Approaching 2024, the digital marketing realm is on the verge of rapid transformation, demanding businesses to foresee pivotal trends:

1. Personalization Driven by AI: Embrace artificial intelligence (AI) to craft hyper-personalized campaigns, fostering brand allegiance and elevating conversion rates.
2. Optimizing for Voice Search: Tailor SEO strategies to accommodate the upsurge in voice search, integrating long-tail keywords and emphasizing local optimization.
3. Ascendancy of Interactive Content: Captivate audiences through interactive content such as polls and quizzes, resonating with the escalating desire for active engagement.
4. Blockchain for Heightened Security: Harness the potential of blockchain for transparent and secure transactions, instilling confidence and trust among customers.
5. Augmented Reality Reshaping E-commerce: Revolutionize the online shopping experience with augmented reality, enabling virtual product trials and forging memorable interactions.
6. Sustainability at the Forefront of Marketing: Anticipate a surge in sustainability-centric campaigns spotlighting eco-friendly practices and transparent supply chains.
7. Evolution of Video Content: Embrace the evolution of short-form videos, live streaming, and interactive content, reshaping the dynamics of brand connections, especially on platforms like TikTok.

10 Key Trends in PR for Navigating the 2024 Media Landscape 

As we approach the threshold of 2024, the media landscape is amid transformative shifts, introducing both challenges and opportunities for your PR. We spotlight essential trends, advancements, and scenarios requiring attention from your halal brand in 2024.

1. Preserving Client Reputations: PR professionals assume a pivotal role in upholding trust within the relentless 24/7 news cycle. Their unwavering commitment to safeguarding client reputations becomes a linchpin for maintaining corporate trust amidst the proliferation of misinformation across social media platforms.
2. Embracing Human-Centered Design Practices: The anticipation of unintended consequences poses a formidable challenge. To mitigate risks, the reliance on human-centered design best practices emerges as a strategic approach, ensuring thorough testing and validation with customers before disseminating public messaging.
3. Strategic Crisis Communication Planning: Essential to effective crisis communication is preparedness and adaptability. Drawing insights from pivotal events like the COVID-19 pandemic, companies must communicate adeptly to safeguard the well-being of employees and communities during emergencies.
4. Rise of AI in Influencer Marketing: The ascent of AI in influencer marketing demands careful consideration. Marketers must exercise mindfulness regarding influencers’ utilization of AI-generated content, ensuring a nuanced understanding of regulations governing content ownership for commercial purposes.
5. Spotlight on Spotify’s AI Voice Translation: The convergence of AI and audio, particularly exemplified by Spotify’s AI voice translation service, emerges as a noteworthy trend. This innovation empowers speakers to reach a broader, multilingual audience, significantly impacting the speaking industry.
6. Emergence of AI Reputation Management: The nascent field of AI reputation management is reshaping interactions between businesses, consumers, and technology. Leveraging AI for data retrieval and summarization becomes imperative, wielding influence over the narrative surrounding a company.
7. Diversifying Outreach Channels: We urge you to prioritize the diversification of outreach channels beyond conventional media platforms. Leveraging social-media-based podcasts, TikTok LIVE interviews, and unconventional platforms proves to be an effective strategy for reaching diverse and engaged audiences.
8. Emphasis on Human-Centric Content: Human-centric content, characterized by authenticity and genuine connection, takes center stage. Initiatives like employee advocacy programs and employer branding content that amplifies personal stories gain prominence as individuals place trust in people over brands and AI.
9. Strategic Collaboration with AI: The year 2024 underscores the significance of collaborative efforts with AI. You should consider actively exploring AI applications which are poised to shape PR’s future. Engagement in understanding AI’s capabilities and purpose definition becomes a crucial determinant, with those lagging risking being left in the shadows.
10. Integration of AI Strategy Communication: AI remains a controversial topic. As a PR professional you must be mindful of integrating and communicating AI strategy, considering concerns about human job replacement and the accuracy of generated information.

10 Interactive  Tips for Halal Ads in 2024

We look at pivotal trends that may mold the halal advertising landscape in 2024. We expect a surge in the adoption of AI marketing, decentralized advertising models, and a heightened focus on ethical and sustainable advertising practices.

