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77 Media defines itself as a ‘digital marketing boutique’. Based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabi; it offers web, app and game development, video production, photography, motion graphics, as well as social media marketing. Their social case was presented by Maha Taher, the Head of Digital Marketing at 77 Media and a co-founder of its social marketing arm 77 Social within a year of joining the company. She graduated from Switzerland, worked in Germany, then moved back to Jeddah after accumulating eight years of experience in technology and business management.

Here are the main points of the presentation:

Many companies still don’t understand social media

“They’re turning into an annoying media. They’re spamming a lot of us with a lot of messages and they’re not interacting.” According to Maha, companies are missing the mark when it comes to social media, when its sole use is to communicate a 30% discount, or a ‘buy one get one free’ promotion. “I don’t care!” she exclaims, the key here is added value, “either you are entertaining me or you’re giving me information,” and brands seem to forgo the entertainment part more often than not.

How to target Saudi females: Build loyalty

The lack of a two way communication explained above is the reason why brands don’t know how to target Saudi females she goes on to explain. “You have to understand what we want for you to be able to communicate that.” Campaigns and offers don’t guarantee fan retention; users could easily dislike a brand's page and move to their competitors after the promotion expires. “The only reason i will stay on their social media platforms is if i actually like them... like a friend.”

What really works in Saudi Arabia: Influencers

Sounds simple, but there’s little trick to it. “If someone abroad does this, they might not understand how we think.” Maha proceeds to show images of 3 women that are popular on social media in Saudi Arabia. One of those three however seems to be popular for the wrong reasons, something which outsiders are unlikely to be aware of, and might use her influence to sabotage their image.

Get local

More so, the person managing your social media accounts has to know the language of the people. Words can have different meaning in different dialects; some words are unique to certain Arab countries. “You need a local to communicate with locals.”

The right people at the right time, and the perfect frequency

Women aren’t always the decision makers. Sometimes targeting men is necessary; sometimes it’s her son or daughter, etc. Know when to post, and more importantly, how often you do it. As a rule of thumb, posting once or twice a day during peak time is OK. It also depends on who you are targeting. You should also know that in Saudi, employees start work later than usual. It is not uncommon for them to show up at work at 10 or even 11 am, so time your posts accordingly.

Going behind the scenes

No clubs, no theaters, and no cinemas, means that for Saudi residents social media is a much bigger platform for entertainment. As such, “human experience is crucial.” They love seeing behind the scenes footage. Things you did before the photo-shoot and not just the end result.

Why is it traditionally difficult to crack Saudi Arabia: Riyadh vs Jeddah

This issue was brought up during Q&A. The gist of it is as follows: companies usually go after Saudi customers without taking into account the peculiarities of its different parts. For instance, people in Riyadh are more conservative but they also have more money and are willing to spend more, so you have to talk about the product experience when targeting them. Jeddah people on the other hand are more liberal and outgoing so they will go out and see the product for themselves. Taif is different too, so is Mecca, Dammam, and so on. “The personality of the brand has to adapt to the city you are targeting.”

Watch the full presentation below:

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