Leveraging Social Media to Connect with Ramadan Consumers

Key Takeaways:

1. Customize Your Content for Ramadan: Tailor your visuals and messaging to resonate with the Ramadan spirit. Avoid generic symbols and go deeper into the mood of reflection, unity, and spirituality.
2. Humanize Your Brand: Share genuine moments from your workplace, like team iftar or moments of prayer, to build a more relatable connection with your audience.
3. Foster Engagement: Boost interaction with your followers by encouraging conversations and user-generated content. Ask fun, Ramadan-themed questions and create opportunities for participation.

Ramadan is a powerful time for businesses to engage with Muslim consumers, and social media plays a crucial role in this. The digital landscape has made it easier than ever to reach potential customers, but success during Ramadan requires a strategy that speaks to the season’s unique cultural and spiritual significance.

Here’s how you can optimize your social media efforts to boost engagement and sales during Ramadan:

1. Customize Your Visuals to Reflect the Season
Make sure your social media profiles convey the essence of Ramadan. It’s not just about using crescent moons and lanterns in your banners; it’s about reflecting the mood of fasting, charity, prayer, and community. Use soft colors, warm tones, and meaningful images like people sharing meals or giving back to the community. Studies show that 66% of consumers expect brands to be culturally relevant in their marketing (Forbes). By aligning your visuals with Ramadan, you can better resonate with your audience’s values and traditions.

2. Show the Human Side of Your Business
Ramadan is a time for connection, so show the human side of your brand. Post behind-the-scenes content, like your team gathering for iftar or engaging in charitable activities. This authenticity builds trust and demonstrates that your brand is in tune with the values of Ramadan. In fact, 86% of consumers consider authenticity a key factor when deciding which brands to support (Childsey).

3. Engage Your Audience with Interactive Content
Increase interaction by asking your followers questions and encouraging user-generated content. For example, ask, “What’s your favorite Ramadan memory?” or “How do you celebrate Ramadan with your loved ones?” Encouraging followers to share their thoughts not only boosts engagement but also strengthens community feeling. The Sprout Social report reveals that 40% of consumers will engage with a brand on social media if they feel like the content is personalized to them.

4. Create Limited-Time Offers Based on Ramadan Milestones
Muslims are particularly attuned to key moments in Ramadan, such as the first ten days, the middle, and the last ten days. Tailor your offers to these milestones by promoting specific “product of the day” discounts or flash sales. Running promotions aligned with these key dates can drive urgency and increase sales. The Statista survey shows that 65% of Muslims in the U.S. increase their spending during Ramadan, which presents an excellent opportunity for targeted campaigns.

5. Craft a Heartfelt Ramadan Video
Videos are among the most effective ways to communicate during Ramadan. You don’t need to create a polished, professional ad—authenticity is key. A simple video with your team expressing Ramadan wishes, sharing personal reflections, or showing gratitude to your followers will resonate deeply. According to Wyzowl, 84% of people have been convinced to buy a product or service after watching a brand’s video.

6. Start a Ramadan-Themed Hashtag
Launching a hashtag like #RamadanWith[YourBrand] can increase visibility and encourage followers to participate in challenges or share their own content. User-generated content is an effective tool for building brand loyalty and amplifying your message. Research shows that posts with hashtags receive 12.6% more engagement (Sprout Social).

Plan Ahead with a Social Media Calendar

The key to a successful Ramadan campaign lies in preparation. With so many activities happening during this busy month, it’s easy to fall behind on social media. But by creating a detailed social media calendar early, you ensure that your posts go live at optimal times without stress. Ramadan presents unique timing challenges, as Muslim consumers tend to be online at late hours after iftar. Planning content in advance and scheduling posts during peak engagement windows will save you valuable time and maximize your reach.

Ensure you have the following ready:

• Branded images and video content
• Compelling captions and calls-to-action
• Landing page URLs and promotional teasers
• Approvals for all content

Don’t forget to coordinate your posts across platforms to create a cohesive experience for your audience.

Get Your Ramadan Ads Approved Early

If you plan to run paid ads during Ramadan, it’s crucial to submit them for approval well ahead of time. Waiting until the last minute can result in delays, missed opportunities, or even rejected ads.  

But remember, a delay in ad approval could cost you valuable hours or even days, particularly during key sales periods. In fact, a study by Think with Google highlights that consumers are more receptive to advertising during Ramadan, leading to increased engagement and conversion rates.