1. Intensify Client Engagement: Extend efforts beyond conventional responsibilities, concentrating on clients’ paramount business objectives and cultivating robust partnerships.
2. Amplify Automation: Widen the scope of automation across various departments, empowering teams to concentrate on strategic and creative endeavors.
3. Integration of AI and ML: Innovate and implement tailored AI/ML (machine learning)-powered solutions aligned with the distinctive requirements of each digital facet. AI analytics and generative AI will be vital.
4. Contribution to the Advertising Ecosystem: Collaborate with industry entities to formulate guidelines that empower both brands and the advertising agency community.
5. Advanced Incorporation of AI and ML: AI assumes a pivotal role in crafting personalized content, refining ad placement strategies, and predicting consumer behavior with heightened precision.
6. Rise of Immersive Technologies: AR (augmented reality), VR, and mixed reality are poised for a defining year, promising more immersive and engaging experiences in advertising.
7. Emphasis on Ethical and Sustainable Advertising: A discernible uptick in ethical practices and sustainability efforts responds to heightened consumer expectations regarding corporate responsibility.
8. Expanded Utilization of 5G Technology: The widespread implementation of 5G networks promises swifter and more efficient ad deliveries, especially for high-quality video content and interactive experiences.
9. Mainstreaming of Neuromarketing: Utilizing neuroscience to comprehend consumer decision-making processes gains mainstream prominence, contributing to formulating more effective advertising strategies.
10. Rise of Decentralized Advertising Models: The advent of blockchain technology could usher in decentralized advertising ecosystems, providing enhanced transparency and control to both advertisers and consumers.

10 Anticipated Developments in Advertising for 2024: Regulatory Changes and Industry Trends

As we approach the close of 2023, insights into the potential landscape of the halal advertising industry in 2024 emerge, encompassing regulatory expectations and industry trends.

1. Enhanced Protection Against Scams and Fraudulent Advertising: The Online Safety Act (OSA), effective since October 2023, introduces regulations targeting illegal user-generated content and harmful content for children.  Larger user-to-user and search services face rules combating fraudulent advertising, expecting systems to prevent and swiftly remove such ads. Anticipated outcomes include reduced unlicensed financial promotions and a decline in fake businesses’ online presence.
2. Scrutiny of Online Choice Architecture: The UK’s Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumers (DMCC) Bill, expected in 2024, aims to reform laws on unfair commercial practices and combat harmful online choice architecture practices. The focus is on addressing issues like pressure selling, hidden charges, subscription traps, and fake reviews. Increased media literacy and regulatory initiatives may lead to companies re-evaluating their marketing techniques.
3. Greater Protection for Children: The OSA aims to establish obligations for social media firms and search engines to prevent under-18s from viewing illegal ads. Expect potential new rules and enforcement concerning age-restricted products, aligning with government policies on youth tobacco and vaping restrictions.
4. Increased Use of AI in Advertising: AI’s expansive opportunities in advertising include generative AI for ad design and improved ad targeting for personalized placements. Regulatory scrutiny on personal data usage for digital advertising, exemplified by the CMA’s investigation into Meta, highlights the importance of compliance.
5. Potential for More Enforcement Action: Proactive monitoring schemes are expected to lead to increased scale enforcement, with greater transparency from regulators. The OSA, DMCC Bill, and legislation under the Online Advertising Programme (OAP) will enhance enforcement powers, including fines and business disruption measures.
6. Possibility of a New Regulatory Regime: The evolving advertising industry prompts consideration of a new regulatory regime. Options include full self-regulation by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), a hybrid approach with a statutory regulator as a backstop, or a full statutory approach. The regulatory framework may adapt to the shifting dynamics of omnichannel marketing and emerging advertising formats.
7. Continued Focus on Persistent Issues: Issues from 2023, such as green claims in advertising, influencer marketing, cryptoasset advertising, and concerns around high-fat, salt, and sugar foods, are expected to persist. The ASA continues to update guidance on misleading environmental claims, with net zero claims being a focal point for 2024. Finfluencers’ providing financial advice on social media may see increased regulatory engagement.

