Curious about the digital trends in Dubai and the Middle East 2015? iChanical develops customoized solutions for starting and growing businesses.
What are the digital trends in Dubai for 2015
This is curated digest from Dubai Quora users Gaurav Aidasani, Evren Kacar, Patricia Skinner.
With news about Dubai’s first-in-years budget deficit, businesses in Dubai are still growing.
The Dubai Chamber of Commerce is registering thousand new companies every quarter, every year. A few interesting facts about Dubai is the diversity of its economy. Unlike popular belief, gas and oil contribution to the economy is minimal. Dubai’s economy is based on services such as tourism, trading, logistics and financial services.
Property and construction (22.6%)
Trade (16%)
Entrepôt activities – shipping, warehousing and logistics (15%)
Tourism (11.6%)
Financial services (11%)
Oil and natural gas (6%)
Digital media
The digital media industry is growing fast. The UAE has a remarkable internet penetration in the Middle East. Approximately 75+ per cent of the country’s population is using the internet. The UAE has the highest smartphone penetration in the Middle East. Mobile penetration is forecast to increase by an additional 35 per cent in 2015.
Facebook has been the most used social network in the Middle Eastern part – 94 per cent of internet users. 3.7 million people in the Middle East are active users.
Digital agencies
The 2020 World Expo in Dubai is driving international digital agencies to invest in new offices in the emirate. Online advertisement expenditure in MEA is projected to increase by 1.3% this year. Mobile ad expenditure will increase by 543 per cent every year towards 2017.
E-commerce
The most popular online shopping categories in the Middle East are online games (41pc), computer software (31pc), and electronics (28%). A high number of the UAE population (51pc) bought a product online in 2013, according to a survey of 3,000 Middle East consumers by MasterCard.
Opportunities
The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council™ Website reads that only 15% of Middle East businesses have an online presence. As a fast-growth business, you need to develop digital marketing strategy to stay afloat and booming in an ever competitive market. Your digital strategy should involve including your audience in your online content and online positioning since they shape your brand image with their own perceptions.
What you should do
Small and medium mortar businesses are trying the online since a few years since the outburst of social media. Businesses realize the easier, faster path to their fans’ hearts and wallets is digital. However, it is important to focus on few channels for the appropriate audience. Businesses and investors need invest in local agencies who understand the person-to-person charged culture in the emirate, local team who speak the local language. Partnerships will help small agencies scale their service charges and sell more to more inside and outside clients.
iChanical is looking for partners among marketing and creative agencies. We have an expert team that is dedicated to supporting clients in the Dubai’s diversified economy. We code in Ruby on Rails, Webflow, Cratejoy, Javascript, PHP, Laravel, Python, AngularJS, iOS, Android, HTML5/CSS3, NodeJS, Magento, WordPress, Drupal.
Talk to us today or read our Five Characteristics of Fast-Growth Strategic Partnerships.