LinkedIn in MENA Region
LinkedIn announced that it reached a milestone of 500 million members across 200 countries early last year, and 22 million of those are in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region.
This was, and still is, big news for us marketers and digital enthusiasts – especially to those of us paying attention to the Arabic user growth rate.
The number of LinkedIn users in the MENA region has increased by 120% since 2013! Not to mention that UAE members are currently the most connected in the world – with an average user having over 200 connections.
120%
Increase in LinkedIN Users since 2013
With the MENA region containing one of the fastest growing digital markets in the world and LinkedIn being an excellent B2B marketing platform; companies, organisations and working professionals are utilising it for Arabic social media marketing campaigns and professional networking.
Getting Practical
The stats above are impressive, and, rhetorically answer the question as to whether a B2B business should have a LinkedIn presence and promote itself on the platform.
If you’re just starting out on LinkedIn or still haven’t reached your full potential, then go back and start with the basics:
Define Your Target Audience
Any B2B business beginning to establish itself or that is further expanding in the Middle East is going to need the right connections. Who is it you want to target? What companies? What job titles? What skills?
Build Your Audience
LinkedIn allows you to build audiences and create targeted campaigns based on job title, company name, seniority, education, skills and so on. Combine targeting criteria to build your ideal personas.
Content
Advertise your most recent blog, article, infographic, video, social post – you can do it all.
Language
Use Arabic and English. You’re targeting an Arabic market so of course your video subtitles, posts and ads will be in Arabic.
But remember, there’s a reasonably-sized portion of non-Arab working professionals in the MENA region who you may also want to target. So it’s always worth providing an English translation of your content.
At least, that’s what many well-established and world-renowned companies do.
Advertise, Optimise and Repeat
Test your ads with different content, content types and audiences to see which elements are performing best.
If you’re running a lead generation campaign, look out for the Cost per Click (CPC). If you’re running a brand awareness campaign, you’re looking at Cost per Impressions (CPM). You’ll need to optimise your ads to achieve the best results for the lowest cost.
It’s Simple.
Visit our Arabic Marketing page for more information about our Arabic social media marketing services and other services.