5 Social Media Trends Muslim Brands Should Prioritize for 2024

Advertising to Muslims Online in 2024 After Post Third Party Cookies

Elevating Halal Ads to New Heights With Private Marketplace

The post Get Ready for 2024 Halal Advertising: Navigating Trends Across Digital Marketing, PR, and the Regulatory Landscape appeared first on Muslim Ad Network.

What is ID Resolution?

Halal advertising must get serious about ID Resolution or get left behind. But, what is ID Resolution? If you have been paying attention to the impending demise of the third-party cookie, you will know that ID Resolution is a big part of this issue.

MarTech defines and explains the importance of ID Resolution in a nutshell:

“Identity resolution – the science of connecting the growing volume of consumer identifiers to one individual as he or she interacts across channels and devices – has become critical to marketing success, as well as essential for compliance with consumer privacy laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).”

Identity resolution is all about getting a sneak peek into someone’s online activities and interests, from different devices. For instance, if you collect information from their laptop, phone, email, and TV, and combine it together, you can get a pretty good idea about what they’re into. However, this information is anonymous so you can’t find out exactly who the person is, like their name or address. At best, you can find out their age, gender, location, and what they like to do online and buy.

Identity: At its simplest, identity refers to identifying a person online. This is super useful for advertisers because they can then target the right people who are interested in their products or services, with the perfect message at the perfect time

Resolution: So, what Resolution means is that all the information about a person is collected and put together into a single profile. For instance, someone might use one browser for work and another for personal shopping. Or their phone and tablet might reveal more about what they enjoy doing in their free time, sports they like watching, or things they search for during a lazy Sunday afternoon. 

Looking at only one of these devices by itself doesn’t give you the full picture. But when you combine them all, you get a much better idea of who this person is across different screens and gadgets. This helps target, personalize, and measure marketing campaigns for specific individuals.

The Impending Doom for Halal Advertising?

“So, what’s the problem?” you may ask. The problem is stated and addressed in a recent ad industry report by eMarketer: “ID Resolution H1 2023” which states:

“ID resolution — identifying individual users across digital touchpoints — is critical for marketing success. But the deprecation of legacy identifiers will continue, and the ad industry needs to adopt post-cookie solutions now before its hand is forced.”

It’s quite interesting how Muslim and mainstream brands started panicking when the death of the third-party cookie was announced some time back. Then, when this was postponed till 2024 many of those same brands went around doing their business as usual and forgot all about it.

Now, however, we see that many of the bigger brands have been preparing for the end of the third-party cookie quite a bit. This is reflected in the same report that shows that:

“Spending on US identity solutions has been steadily growing over the last five years. Expenditures will reach $10.4 billion by the end of 2023—a 13% increase over 2022 and nearly triple the 2018 total,…”.

_{Image source: ID Resolution H1 2023}

The report also shares the extent to which marketers are taking the third-party cookie and ID phase-out seriously. “How seriously”? you may ask and the answer is “deadly serious”.

As per the ID5 State of Digital Identity 2022 report, almost half of the marketers and publishers indicated that they would implement a cookie-free strategy by the end of 2022. Additionally, 29% reported that they would be prepared by mid-2023, while the remaining 22% had already laid out their plans for the same.

_{Image source:  ID5 State of Digital Identity 2022 report}

According to the eighth edition of Salesforce’s State of Marketing report, nearly 90% of marketers who utilized AI in 2022 did so to address customer identity concerns. This marks a 22% increase from the previous year and is the largest jump observed in the study for AI-related activities.

As you can see, the marketing and advertising world for the most part is rapidly shifting towards ID solutions in a world with no third-party cookies and an extremely consumer-privacy-friendly world.

What steps have you taken for your halal business’ marketing and advertising in the new world that is less than seven months away, at the time of writing this article?

Key to Succeeding With Your Halal Advertising in the Post-Cookie World

For a successful shift in the right direction, you need a proper internal audit of how you collect consumer data and how you use it. However, we can take a look at a few things you must keep in mind after you have done an internal audit and are preparing your post-third-party-cookie advertising strategy.