Partner with the Muslim Ad Network to Maximize Your Reach

During the busiest season for Muslim consumers, partnering with experienced professionals can significantly enhance your visibility. Muslim Ad Network (MAN) offers over 10 years of expertise in targeting the Muslim market and has served over 1 billion ads globally. We can help you get in front of Muslim audiences across multiple platforms, including publisher websites, social media channels, and through our email marketing list.

By working with us, you can ensure that your ads are effectively reaching the right audience at the right time, eliminating the hassle of navigating ad approvals and scheduling challenges on other platforms.

If you’re looking to maximize your Ramadan campaign’s effectiveness, contact us at Muslim Ad Network today and let us help you reach your target audience with impactful ads.

Get Started Today:

Don’t wait until the last minute—get in touch with the Muslim Ad Network today and let us help you craft a Ramadan marketing strategy that will elevate your brand and drive sales. Contact us now to get started!

The post Kickstart Your Ramadan Marketing – Part 4 appeared first on Muslim Ad Network.

Because of four major factors, social media platforms will continue to prioritize user privacy and data protection in the coming years.

Muslim consumer concern about data privacy

Increased regulatory scrutiny

Constant high-profile data breaches

New competing platforms with better privacy

Platforms will be more immersive & Interactive

Muslim consumers are increasingly embracing interactive and immersive experiences on social media for a number of reasons.

Better technology

evolution of content consumption

High demand for personalization

Super Growth of Video Content

Social media is already dominated by video content, and in the years to come, its popularity is likely to only increase.

Video has become a major part of the marketing mix

Video ads are more effective

Video drives most engagement

Video is the most powerful brand awareness tool

Voice assistant to post updates and read feeds for example

Increased Integration

Social media platforms are integrating with other technologies to improve user experience.

Smart home devices

Internet of Things (IoT) devices

The post Halal Social Media Marketing Evolution 2023 to 2028 appeared first on Muslim Ad Network.

More than a hundred thousand active communities, endless conversations, and authentic human connections can be found on Reddit. Whether you enjoy breaking news, fashion, conspiracy facts, or funny videos, you will find a Reddit community for your Muslim brand to engage users.

Why Market Your Muslim Brand on Reddit?

The “2023 Social Analytics Guide to Influencer Marketing on Reddit”, states: 

“[Reddit’s] rate of growth, combined with web-wide users’ love of anonymity, indicate Reddit’s staying power as a top-ranking social site.”

The authors of the guide are of the opinion that far too many brands and marketers underestimate (at their peril) the opportunities of understanding how to navigate Reddit properly with some not even considering Reddit, to begin with. 

They mention that there are at least 100,000 active communities and 13 billion posts and comments on Reddit. Its value has tripled from $2.7 billion in 2019 to $10 billion in 2022.
Here is an example of an Islamic Finance subreddit discussion with more than 220k members. At the time of writing this article, there were 731 members on that page:

We consider the major platforms— Instagram, Tik Tok, LinkedIn, etc. – to be the only options for social media marketing. The online world, however, is a big place full of highly active social niche communities that may be relevant to the customers you’re attempting to serve.

Reddit is probably the most underutilized popular social media marketing platform. To prove this point here are some stats from 2022 published by passport-photo online in December 2022:

• 52 million active members
• Revenue growth by 150% from 2020 to 2021
• 1 billion registered users
• 1.7 billion global monthly visitors
• 86% of internet users trust product reviews on Reddit
• 36% of Reddit users are between the ages of 18 and 29
• The most popular subreddit has 40 million subscribers

Reddit for Business (the advertising platform for Reddit) reports that 90% of Reddit users trust it to learn about new products and brands.

Here are some more stats from the aforementioned “2023 Social Analytics Guide to Influencer Marketing on Reddit”:

• 69% of Redditors mention that they respect brands that make the effort to be on Reddit.
• 61% admit that they are more likely to trust a brand that participates on Reddit.
• 66% say that brands can have a conversation with them on Reddit that they can’t have anywhere else.

Reddit has a massive user base. Reddit is a very active and engaging community. And your halal brand is most likely not marketing there. Let’s look at how you can change that.

How to Market Your Muslim Brand on Reddit (Organic)

For the purpose of this article, we will be discussing the organic aspect of marketing on Reddit. We will discuss using Reddit for Business to advertise on Reddit in another article. However, the best option currently for paid advertising to Muslims online is MuslimReach.

Understanding Reddit Users and Subreddit Owners

Reddit was founded by tech hackers who wanted to hack internet possibilities to create business models. We are talking about inventors and risk-takers and thus many of those engaging on this platform (owners of subreddits) have the same mentality. Many of them you will not find actively participating anywhere online. 

