Dubai has been one of the future’s most important business and economic centers for years. And in more recent years, it has become a key place for foreign companies to move their representative offices.Yale University reports that their number has surpassed 1,000 and is rising. To enter the UAE, one of the most lucrative markets offering numerous commercial opportunities, a well-thought-out strategy is required, taking into account both local features and many unpredictable nuances. Today, we’ll discuss PR in the UAE and how to develop business in Dubai.
UAE business benefits
People think of Dubai and Abu Dhabi as a bridge between the West and the East, where tradition and new ideas meet and people from different cultures live together. The 2009 crisis accelerated growth in the UAE, making it ideal for any business, from startups to giant corporations. In 2020, the UAE launched the UAE50 50-year economic plan to boost the economy, GDP, the local business environment, UAE companies’ global standing, and investor access to global markets.
- The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) ranks the UAE first in the Global Entrepreneurship Index for 2022. The same survey found that the UAE has the best conditions for entrepreneurship, particularly for starting and opening a business.
- Dubai tops the InterNations Expat City Ranking 2021 for expat livability.
- The World Bank’s Doing Business 2020 ranking placed the UAE first in the Middle East and North Africa and 16th globally for ease of doing business.
With a constant stream of new business opportunities, investor-friendly legislation, a sound financial system, and well-developed infrastructure for business and life, the UAE is currently one of the best places to do business. However, a well-planned marketing strategy ensures market entry. It is important to understand that advertising and PR in the UAE, Dubai have their own characteristics, a misunderstanding of which can significantly worsen the position of the company.
How do UAE PR campaigns work?
Anyone who wants to sell in a country’s local market should be aware of the laws, assess the situation, and use an effective marketing strategy that fits the country’s political and cultural environment, taking into account the local mentality, traditions, and legal framework. The use of digital media in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), and in particular in the UAE, is constantly growing:
- Consumers in these countries are among the largest users of social networks worldwide;
- Internet access averages 95%, well above the global average of 59%;
- In the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, the percentage of online searches for e-commerce products using a smartphone reaches 70%. 55% of consumers in these countries prefer smartphones for online shopping.
UAE social media trends reflect the population’s diversity. According to Bain and Company, English-speaking users tend to outperform Arabic-speaking users, with a social media penetration rate of 99%. The most popular platforms in the UAE last year were YouTube (used by 87.4% of the population, or 8.69 million people), Facebook (79%, or 7.85 million users), Instagram (67.1%, or 6.67 million users), Twitter (52%, or 5.17 million users); and WhatsApp, which is used by every fourth resident of the UAE. And the lower user bases are in Snapchat (33.4%), WeChat (24.1%), and Viber (20.7%).
The Emirati culture is very different from the Western one: local laws oblige people to follow very strict rules of behavior in public, which also affects PR in the UAE.
Here are a few characteristics that will distinguish your business in the UAE and Dubai:
- Individual marketing, advertising, and branding strategies are developed and handled on multi-channel platforms, whereas the primary focus of the majority of local PR firms is press releases to the media.
- Professionalism in media relations and solid cultural ties with influential journalists.
- Possibilities for multilingual application of all areas of the promotion strategy and transmission of information at the national, international, and global levels.
- Respect for regional specifics and a concentration on national benefits.
Since the nationality of the target audience has a significant impact on the placement and transmission of an organization’s image and reputation in the United Arab Emirates, the assistance of market experts with deep knowledge of the market is essential.
How can advertising and public relations in the UAE and Dubai be made more successful?
The plan for entering the UAE market must be consistent with the overall positioning of your brand, while also appealing to the extremely demanding audience in the Emirates. In addition, it is essential to maximize the potential of digital platforms and technologies to raise the target audience’s awareness. To implement a marketing campaign with better effectiveness, it is essential to consider the following factors:
- Editors with extensive experience and native English or Arabic speaking skills prepare information based on corporate summaries.
- Large-scale distribution of locally customized press releases raises your chances of being noticed significantly. In addition, segmented media lists can be used to recruit the region’s main newspapers and journalists.
- “Follow-up” strategy, continuing ongoing communication until the publication of the contents discussed. Reiterate the outcomes of a personal meeting in a following phone call or e-mail and resend the information to individuals who did not respond to the initial mailing. On a daily basis, journalists get between 200 and 300 press releases; therefore, it is essential to differentiate your firm from the competition.
- Cultivate good relations with the press by congratulating them on the most significant religious holidays and events.
A well-thought-out plan for marketing in the United Arab Emirates should include both traditional public relations methods and digital tools that raise brand awareness.They permit not only a large increase in coverage but, in some instances, a reduction in positioning expenses.
So, online marketing strategies must be fine-tuned and optimized for the target audience by using carefully chosen keywords (SEO) and accurate geolocations.
To keep and grow your organic reach, you need to spend most of your time and energy on top networks like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.Optimal results are accomplished by employing a comprehensive plan that combines Pay-Per-Click techniques and is designed with consideration for the local mindset.
- Particularly, the most successful advertising strategies on Facebook are built on deep targeting, A/B testing, and retargeting, employing cutting-edge advertising technologies.
- Promotion on Instagram is done while analyzing and optimizing in real time how the audience is responding and how the promotion is going so far.SEO, complicated keyword research, and “conversational marketing” are all used to improve how the target audience interacts with the business.
Despite changes in the global economy, brands have always wanted to communicate, interact, be known, and stay in the public eye. Experts recommend developing a business in the UAE with the most ethical and attentive attitude to the local specifics and enlisting the support of professionals in the field of business reputation when building a public relations strategy in the UAE.