Zero, First-Party, and Second-Party Data

Where petrol is the black gold, zero and first-party data can be considered to be digital Rhodium (the most valuable metal on earth and exists within the platinum group of metals) in the world of advertising.

Zero-party data is data that consumers intentionally and proactively share with your halal brand. On the other hand, first-party data is data that you collect through interactions with Muslim customers, such as purchase history or website behavior.

We can’t emphasize the importance of zero-party data enough, particularly for Muslim brands, as it allows for a deeper understanding of Muslim customers and provides an opportunity for personalization. With privacy laws evolving and consumers becoming more cautious with their personal information, collecting zero-party data can also help build trust between the brand and their audience.

Your Muslim brand can collect zero-party data through quizzes, surveys, and other interactive content that provide value to your audience. By doing so, you can create a more personalized experience for halal industry customers while respecting their privacy. 

Second-party data is a brand’s first-party data that is sold to another brand for targeting specific customers. It’s high quality and specialized but only available through a private partnership and smaller in scope than third-party data. By establishing a strategic data partnership, Muslim brands can access more niche data for targeted advertising, like using Muslim halal dining data for a halal restaurant-specific discount card.

Data Clean Rooms (DCRs)

What are data clean rooms and how will they help your halal advertising in the post-cookie world?

We found that the best and easiest explanation of what a data clean room is has been provided by TechTarget and so we summarized it below:

“A data clean room is a technology service that helps content platforms keep first-person user data private when interacting with advertising providers. It is intended to keep user data isolated and private.”

• When content platforms interact with advertising providers, DCRs keep user data private.
• It is the data equivalent of a real-world clean room, with the aim of creating a flawless environment in which technology cannot be polluted by outside influences.
• DCRs collect aggregated and anonymized user data to safeguard the privacy of users while offering advertisers non-personally identifiable information (non-PII) to target a specific demographic and measure audience size.
• Privacy restrictions, as well as advertisers’ ongoing desire to more accurately reach consumers, have fueled an increasing need for data clean rooms.

Although just twenty percent of marketers in North America had DCRs in Q2 2022, according to a survey by the CMO Council of over 160 marketing leaders, 24% are planning to get one. 

Keep in mind that DCRs can be very expensive and that many are compatible only with a specific platform.

• Walled garden DCRs are restricted platforms used by major companies for first-party data set enrichment.
• Neutral DCR vendors provide software solutions designed for media companies and brands. They provide adaptability, partnership, and a more unified view, as well as being easier to use.
• Owned DCRs provide versatility and governance controls, however, they are technical solutions with limited access to partner data outside their ecosystem.

If you like the idea of using a DCR make sure you read our article on CDPs (customer data platforms) as the two work extremely well together.

_{Image source: Data Clean Rooms and CDPS: How to Empower Your First-Party Data Strategy}

Muslim Ad Network (MAN)

As the Muslim population continues to grow around the world, and privacy restrictions make serving ads to the already hard-to-get-to Muslim consumers even more complicated, it may be time for you to work with Muslim Ad Network.

Muslim Ad Network is a niche advertising platform aimed at Muslim consumers. It provides a variety of ad formats, including display ads, video ads, and native ads, all of which can be tailored to your brand’s specific requirements. You can target your ads with the Muslim Ad Network based on factors such as location, interests, and demographics, ensuring that your message reaches the right people.

A platform that understands Muslim consumers

Muslim Ad Network is designed specifically to serve the needs of Muslim consumers. Its team of experts understands the unique cultural, social, and religious factors that influence Muslim consumer behavior. By partnering with the Muslim Ad Network, you can leverage this expertise to develop advertising campaigns that resonate with Muslim consumers. A partner with over a decade of experience serving ads to Muslim consumers online.

Leave the worrying to us

Although in this article we tried to give you as much information as possible about the very near future of advertising and its complications, there is still plenty more that we could not cover. This means that advertising complications will create many frustrations for brands and marketers who are not prepared. Even for those preparing, some of the solutions mentioned are quite expensive without even customizing them to serve ads to a complicated niche like the Muslim consumer market.