Because of their well-documented credibility on Reddit, these are the people who can make a product or service go viral. But watch out, Redditors are extremely protective of the communities they’ve created, and they despise brands that try to take over a subreddit for personal gain. 

Understanding How Reddit Works

Reddit’s primary focus is news aggregation and forum communication. Reddit’s core functionality is that users submit content, which is then upvoted or downvoted by others. The most popular threads are displayed at the top.

Karma points are awarded for every action a Redditor takes, from sharing links to voting and commenting. Credibility is equivalent to karma. The more karma one has, the more time this person has spent participating on the platform, and the more respected his/her voice is.

You can earn post karma and comment karma, your halal brand or representative needs to build credibility for both by creating the most useful posts and comments in the halal niche you are serving.

An example of a halal niche on Reddit is r/IslamicFinance with 7.4k members at the time of writing this article. These are highly niche and engaged members which means more quality engagement than on other platforms.

Basic Tips for Great Engagement

1. Share extremely timely and relevant content with a great catchy title.
2. There could be a few dozen subreddits discussing modest fashion, for instance, do not crosspost as this will appear as spam. Choose one and stick to it.
3. Use the advised formula of contributing 80% of the time and self-promoting only 20% of the time.

The Top Things That Annoy Redditors

Remember when we said that Redditors are extremely protective of their subreddits? Well, here are the top three things to avoid when using Reddit for your Muslim brand:

1. Creating fake accounts for any reason whatsoever
2. Working with paid sponsors and not disclosing this information
3. Asking your employees to upvote your content

Subreddit Cultures

You must also acknowledge that your target communities may have distinct cultures. Have a genuine interest in the community in which you wish to participate. 

Before you start posting and commenting, learn the subreddit’s traditions and mannerisms, as well as what types of content are popular and how to title and format your content for maximum impact. Try to pick up on the sometimes unspoken rules of the subreddit.

Creating Brand Awareness and Presence on Reddit

Once you are on Reddit, you do not only want to sporadically engage Muslim consumers. What you really want to do is create a consistent presence for your halal brand. Here are some best practices and tips to help you on your way:

1. Investigate all of the subreddits that may be relevant to your brand and just listen in at first- remember: do not crosspost, not yet!
2. Adopt a regular commenting frequency before you begin submitting original content.
3. Create a piece of content specifically for your Reddit audience. 
4. Create based on the best-performing content formats: GIFs, videos, still images, short text, articles, and breaking news.
5. Create AMA (ask me anything) threads and ask Redditors to participate. If your Muslim brand has a unique story to tell, it can find a lot of success with AMAs.
6. Create your halal brand’s subreddit to allow Redditors and customers to ask questions. Make sure you monitor closely so you do not miss a single query.
7. Find influencers to collaborate with by looking at their karma scores. The so-called Karma kings with 100k karma may need to get paid but the ones who are up-and-coming and believe in what you do as a brand may be willing to spread your message. Remember, Redditors are very dedicated to their niche and if your message has value to that niche you will have a willing partner.

Conclusion

The number of brands and businesses using Reddit is increasing. Reddit, in comparison to other social media platforms you use, will occupy a different place in your halal brand’s marketing strategy, more like an extension of your PR efforts. 

Start small. Take the time to understand your audience and get to know the places they hang out and then reap the rewards of the engaging content you can begin to build.

Learn. Share. Contribute. It may not always make sense but soon it will open the doors of communication and allow you to become a part of the communities that will matter to your Muslim brand. 

The post Should Your Muslim Brand Market on Reddit? appeared first on Muslim Ad Network.

FOR THE LATEST UPDATE ON A SOLUTION FOR FACEBOOK ADS GO TO: 7 Benefits of Serving Ads to Muslims Using Muslim Ad Network vs. Google Ads & Facebook Ads

So you want to know how to target Muslim audiences after Facebook removed the ability to run ads based on religious interests and politics?

As a result of a series of Senate hearings regarding documents leaked by whistleblower Frances Haugen, Meta – the company that now stands behind Facebook – faces increased scrutiny. This is the main reason why Meta took such drastic measures.

As a business that targets Muslim consumers, you may be grappling with this issue. We wanted to reassure you that there is still an efficient way to target Muslim audiences on Facebook.

Solution: Target Muslim Consumers Through Facebook Custom Audiences

FOR THE LATEST UPDATE ON A SOLUTION FOR FACEBOOK ADS GO TO: 7 Benefits of Serving Ads to Muslims Using Muslim Ad Network vs. Google Ads & Facebook Ads

You can use three different  sources of data for your Custom Audiences:

• Your customer lists
• Visitors to your website
• Your App users

Your Customer List

Facebook will create target audiences based on your existing customers when you upload or connect your existing lists.

