The Middle East is a hot market — literally and metaphorically. Today, businesses across various sectors—including lifestyle brands, deep tech, and service providers like Solid Water Marketing Agency — are actively seeking strategies to establish a presence in Middle Eastern markets.
We have recently deepened our insights into the consumer culture in the region, as Solid Water is actively developing its market presence in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain.
Today, we are sharing actionable insights to help you successfully break into these markets. From understanding consumer behavior to navigating local customs and regulations, here’s what you need to know.
1️⃣ Physical presence is important
Every one of our leads has asked us the same question at the beginning of our conversation:
“Do you have a presence in … (Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, etc.)?”
This is a region where people strongly prefer personal connections over email communication. In fact, you may find it nearly impossible to solicit email replies from your Arab clients. Calls and WhatsApp work better, but there is nothing like a face-to-face meeting with no agenda in the societies where transactional relationships are not appreciated. Just talking and connecting is the way to start. Hence, if you want to do business with MENA clients, you better take a plane to Riyadh or Doha and meet people.
💡 Lifehack from Anastasia Dobronravova, Head of Strategic Marketing at Solid Water Marketing Agency:
“As a woman, consider buying an abaya in a local shop. You might feel much more confident wearing an attire which is aligned to the local business culture. Although there is no expectation for the Western women to wear an abaya, I still feel that it can help create a stronger connection with your partners in the region when you visit GCC countries. You shouldn't feel obliged to wear an abaya but it is a subtle way of showing respect to the local customs and culture.”
2️⃣ Endorsements are your best secret weapon 📃
Generally speaking, in Western business culture, as a service business, you can rely on Paid Search campaigns to generate leads. This is unthinkable if you are looking for clients in the MENA countries.
The best way to find clients is to get endorsements from your country’s trade mission.
British businesses are lucky to have the Department of Business and Trade, which operates trade missions in the key business centres of the region. Trade missions build relationships with key stakeholders in their country of presence and sponsor and conduct events that you can visit for high-quality networking.
UK Department for Business and Trade, Qatar
A more expensive and sophisticated way to go is to become a client of Strategy International, a British business development consultancy whose tagline is “Unique networks delivering business success”— and, oh my, they do. This company has exclusive, high-value, and high-level relationships with key government and business stakeholders in the region. So, if you have some cash to spare, you might just spend it with Strategy International.
3️⃣ Forget emails - start WhatsApping 🟢
To get quick responses, especially from local partners or clients, make sure you get their WhatsApp number from the get-go. Phone calls or Skype are also preferred over long email exchanges — if you rely solely on email, you might be left waiting. Direct email communication has to be followed up with a call. Don’t hesitate to pick up your phone and talk to people without scheduling a call one month in advance.
This is also true for B2C communication. If you are a fintech or edtech startup thinking of launching an acquisition campaign in the region, consider collecting phone numbers rather than emails for your lead capture.
4️⃣ Follow the calendar of public holidays and learn about local customs and symbols 📅
Societies in the countries of the Middle East are very religious (in Western terms), and Muslims make up about 93% of the religious population in the region. The first thing we learned when we started working with a client in Qatar was the need to have the calendar of public and religious holidays in front of us pretty much all the time. This informs everything from how you manage your social media content to how you structure your paid social campaigns.
In that sense, the region is not homogenous, and it’s a good idea to learn more about the symbolism of colors and objects in the local culture. Be cautious when selecting images from Shutterstock for your client’s socials and digital campaigns, as clothing styles vary slightly across the GCC countries.
What might seem like very similar dresses to a Western eye can represent very different meanings to locals.
5️⃣ Make use of local events 🎉
Events are a big deal in the Middle East. Web Summit, World, Comex, GITEX GLOBAL Largest Tech & Startup Show in the World, and Forbes have launched their Middle Eastern franchises with huge success. You may find a large audience from Asia and the GCC who don’t attend the European versions of these events. In addition to that, there are plenty of networking and business development events native to the region. The best way to learn about those worth visiting is to subscribe to a newsletter from your country’s trade mission.
If you commit your resources to visiting some of the key events for your business, do not overlook the power of branded merchandise.
