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Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook and Twitter
Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter
2Presented by The Online Project
Introduction
Ramadan has a significant impact on people’s behaviors and
daily routine in the Middle East. Generally speaking, people
tend to consume more media including TV, radio, and print
during Ramadan in comparison to other parts of the year. This is
the time of the year where brands dedicate 20% of their media
spendtoreachouttotheircustomers.Thebiggestfourtelecoms
companies spend around 200 million marketing dollars during
Ramadan1
.
Through our daily interactions with the communities we
manage and the campaigns we have executed here at The
Online Project, we have observed certain patterns that appear
as a trend between brands in different industries throughout
the year. By analyzing these trends we discovered that social
media consumption and user habits change significantly
during the Holy Month of Ramadan. As a result, we set out
to study these outlying trends by isolating additional variables
that could affect this shift to study the driving forces behind
these outlining trends. By understanding why the behavior
changes, we can help brands to learn when are the best times
for them to post on social media platforms and then when to
engage with their audiences.
One observation we made during Ramadan last year was the
spike in user activity on Twitter. To understand this sudden leap
in activity, we monitored thousands of tweets in four countries
to understand when exactly users are engaging with social
media the most.
1 Advertising Spending Lower in Ramadan Due to Regional Unrest, Gulf News
Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter
3Presented by The Online Project
This year, we decided to take things up a notch. We included
Facebook in our analysis and branched out to include more
countries in the region. Furthermore, in this report, we go
beyond identifying the best times to engage on both platforms
and now include analysis of the change in engagement levels
across the region and sentiment analysis to determine if people
are more positive or negative during the holy month.
We realized that not only do people engage with social media
at a different periods of time during Ramadan, but also their
engagement is exponentially increased benefitting the brands
during peak usage with the relevant content that is entertaining
or valuable.
Our goal for this report is to determine the contributing factors
that the change in behavior has to consumers’ online behavior.
To do so, we observed Facebook and Twitter activity in nine
different countries across the region including: Bahrain, Egypt,
Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, KSA and the UAE.
The insights garnered from our research are meant to provide
a broad and general overview of social media trends in the
region. The data, however, do not reflect habits and trends
within smaller communities in each of those countries so treat
our observations as a starting point.
Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter
4Presented by The Online Project
Do people engage more on Facebook during
Ramadan?
We measured the level of activity on Facebook by delving into
average engagement rates for regional brands during Ramadan
compared to other times of the year.
What is the most popular time for people to engage
on Facebook during Ramadan?
Forthissection,wemonitoredthelevelofactivityonFacebook,
on an hourly basis, during Ramadan 2012 and compared it to
the same time interval outside Ramadan. The best time for
Findings
Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter
5Presented by The Online Project
brands to engage with their audiences was selected as the
time that showed the highest level of engagement in each
of the following countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait,
Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, KSA and the UAE. All times shown are
in local time.
Bahrain
Egypt
Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter
6Presented by The Online Project
Kuwait
Lebanon
Jordan
Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter
7Presented by The Online Project
Qatar
KSA
Oman
Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter
8Presented by The Online Project
UAE
DopeopleengagemoreonTwitterduringRamadan?
We tracked the number of tweets and retweets generated in the
region during Ramadan 2012 and compared to the same time
interval outside Ramadan.
What times do people engage most on Twitter?
We monitored Twitter activity on an hourly basis during
Ramadan 2012, and compared it to the activity generated
during the same time outside Ramadan. Similar to Facebook,
Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter
9Presented by The Online Project
the best time to engage was chosen on the basis of the highest
engagement created. As shown in the following graphs, each
country displayed a unique level of engagement. All times are
shown in local time.
Bahrain
Egypt
Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter
10Presented by The Online Project
Kuwait
Lebanon
Jordan
Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter
11Presented by The Online Project
Qatar
KSA
Oman
Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter
12Presented by The Online Project
UAE
Arepeoplemorepositiveornegativeonsocialmedia
in Ramadan?
We manually analyzed engagement activity on Facebook and
Twittertotrackandcategorizepostsandtweetsaseitherpositive
or negative to determine the sentiment of Facebook and Twitter
in the region this time of the year.
Facebook
Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter
13Presented by The Online Project
Twitter
Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter
14Presented by The Online Project
Recommendations
•	 Ramadan is a unique time in the Arab world both online
and offline. Consequently, what brands know about their
community’s behavior during much of the year may not apply
during the Holy Month as peak activity times are likely to move
and engagement increase. Therefore, observe and take note
of trends happening within your communities this Ramadan in
order to align your publishing times with your audience and
maximize engagement next year.
•	 Optimize your content mix: MENA user interests shift during the
Holy Month. Adapt your content accordingly to stay relevant
and build stronger relationships.