Upload a list of your customers and run a campaign to encourage their next purchase. You can use this same list to recruit new Muslim customers by creating campaigns that reward your list members for bringing in new customers.

For first-time customers think about what they would typically buy next and when they tend to do so. Use this data to advertise their next product within that time frame.

So if your first-time customer bought kitchen accessories for Ramadan and you have established a pattern that your typical customer usually buys dining sets as presents for Eid-ul Fitr, use this data to create ads for the product in the days leading to Eid-ul Fitr.

Easy Steps to Upload Your Customer List on Facebook Ads:

1. Go to Ads Manager
2. Click on “Audiences”
3. Click on “Create a Custom Audience”
4. Select “Customer List”

Make sure you format your customer list correctly.

Your Site Visitors

You can target Muslims on Facebook who visited your website or specific pages on your website. This targeting option is referred to as “website custom audiences”. You can also dig into site behavior data such as page depth, time spent on the site, and bounce rate. This, of course, makes sense if you are a typical Muslim business or organization and if the overwhelming majority of website traffic is made up of Muslims.

Facebook Pixel

Adding the Facebook Pixel to your website is the first step in creating and running your campaign. With the Facebook Pixel, you can track user behavior on your site, as well as specific audience segments that you can target with future Facebook ads.

Abandoned Carts

The average shopping cart abandonment rate for desktops is  69.57% and 85.65% for mobile. Given the fact that most visitors to your site are probably on their mobile phones, you may have a relatively large audience to retarget on Facebook.

Abandoned carts are excellent opportunities since your potential customer has already done all the work to get your product in their cart. It may be easier to recover abandoned carts than to attract new customers since the website visitor already has knowledge of your brand, is interested in your products, and just needs a little extra nudge.

You can customize product recommendations based on the visitor’s cart or offer discounts on abandoned products.

Sequential Retargeting

Through Facebook ads, you can target your audience with a series of advertisements based on their website behavior. Facebook ads using sequential retargeting are effective because they acknowledge the stage of the buying journey of your website visitor. For example, a visitor to your halal restaurant reservation page is far more likely to commit than someone who only visited your homepage.

Your Facebook App Users

Target Muslim audiences who have engaged with your Facebook app or have taken specific actions on your Facebook app. Your brand is already familiar to them, so it’s mostly just a matter of nurturing and sealing the deal.

Before we move further, make sure you download The Ultimate Guide to Understanding and Marketing to the Muslim Consumer. Your brand’s guide on breaking into one of the fastest-growing untapped consumer markets in the world.

Lookalike Muslim Audiences

You can create Facebook Lookalike Audiences by selecting segments of people who have similar characteristics to your existing users. We ask you to do this with caution because so far we have talked about audiences from your customer list or website visitors. The lookalike audience you end up with highly depends on the interests they share with your customer list and site visitors.

The lookalike audience should really be specific to products that most probably only Muslim consumers would buy. Lookalike audiences are however a  great ad targeting option to expand your reach to new potential Muslim customers. 

Since they share similar characteristics to your Custom Audiences, you already have an idea of what works and what does not—so you only need to repurpose and optimize as needed.

Easy Steps to Create a Facebook Ads Lookalike Audience:

1. Go to your Audiences. 
2. Select the Create Audience dropdown and choose Lookalike Audience
3. Choose your source. 
4. Choose the country/countries where you’d like to find a similar set of people
5. Choose your desired audience size with the slide.
6. Select Create Audience 

Source: Meta Business Help Center

Conclusion

These are frustrating times for those who have targeted Muslim audiences on Facebook for many years. Facebook’s decision to close off options for targeting religious interests has come at a high price for many.

However, if we are talking about a warm Muslim audience there are still a few options to target them on Facebook as we have demonstrated in this article.

So what do you do if you want to advertise to a new Muslim audience that has not warmed up to you yet? The answer to that is you partner with the largest, most experienced ad platform for targeting Muslim consumers in the world.

For more than a decade, Muslim Ad Network has helped brands, businesses, and organizations reach over 250 million Muslim customers online globally, and has served over a billion ads.
Feel free to contact Muslim Ad Network today and we will help you reach Muslim customers in the most efficient manner.

The post How to Target Muslim Audiences on Facebook – A Quick Solution appeared first on Muslim Ad Network.

