What do social media platforms tell us about Emirati, Saudi, and Egyptian social media users?

Part of our comprehensive annual report, the State of Social Media, displays a thorough analysis of social media platforms’ demographic analyses that reveal important information about users in the Middle East.

As we look at the data provided, we did realize that much of the data can tell a lot about different markets in the region. For instance, we could conclude the interest of each market and the languages they prefer to use. We’ll be providing an analysis of the UAE, KSA, and Egypt. Enjoy reading!

1. United Arab Emirates:

   Although the buzziest social media platform in UAE is actually Facebook, we noticed a remarkable point; UAE residents are as active on LinkedIn as much as they are on other platforms. Instagram and Snapchat often have more traffic than LinkedIn, perhaps because of the very professional nature of the platform, which makes it slightly rigid, and less “fun”. This is the case with many countries other than the UAE, where instagram and LinkedIn have almost the same number of users.
   
   

   • Number of LinkedIn Users: 4 M.
   • Number of Twitter Users: 2 M.
   • Number of Facebook Users: 8.8 M.
   • Number of Instagram Users: 3.7 M.

    

   What does this say about the Emirati market?

   For marketers, it must be essential to understand the interests of your prospects and audiences. You audiences’ favorite platforms, are the online equivalent to where you would place your billboards. For advertisements, you know that Facebook and LinkedIn are the platforms to use.

   However, these numbers reveal one more thing; the Emirati audience is interested in work-related and professional material. It’s not all about where you place your content, it’s also about how you create this content to get their attention. Since they are very big on LinkedIn, you can study the type of content LinkedIn influencers in the UAE create and tailor something similar to generate traffic.

    

2. Saudi Arabia
It’s a known rule among experienced marketers that Saudi Arabia, is the market to target with Arabic content. Although there is a large number of expats, the vast majority of online content is published in Arabic in Saudi Arabia.
However, this is not the case with the 9 M users on Facebook. While most online users publish their content in Arabic on the rest of social media platforms, Saudi users seem to prefer the English language when using Facebook.

Facebook: (7.9 M Arabic users and 9.5 M English users).
Twitter: (6.29 M Arabic users and 1.9 M English users).
Instagram: (10 M Arabic users and 3.8 M English users).
Snapchat: (12 M Arabic users and 2 M English users).

What does this say about the Saudi market?

While there are some common assumptions about many markets in the region, a marketer needs to stay up to date and rely on constant monitoring in order to make sure that they are implementing the most recent tactics of their up-to-date strategies.

Hence, a social media marketing strategy should include tailored messages that fit every persona. Every social media platform has its own persona profile.

Facebook: 39 M
Instagram: 11 M
Twitter: 2.39 M
Snapchat: 3.5 M
LinkedIn: 3.6 M

What does this say about the Egyptian market?

Let’s all agree that the main use for social media is reach and generating traffic. While almost all marketers need to spend so much time on designing and architecting their social media strategy, they ought to invest their time wisely, and trying not to waste time. It’s only evident that Facebook is the utmost favorite platform for Egyptians. It may seem easy to just decide to launch a campaign on Facebook. However, we need to keep in mind that more traffic is a synonym for more competition. Facebook is the platform to use in Egypt, but your content will need to really shine to succeed.