•	 Increase post/tweet advertising support budgets in Ramadan:
as organic engagement rates increase, your advertising dollars
will push content even further to reach out to more people.
•	 Launch integrated marketing campaigns: social media usage
increasein-linewithTV,radio,andprintconsumption. Integrated
campaigns deliver higher multiplier effects in Ramadan.
Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter
15Presented by The Online Project
Methodology
The data related to Facebook and Twitter consumption was
retrieved by analyzing a period of three weeks before, during
and after Ramadan in 2012. The logic behind excluding Eid as
wellasweekendsineachcountry,istoavoidskewingtheresults.
For Facebook, engagement was calculated as the number of
likes, comments, shares that regional brands received divided
by the average number of fans these brands had during that
time interval. As for Twitter, engagement was calculated as the
number of mentions and retweets these brands received.
Regarding the best times to engage, we monitored the top
ten pages in terms of local fan base in each of the studied
countrie, on an hourly basis. These pages were retrieved from
Socialbakers.com as of June 2013. For Twitter, we tracked a
total of 8,879 users across the region. We filtered them by only
including users who have created their Twitter accounts before
June 2012 and have 3000 tweets/year or less. This is less than
ten tweets per day for every user; more would indicate a heavy
user and would skew the results. Best times to engage in each of
the studied countries was selected as the hour with the highest
level of engagement in local time.
Sentiment analysis was done manually by our team of social
media analysts at The Online Project for accuracy and to ensure
the human element is present in determining what is positive,
negative, and neutral. We analyzed all the engagement we
tracked, which totaled to 106,753 comments, timeline posts
and tweets, to ensure emotions, such as sarcasm and frustration,
weretakenintoconsiderationthatautomatedtoolsfailtodetect.
Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter
16Presented by The Online Project
About TOP
As the Middle East’s leading social media agency,		
The Online Project develops and executes social media
strategies for Fortune 500 companies and high profile
organizations operating in the region.
Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter
17Presented by The Online Project
Contact Us
For general inquiries please email info@theonlineproject.me
Amman
Tel: +962 6 465 8209
Fax:+96264658206
P.O. Box 840616
Amman 11184
Jordan
Dubai
Tel: +971 4 420 9064
Fax: +971 4 420 6054
Unit G-06
Building 4
Dubai Media City
Dubai, UAE
Riyadh
Tel: +966 1 463 4462
Fax: +966 1 462 6413
Al Rabiah Building
Olaya Riyadh, KSA

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Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook and Twitter

  • 2. Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter 2Presented by The Online Project Introduction Ramadan has a significant impact on people’s behaviors and daily routine in the Middle East. Generally speaking, people tend to consume more media including TV, radio, and print during Ramadan in comparison to other parts of the year. This is the time of the year where brands dedicate 20% of their media spendtoreachouttotheircustomers.Thebiggestfourtelecoms companies spend around 200 million marketing dollars during Ramadan1 . Through our daily interactions with the communities we manage and the campaigns we have executed here at The Online Project, we have observed certain patterns that appear as a trend between brands in different industries throughout the year. By analyzing these trends we discovered that social media consumption and user habits change significantly during the Holy Month of Ramadan. As a result, we set out to study these outlying trends by isolating additional variables that could affect this shift to study the driving forces behind these outlining trends. By understanding why the behavior changes, we can help brands to learn when are the best times for them to post on social media platforms and then when to engage with their audiences. One observation we made during Ramadan last year was the spike in user activity on Twitter. To understand this sudden leap in activity, we monitored thousands of tweets in four countries to understand when exactly users are engaging with social media the most. 1 Advertising Spending Lower in Ramadan Due to Regional Unrest, Gulf News
  • 3. Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter 3Presented by The Online Project This year, we decided to take things up a notch. We included Facebook in our analysis and branched out to include more countries in the region. Furthermore, in this report, we go beyond identifying the best times to engage on both platforms and now include analysis of the change in engagement levels across the region and sentiment analysis to determine if people are more positive or negative during the holy month. We realized that not only do people engage with social media at a different periods of time during Ramadan, but also their engagement is exponentially increased benefitting the brands during peak usage with the relevant content that is entertaining or valuable. Our goal for this report is to determine the contributing factors that the change in behavior has to consumers’ online behavior. To do so, we observed Facebook and Twitter activity in nine different countries across the region including: Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, KSA and the UAE. The insights garnered from our research are meant to provide a broad and general overview of social media trends in the region. The data, however, do not reflect habits and trends within smaller communities in each of those countries so treat our observations as a starting point.