Is your Muslim or halal brand taking advantage of the enormous possibilities of social commerce?

Social commerce is when brands sell products directly through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.

Thanks to social commerce, customers can experience the entire shopping process — from research and discovery to check-out — right on their favorite social media platform.

The global social commerce market is expected to reach US$2.9 Trillion by 2026.

In this article, we look at the different social commerce opportunities on different social media platforms that have been introduced or enhanced in 2021.

Facebook and Instagram Shops

In 2020, Facebook helped out small businesses struggling in the pandemic by introducing the  Shops feature which allows businesses to upload products to their Facebook page.

Facebook has since expanded its Shop integrations and its overall commerce features.

According to Adweek, CEO Mark Zuckerberg, recently revealed that “there are over 1 million active Shops, and more than 250 million people interacting with Shops every month”.

The official Meta for Business website explains that:

“Facebook Shops is a mobile-first shopping experience where businesses can easily create an online store on Facebook and Instagram for free. Shops let you choose which of your items you want to feature, merchandise with product collections, and tell your brand story with customizable fonts and colors. In Facebook Shops, you’ll be able to connect with customers through WhatsApp, Messenger, or Instagram Direct to answer questions, offer support, and more.”

In May 2021, Instagram introduced a “Drops” tab, which features limited-edition or just-launched products that you can use to create urgency and excitement. Also, since August, Instagram allows brands to place ads in the Shop tab.

See how your Muslim or halal brand can set up Shops on Facebook.

Twitter Shop Module

In April 2021, Twitter introduced business profiles that give businesses the opportunity to feature store hours and links to its website. Twitter also added a Shop Module in July, which lets customers buy products from the top of the business profiles without having to leave the app.

In October 2021, Twitter Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal expressed his satisfaction with the product carousel feature: 

“On the direct response side, the multi-destination carousel is improving click-through rates by 20%, which gives you a good sense for why this is attracting more and more advertisers and more and more dollars to our service.”

It is important to keep in mind that Twitter predominantly focuses its shopping capabilities on small businesses.

Learn more about Twitter’s new Shop Module.

TikTok and Shopify Partnership

If your business targets Generation Z audiences, chances are you are already on TikTok.

“In June 2020 TikTok announced to advertisers that it’s open for business with their launch of the TikTok For Business platform. It provides brands and marketers with tools for creativity and storytelling. The idea behind TikTok For Business is to boost engagement and help brands build relationships with audiences more effectively and more meaningfully.”

Source: TikTok Introduces Marketing Partner Program For Advertisers – Is it Suitable for Muslim Businesses? 

In August 2021, TikTok evolved its business capabilities to allow users to buy products through its platform. Tik Tok now allows Shopify for Business accounts to add a “Shop” tab to their TikTok profiles. One of the most exciting elements of the business feature is that your brand can also tag products in organic posts. 

Through collection ads, TikTok users can view a gallery of other products when they click on an ad. TikTok has also incorporated shoppable links and live stream events.

Learn more about connecting Shopify merchants with the TikTok community.

Snapchat Augmented Reality Shopping

In 2021 Snapchat made serious moves in the world of social commerce. They launched a whole host of new shopping features, including the popular augmented reality (AR) filters and advertising options.

The app that started out as a camera-first entertainment platform is now offering unique shopping augmented reality ( AR) experiences with the likes of Dior, Samsung, and Gucci.

Also, the “scan” feature, which currently allows users to detect food labels and Amazon products, is getting new shopping capabilities. And a feature called “Screenshop” can now recommend clothing items when you “scan” an outfit.

Although Snapchat has been known to experiment with a variety of features, the latest version allows its users try-on experiences through voice commands and even gestures. So a customer is able to request seeing an item with a different color or pattern using voice command.

Learn more about creating a Snapchat business account.

Conclusion

Social commerce is impacting how consumers purchase products online. It has revolutionized social media platforms. Today, they are not merely hang-out places for consumers but have shopping capabilities.

We have shown you how to leverage social commerce for your Muslim brand on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Snapchat.

Over the years our team at MAN has been dedicated to bringing you the latest Muslim consumer news and trends.
For more information and news about the latest marketing and advertising trends, Muslim consumer news, and much more please subscribe to our newsletter.

The post Social Commerce Tools Your Muslim Brand Should Consider Using appeared first on Muslim Ad Network.

Part 1- Facebook

Part 2 – Twitter

Part 3 – Instagram

“How do I advertise to Muslim consumers on social media like Twitter?” is something marketing managers have been asking. 

