2015 to 2016 which equates to a rise of 23million more accessible consumers. (We Are Social, 2016)
Social media is now an integral part of any food producer marketing strategy in order to target and reach markets that were previously inaccessible, allowing personalization of a brand and creation of an identity in ways that were unaffordable in the past. Social media analytics enables food producers to research trends in their product development, optimize their product portfolios and discover new market opportunities for their brands or products.
According to Damian Radcliffe, a professor of journalism conducting social media research in the region, “Instagram usage in the Middle East has grown phenomenally over the past few years, especially in the more affluent smartphone-rich Gulf region”.
From 2014 to 2016, Instagram showed an increase from having 38% of internet users as active members to a much greater 60% in the UAE while in Saudi Arabia this figure jumped from 57% in 2014 to a huge 82% in 2016. Across the region as a whole, however, Facebook is still the most used social network with 90m users at the start of 2016.
In addition to these figures highlighting the rapid growth of social media in this region, a report by BPG Cohn & Wolfe (2016) found that 71% of UAE residents will take advice from social media influencers before buying a product and a huge 94 percent of in-house marketers in the UAE believe social media influencer marketing is now a key in the success of their brands in the region. This provides brands looking to expand in this region with potentially great opportunities for targeting consumers. While navigating this new terrain as an Irish food brand may seem daunting, there are a number of Irish producers finding great success in this region with targeted social media marketing.
For further information on the Middle East markets, please contact caroline.corr@bordbia.ie
#irishfood #bordbiaMENA #instafood #marketing #strategy
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