Muslim Ad Network is an excellent platform for brands looking to connect with Muslim consumers. MAN’s targeted advertising capabilities, deep understanding of Muslim consumers, and high-quality ad formats make it an ideal choice for your mainstream or Muslim brand looking to reach this growing and influential market at a time of privacy and advertising restrictions. 
Contact MAN today to learn more about how we can help you reach Muslim consumers in a new world of advertising.

The post Halal Advertising Must Get Serious About ID Resolution appeared first on Muslim Ad Network.

ChatGPT is on everyone’s mind these days, from students to marketers to scientists. Everyone is looking to understand what implications it has for their expertise and how to leverage this powerful tool to their advantage.

As a veteran of close to two decades in marketing and advertising, I have seen many trends come and go, but ChatGPT seems to have something different about it. So let us show you how you can explore its capabilities to enhance your halal businesses’ marketing and advertising strategies.

In this guide, we want to take away the noise and help Muslim marketers, and those who serve advertisements to Muslim consumers, understand how they can leverage the power of the most popular generative AI tool to maximize their output.

For the basics of generative AI read “Generative AI for Muslim Marketing and Advertising”.

Introducing ChatGPT for Muslim Marketing and Advertising

What is ChatGPT?

OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT define it as follows:

“ChatGPT is a sibling model to InstructGPT, which is trained to follow an instruction in a prompt and provide a detailed response.”

That there is not the greatest definition in the history of definitions, is it? So I decided to ask ChatGPT itself and it answered:

I am ChatGPT, a language model created by OpenAI. I’m designed to understand and respond to natural language input from users like you. I can assist with a wide range of tasks, from answering questions to generating text based on prompts, and much more.

I guess the saying “no one knows you better than yourself” holds true in this case. So now I’m curious to understand what it thinks of itself and of course, I just had to hear it from the horse’s mouth.

How Can ChatGPT Help Marketers and Advertisers?

To my question “What can you do for marketers and advertisers?” ChatGPT highlighted the following:

• Create text-based content based on specific topics and prompts
• Provide audience research based on an analysis of online conversions
• Help build chatbots that provide personalized recommendations and support
• Search Engine Optimization analysis and recommendations
• Translate content for international audiences.

This shows how powerful ChatGPT is, and as an expert in content marketing, I think this is great. However, this is a good time in this guide to explain to you that ChatGPT is not perfect. If you have been to the ChatGPT site you will see that one of the first things it mentions is its limitations which include but are not limited to, incorrect or nonsensical answers and the overuse of certain phrases.

How to Write ChatGPT Prompts for Best Results?

Before we delve into the best ways to use ChatGPT for your halal advertising and marketing, let me first show the basics for generating the most relevant results for your prompts.

The first step would be to define a generative AI prompt. It is your written instructions that tell it what to do and how to do it. Look at the prompt I made below, asking ChatGPT to write “rap lyrics about Muslim consumers”. Its data may be limited to 2021 but I am pretty sure these rap lyrics are from the 80s. Nevertheless:

Verse 1:

Yeah, we gotta show love to our Muslim consumers

They’re a diverse community with different cultures

And we gotta respect their beliefs and practices

And make sure our products cater to their tastes and habits

Now notice how the quality improves when I beef up the prompt to “fantastic and lyrical rich rap verses about Muslim consumers”. Although it is still nowhere from winning awards, I think it moves us a whole decade further into the 90s:

Verse 2:

We’re not just a niche, we’re a global trend

From Indonesia to London, we transcend

Our culture is rich, and so are our pockets

We’re ready to invest, in brands that acknowledge

Guilty! I kind of enjoyed making this particular point. However, your halal business marketing and advertising is serious business and that is why you must learn how to write the right prompts for the best results.

Let’s now look at the essential steps for creating a clear, concise, and complete prompt. A prompt that gives ChatGPT everything it needs, but nothing more than what it needs.

Role-play Prompts: Introduce the level of expertise in the subject you want ChatGPT to base its answer on. In our example, we will use: “Experienced halal industry expert”. You can always keep the conversation going from different professional points of view with further prompts like “Now analyze what you’ve written as an economist”.