Today we continue with our series that looks at how to leverage the news feed algorithms on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Understanding how they work will help you target Muslim consumers on social media platforms more efficiently.

While Facebook is the ultimate decision-maker when it comes to what will show up in a user’s Facebook News Feed, Twitter has had a very different approach with its “Timeline” over the years.

Back when Twitter started, a user’s Timeline was made up of every single tweet from every user they follow, in chronological order. However, Twitter- similarly to what was happening on Facebook – realized that users felt that they were missing all the best tweets from the people they care about most.

The changes made to the Twitter algorithm were not nearly as platform-changing as the ones Facebook has made, but they are indeed a departure from the real-time element that had defined Twitter since its beginning.

Twitter introduced two approaches for showing users the most relevant tweets first on their Timeline: the “While You Were Away” feature and later on the “Show me the best Tweets first” feature.

Capitalizing on Twitter’s “While You Were Away” Feature

Twitter introduced this feature in an attempt to rid users of the FOMO (fear of missing out) that they might have been feeling from the chronological nature of the original Timeline.

This feature recaps some of the best tweets a user may not have seen otherwise. These tweets are qualified by the level of user engagement they attract.

Users can’t turn off the feature, however, it is more active for users who check the app less often.

Tip: Make sure you are actively engaging with relevant accounts so that they engage with your tweets too. This should help your tweets rank and feature on the “While You Were Away” Timeline of a broader, yet more relevant Muslim audience.

Capitalizing on Twitter’s “Show Me the Best Tweets First” Feature

Twitter’s “Show me the best Tweets first” feature is similar to Facebook’s News Feed. It arranges the content on a user’s Timeline based on a tweet’s relevancy.

In this case, Twitter’s algorithm puts the tweets it believes users find most interesting at the top of your Timeline. These posts are still recent and in reverse chronological order. Twitter mainly qualifies these tweets based on accounts users interact with most and tweets users engage with. This, of course, is among many other things.

The remaining tweets section features all the tweets from a user’s timeline and includes retweets, promoted tweets, and suggested accounts that Twitter thinks will make a user’s timeline more relevant. These tweets also appear in reverse chronological order.

Tip: Make sure you are attracting the right type of followers. Check your follower list weekly or monthly to make sure no fake or inactive accounts are following you. That way your Twitter content will get more engagement from the right Muslim audience. Twitter’s algorithm will then suggest that content to similar Muslim audiences it believes will find your tweets interesting.

Twitter is not the only social media platform improving its algorithm to show the most relevant content first. Instagram’s algorithm is as useful for your marketing as any other out there.

So stay tuned for the third and final part of this series where we discuss Instagram’s algorithm. Meanwhile, although Ramadan is reaching the last stages for this year, you can still  benefit from the following article: Using Social Media to Gain Ramadan Buyers

Muslim Ad Network can help you find and engage Muslim customers on all online platforms including social networks.  Muslim Ad Network will connect your organization or product with Muslim consumers on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn! Contact us today!

The post Advertise to Muslim Audiences on Twitter by Capitalizing on Social Media Algorithms appeared first on Muslim Ad Network.

In a recent blog post, How to Leverage Muslim Consumer Behavior Online with Social Media Marketing we discussed how to successfully market your brand or organization to Muslims on social media.

Today we take a look at the metrics you can use to see if your social media strategy for Muslim users is working.

The So-Called Vanity Metrics

Yes, let’s talk about likes, shares, and comments. It is typical for marketers to hear something and repeat it without going back and looking at whether it is relevant for their audience or not.

There has been a lot of talk about likes, shares, and comments not being relevant to social media success. The buzz word used to label these metrics is ‘vanity metrics’. One of the biggest arguments is that people may watch your video or read the written content that you posted without participating. 

This is quite true, how many times have you viewed or watched a piece of content online that moved you to tears and then moved on to the next one without even liking or sharing it. That happens quite a bit, right?

The thing is, if someone does take the time to like, share, or comment, it’s because the content is not just enjoyable to them but is newsworthy and they want everyone to know that it is beneficial and worth taking the time to view or read. It’s basically a testimonial.

Shares are particularly useful in helping you reach your second-level network. This is a group of people you don’t have access to unless your content is deemed valuable enough to be shared by your primary network.

So if you don’t get as many likes, shares, and comments, don’t panic. However, if you do, then know that your content is being validated by your audience.

The Muslim Audience Reaching Out to You

Remember that when you are marketing to Muslims, you are targeting a very niche audience. They know that you are accessible as a business. If your content resonates with them and they believe that you know what you are talking about, they will definitely reach out to you. 