Nikita Zhirnov, CEO, Headcorn.ae (Dubai-based):
“The branded merchandise market is growing by 10–15% annually. Logo-branded products are becoming an increasingly effective way to communicate with target audiences, often outperforming traditional advertising media in cost per contact.
💡 For instance, according to research by the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI), a branded mug generates an average of 3,162 impressions over its lifespan, while a logo-branded shopper bag is used for about two years.
Example of a creative approach to branded merchandise, Madinat Almaharat (Skills City) by IN4 Group
The UAE is no exception. Dubai, as an international business hub, hosts numerous exhibitions and conferences across various industries.
Merchandise has become a company’s 'face', a way to make a statement.
Branded products are particularly valuable for companies with an online-only business model, where sellers do not have physical interaction with their audiences, such as digital-only product creators.”
Digital marketing 📱
Internet penetration in the MENA region is significantly higher compared to most other countries, with social media usage approaching 100%, particularly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. This presents an opportunity to cover all the key touchpoints within the digital-first approach.
Ivan Afonin, Media & Digital Advertising Expert (Dubai, UAE):
"The population is generally younger, with notable differences among the GCC countries influenced by various expat groups and cultural backgrounds.
It’s important to fully adapt (e.g., language, creative) and leverage these differences based on your product to achieve better results throughout the marketing funnel.”
Digital marketing in the Middle East has its own peculiarities. Apart from studying in detail the media consumption behaviors across various demographic groups, there are some other things to consider. Keep reading for exclusive insights.
Julia Momot, Founder & CBDO at JOIMO AGENCY (Dubai, UAE):
“If we talk about social media marketing in the UAE (and across the MENA region in general), we currently observe that it is still in its nascent development stage. In terms of creativity and communication strategies, it remains rather conservative in its visual aesthetics. This, however, allows room for your creativity.”
Anastasia Dobronravova, Head of Strategic Marketing at Solid Water:
"Working in creative strategy for our tech client in the Middle East, we looked at their competitors across the region and found that their creatives were bland and simplistic. We seized this opportunity by creating vibrant and emotionally appealing images with copy that reflected and addressed the key pain points of the target audience. This immediately returned astonishing results — we brought down CPA by 70% against the market benchmarks.”
Julia Momot continues: “However, one should not be misled by a seemingly easy catch. Dubai, for instance, is a hub where expertise from all over the world converges. As a result, we are already seeing familiar Instagram media formats and the active role of UGC (user-generated content) creators here.”
Digital media hacks from Julia:
Paid Social success depends on… relationships 🤝
So this is a painful topic for many tech companies launching across the markets of the Middle East, especially if you are operating in a highly regulated industry such as finance.
Anastasia Dobronravova, Head of Strategic Marketing at Solid Water:
"If you are entering a new market, always allow for at least a month-long runway for the launch of your campaigns because your campaigns can be blocked at the start, especially on new accounts.
Also, be prepared that not all Middle Eastern countries are available in the geo selection of standard advertising accounts. Sometimes in order to get access to these locations, you need to have an advertising history with these platforms and/or a relationship with an account manager."
Beware of unlicensed influencers 🚨
Influencer marketing campaigns have been steadily on the rise across the world, and this is also true for the Middle East. However, as a marketer, make sure you are working with influencers who are licensed in the country of your interest.
Ivan Chugunov, Legal Counsel at KITARE Multi-Family Office:
“Both Saudi Arabia and Oman have recently introduced regulations requiring licenses for individuals promoting products or services on social media, whether through paid partnerships or unpaid collaborations.
🚩 In Saudi Arabia, the Mawthooq program mandates that influencers obtain licenses and follow strict guidelines for branded content.
🚩 In Oman, individuals must apply for a license through the Ministry before engaging in any promotional activities online.
🚩 Qatar is also advancing in this area, with its Cultural Affairs and Media Committee actively discussing new regulations to codify content creation and distribution on digital platforms, potentially introducing similar rules.
🚩 For fintech startups working in the UAE, understanding the regulations around digital assets is equally critical. The UAE’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has specific marketing standards that must be followed to protect investors and ensure transparency.
Non-compliance can result in fines and disruptions, harming both campaigns and brand reputation.”
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