  • 4. Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter 4Presented by The Online Project Do people engage more on Facebook during Ramadan? We measured the level of activity on Facebook by delving into average engagement rates for regional brands during Ramadan compared to other times of the year. What is the most popular time for people to engage on Facebook during Ramadan? Forthissection,wemonitoredthelevelofactivityonFacebook, on an hourly basis, during Ramadan 2012 and compared it to the same time interval outside Ramadan. The best time for Findings
  • 5. Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter 5Presented by The Online Project brands to engage with their audiences was selected as the time that showed the highest level of engagement in each of the following countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, KSA and the UAE. All times shown are in local time. Bahrain Egypt
  • 6. Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter 6Presented by The Online Project Kuwait Lebanon Jordan
  • 7. Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter 7Presented by The Online Project Qatar KSA Oman
  • 8. Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter 8Presented by The Online Project UAE DopeopleengagemoreonTwitterduringRamadan? We tracked the number of tweets and retweets generated in the region during Ramadan 2012 and compared to the same time interval outside Ramadan. What times do people engage most on Twitter? We monitored Twitter activity on an hourly basis during Ramadan 2012, and compared it to the activity generated during the same time outside Ramadan. Similar to Facebook,
  • 9. Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter 9Presented by The Online Project the best time to engage was chosen on the basis of the highest engagement created. As shown in the following graphs, each country displayed a unique level of engagement. All times are shown in local time. Bahrain Egypt
  • 10. Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter 10Presented by The Online Project Kuwait Lebanon Jordan
  • 11. Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter 11Presented by The Online Project Qatar KSA Oman
  • 12. Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter 12Presented by The Online Project UAE Arepeoplemorepositiveornegativeonsocialmedia in Ramadan? We manually analyzed engagement activity on Facebook and Twittertotrackandcategorizepostsandtweetsaseitherpositive or negative to determine the sentiment of Facebook and Twitter in the region this time of the year. Facebook
  • 13. Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter 13Presented by The Online Project Twitter
  • 14. Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter 14Presented by The Online Project Recommendations • Ramadan is a unique time in the Arab world both online and offline. Consequently, what brands know about their community’s behavior during much of the year may not apply during the Holy Month as peak activity times are likely to move and engagement increase. Therefore, observe and take note of trends happening within your communities this Ramadan in order to align your publishing times with your audience and maximize engagement next year. • Optimize your content mix: MENA user interests shift during the Holy Month. Adapt your content accordingly to stay relevant and build stronger relationships. • Increase post/tweet advertising support budgets in Ramadan: as organic engagement rates increase, your advertising dollars will push content even further to reach out to more people. • Launch integrated marketing campaigns: social media usage increasein-linewithTV,radio,andprintconsumption. Integrated campaigns deliver higher multiplier effects in Ramadan.
  • 15. Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter 15Presented by The Online Project Methodology The data related to Facebook and Twitter consumption was retrieved by analyzing a period of three weeks before, during and after Ramadan in 2012. The logic behind excluding Eid as wellasweekendsineachcountry,istoavoidskewingtheresults. For Facebook, engagement was calculated as the number of likes, comments, shares that regional brands received divided by the average number of fans these brands had during that time interval. As for Twitter, engagement was calculated as the number of mentions and retweets these brands received. Regarding the best times to engage, we monitored the top ten pages in terms of local fan base in each of the studied countrie, on an hourly basis. These pages were retrieved from Socialbakers.com as of June 2013. For Twitter, we tracked a total of 8,879 users across the region. We filtered them by only including users who have created their Twitter accounts before June 2012 and have 3000 tweets/year or less. This is less than ten tweets per day for every user; more would indicate a heavy user and would skew the results. Best times to engage in each of the studied countries was selected as the hour with the highest level of engagement in local time. Sentiment analysis was done manually by our team of social media analysts at The Online Project for accuracy and to ensure the human element is present in determining what is positive, negative, and neutral. We analyzed all the engagement we tracked, which totaled to 106,753 comments, timeline posts and tweets, to ensure emotions, such as sarcasm and frustration, weretakenintoconsiderationthatautomatedtoolsfailtodetect.
  • 16. Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter 16Presented by The Online Project About TOP As the Middle East’s leading social media agency, The Online Project develops and executes social media strategies for Fortune 500 companies and high profile organizations operating in the region.
  • 17. Social Media in Ramadan; Exploring Arab User Habits on Facebook & Twitter 17Presented by The Online Project Contact Us For general inquiries please email info@theonlineproject.me Amman Tel: +962 6 465 8209 Fax:+96264658206 P.O. Box 840616 Amman 11184 Jordan Dubai Tel: +971 4 420 9064 Fax: +971 4 420 6054 Unit G-06 Building 4 Dubai Media City Dubai, UAE Riyadh Tel: +966 1 463 4462 Fax: +966 1 462 6413 Al Rabiah Building Olaya Riyadh, KSA