They will have questions about your product or service. For example, because of the issue of halal products, you might have Muslim users inquire about your halal certification. If you are a B2B business, for example, they will want to know the terms of working with you as captured below with several users approaching Muslim Ad Network on Facebook:

Social Media Mentions from Muslim Users

You can use a tool like HootSuite to have all your social media scheduling in one place. But you will also be able to monitor who is mentioning you on different social media channels. An increase in social media mentions is an indication that awareness for your Muslim brand is growing.

You should not only keep an eye at the quantity of the mentions but also the quality of it. Random bots mentioning you in spam posts are not what you want to have. The sentiment of the mentions is also important.  You are looking for the positive reception of your business on social media. This is especially true if your social media goals are reputation or customer service oriented.

Muslim Social Media Followers

The number of followers on your social media platform is a good indication of how well you are doing. However, even more, important than that is the steadiness in your follower growth rate. As your business grows, so should your audience. 

A common scenario that you don’t want to see is a large growth of followers at the start, only for those numbers to hit a plateau and hold steady or decline. If this happens you’ll need to reevaluate your efforts to connect with your audience.

Just keep in mind that the quality of a social media following is very important. This can generally be measured by their participation. You may have thousands of followers who don’t interact with your posts very often, if at all. Or you could have a few hundred followers who enthusiastically engage with every piece of content you create for them.

You might also want to keep an eye on your unfollow rate. Even the most successful social media accounts experience unfollows. This happens quite often when running a contest or promotion. So keep an eye out for a spike in people unfollowing your brand on social media after a promo. 

Other reasons for getting unfollowed can be:

• a shift in your posting frequency; 
• trying a new strategy;
• change in voice tone; or
• change in content and visual style.

Muslims Participating in Your Social Media Events

Do you have a large group of attendees during your live video event on LinkedIn? Is your Facebook Watch Party popular among the Muslim audience? If the answer is yes, then you are doing quite well.

Other metrics that can help you gauge interest from your Muslim audience on social media are participation rates for casts and polls. Your Muslim customers – especially because it’s a niche- enjoy knowing that their input and opinions are being heard and valued. So the engagement rate should be high.

If this is not the case for you, use incentives to encourage your Muslim audience to share photos, videos, or stories with you. Such user-generated content or activity might even attract new followers, or bring new subscribers to your email list. 

When more of your followers are actively participating in these promotions, you’re building a more engaged audience.

Muslim User Behavior After They Leave Your Social Media Platform

Here’s the thing. You are not targeting Muslim audiences on social media just for the sake of it right? At the end of the day, your business cannot survive on likes and shares. You want your followers to take action on your website and commit to a primary call-to-action like a purchase.

Here are some things that need  to keep an eye on:

Website Metrics

How your audience behaves once they leave your social media platform and land on your website is vital to your business success. Why? Because ultimately, your website is your most important marketing tool.

If engagement is great on your social media platform but the user behavior on your website by the same people is awful you are in trouble. It might be that the expectations that you offered on your social media platform don’t match with the user experience on your website.

Bounce Rates

Check for high bounce rates: users landing on the page you promoted on social media and immediately leaving without clicking through to other pages.

If you experience high bounce rates reevaluate your website’s content and design to understand why you’re not capturing their interest. Also, reexamine your social media campaigns to evaluate the Muslim audience you’re reaching.

Average Time Spent on Your Website

So let’s say your website visitors from your social media platform don’t bounce right after the first page they land on. Now you need to compare the time they spent on your website with the time spent by other referred visitors. If your social media referrals are spending significantly more time on your site, then you’re on the right path.

Business Metrics

Some brands that target Muslims on social media forget that they are a business. They get too engaged in entertaining and creating interesting content for their followers. It can easily happen to you too. Make sure you keep an eye on the ball at all times to see if your social media efforts are in line with your business goals.

Generated Leads

The definition of a quality lead differs per business depending on business goals. However, your business must have a solid definition of a quality lead at the outset of a social media campaign. If you’re campaigning on social media results in poor leads consistently, your ideal customer may be on a different social media platform than the one you’ve focused on.

Ad Value of Social Media Referral Traffic

Assign a monetary value to your social media referral traffic. You can do this by calculating how much money you would have spent if those visitors had been referred to your site by pay-per-click (PPC) ads. This is a simple approximated value since social media and PPC are not the only two sources of site traffic. 

Here’s how you would do it: 

• A PPC ad for your target audience costs $1.75.
• You received 50 visitors today from a link you posted on Instagram.
• The value of 50 visitors referred by that PPC ad (50 x $1.75) is $87.5.

This means that you received approximately $87.5 worth of traffic from Instagram today. You now have a standard against which you can compare your social media campaign to measure relative ROI.

Sales and Revenue

Here is a simple but extremely important question to ask yourself: “Has there been a significant increase in your sales and revenue numbers since you began utilizing social media marketing?” 

Besides other factors that impact your bottom line including other marketing campaigns, take a look at your sales figures. Find out how they correspond with a new or increased social media presence. A charity or other non-profit organization can measure the number and size of donations coming in.

In conclusion, if you don’t measure you don’t know. When you don’t know you can’t improve. When you don’t improve, you are giving your competition the opportunity to overtake you. So make sure you always have these metrics in mind.

The post Want to Know if Your Social Media Marketing for Muslim Audiences Works? Here’s How! appeared first on Muslim Ad Network.

Successfully marketing your brand or business to Muslims on social media requires an understanding of the behavior of Muslim social media users.

In this article, we will help you understand how to leverage social media marketing for Muslims based on ‘Muslim user behavior’.

Muslims Use Social Media to Interact with Friends and Family

Just like most people out there, Muslims use social media to interact with family and friends. 

As the use of digital tools takes over face-to-face interactions in Muslim society, the use of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp is becoming a necessity rather than a luxury.

Interaction with friends and family on social media is even more important for Muslim users because of the fact that maintaining family bonds is a command from the creator:

Aisha reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace, and blessings be upon him, said, “The bond of family is suspended from the Throne and it says: Whoever upholds me, Allah will uphold him. Whoever severs me, Allah will sever him.”

Source: Sahīh al-Bukhārī 5643, Sahīh Muslim 2555

Social media is also vital in helping the maintenance of family bonds because most Muslim families in the West are immigrant families and need a platform to connect with their families in their ancestral countries. Social media offers a solution by eliminating geographical boundaries.

Tip: Promote Family Values Throughout the Year

You’ve seen how most brands focus on family values in their social media content during Christmas, Ramadan, Mother’s day, and so on. For your brand that’s targeting Muslim consumers, this should be a consistent tactic that you use. Not only will you be able to leverage the Muslim user’s behavior but when the festive seasons arrive, you will have had a head start with the audience and will cut through the noise much easier.

Muslims and Social Issues on Social Media

Social media has become a tool for standing up against social injustice, corruption, tyranny, and all sorts of evil. Social media is especially important for social issues that do not get much attention from mainstream media. The persecution of the Uyghur in China is a good example of social injustices that came to light initially only through social media.

The principle of standing up against injustice is deeply rooted in Islamic culture:

Abu Sa’id al-Khudri reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace, and blessings be upon him, said, “Whoever among you sees evil, let him change it with his hand. If he is unable to do so, then with his tongue. If he is unable to do so, then with his heart, and that is the weakest level of faith.”

Source: Sahīh Muslim 2555

Whether it’s an environmental issue, a human rights issue, or a fight against racism, Muslims are inherently inclined to be part of the movement. 

Tip: Prioritize Social Responsibility

As a brand or business you know that in Islam, social responsibility is as important if not more important than profit. So your business should not only prioritize social responsibility as a marketing tool but it should be mainly done to please the creator. By doing so sincerely, you will automatically win over the Muslim audience.

Click and learn how to measure the impact of your Muslim social media marketing

Source of News and Information for Muslims

As mentioned before, not all of the newsworthy issues facing our society are given air time on mainstream media outlets. That’s even more true for issues pertaining to the Muslim communities. 

Muslims do get a lot of coverage on mainstream media outlets but most of the time it’s the negative kind. Due to this, the Muslim audience is very receptive to the good news about the Muslim community. This gives your brand an enormous opportunity to attract Muslim users online.

Tip: Spread Positivity Through Good News

There is plenty of positive news involving Muslims all over the globe. Make an effort to find some positive news involving Muslims and share that with your Muslim audience. This works really well if it is within your niche. For example, if you are a halal catering service and you share a news article about how Muslim volunteers open up food banks during the COVID-19 pandemic to help the most vulnerable people in their city.

Just make sure the news is verified and/ or that you are using a trustworthy source.

These are just three very powerful examples of how you can use Muslim user behavior on social media to the benefit of your business. The possibilities are endless and it all depends on the type of business you run and the type of Muslim audience you are targeting.

The post How to Leverage Muslim Consumer Behavior Online with Social Media Marketing appeared first on Muslim Ad Network.