Specific Task: Tell ChatGPT exactly what you want from it. In our case, we want “a compelling two-paragraph pitch to invest in the halal industry”. For a more credible answer, you can ask for proof. For example: “Give me authoritative quotes, websites, and academic citations”.

Content Structure: Your prompt must outline the way you want the answer to be structured. A simple structure, in this case, can be:

• “State the problem”
• “Offer a pragmatic solution”
• “Back it with data evidence”

Goal: Explain what the goal of the content is, like: “Convince big brands to invest in halal products and services”.

So let us put this all together and see it in action.

Here is what ChatGPT returned from this query. You be the judge of the quality of the answer while keeping in mind the limitations we mentioned earlier.

Remember that generative AI does not create content out of anything and, having been involved in halal marketing and advertising for some time now, I can guess intelligently where some of the data in the answer is coming from. So whatever you do, do not copy and paste but use these answers as a starting point.

Integrating ChatGPT Into Your Muslim Marketing and Advertising

Easily Create Better Chatbots for Your Customer Service

Yes! Customer service is part of your marketing strategy and an important one at that. It is part of your brand image and can be an extension of your sales all in one. So getting it right can make or break your Muslim brand.

Due to the nature of the digital business era we live in, you will receive customers at inconvenient times with questions about a product they want to purchase or a problem with a purchase, among other things. Chatbots relieve pressure on your customer service team while also assisting customers in finding the answers they require more quickly.

However, the automated nature of chatbots severely restricts the spectrum of responses a bot can provide, frequently alienating and even losing buyers as a result.

This is where ChatGPT comes into play. Not only can machine learning be trained to adapt to the unique requirements of a business, but it also offers a human-like experience that has the potential to quickly make our current chatbots irrelevant.

If you have time on your hands and are tech-savvy, you can check out: “How to Build Your Own AI Chatbot With ChatGPT API: A Step-by-Step Tutorial”.

Large-scale Email Marketing

Email marketing is all about volume. Personalization is crucial but volume is the backbone, especially in the early stages of lead generation. This means that your Muslim brand will need a proper automation process.

ChatGPT automates a portion of the process, allowing you to manage email communications on a larger scale. It additionally enables you to streamline marketing and sales collateral, allowing your team to focus on prospects’ specific needs.

Implementing ChatGPT Into Your Email Marketing

(The list below is not exhaustive)

Personalized subject lines and body content: Use ChatGPT to produce customized subject lines and body content for emails based on recipient information such as name or interests. You can also use it to create custom email headers and footers.

Segmented email campaigns: Use it to generate various versions of an email aimed at various recipient segments, such as different age groups or interests. Remember the role-play prompts we spoke about earlier? That tactic is relevant for this too.

A/B testing: By fine-tuning and A/B testing, you can train the model on a smaller dataset of relevant text and provide text that is more relevant to your halal customers.

Multiply through integration: ChatGPT’s effectiveness will be increased when we incorporate data from other marketing tools. Instead of analyzing data from your marketing stack, you can consult ChatGPT.

Social Media and Content Creation

The pressure on brands to cut through the noise and truly stand out on social media is increasing. Maintaining the volume of content across multiple platforms while introducing more variety, such as short-form and long-form copy, blog posts, visuals, and videos, is essential.

Use ChatGPT to fuel the simultaneous push for high quantity and high quality. Allow it to take on the role of the content creator (under human supervision, of course) so you can free up time for developing a more effective multi-channel strategy that genuinely speaks to Muslim consumers and encompasses all available formats and content types.

You will need most if not all of the basics of writing a proper prompt that we discussed earlier when you create social media content on ChatGPT. Here is an example of a fun social media post for a modest fashion company that I created:

How about that? It even recommends hashtags. When we regenerated the response, ChatGPT even went out of its way to mention some of the products that Modefa may be selling on its website.

This is a fine example of where the text needs human intervention. First, it is speaking about the brand in the third person, instead, it should be in the first person (we have an incredible selection…). Second, you may not be selling abayas or may have them but not on sale rendering the text a bit misleading. But this is a small price to pay for such sophistication, especially for days when you have writer’s block.

Market Research

OK, so before we start on this one, please remember the data limitations of ChatGPT, at the time of writing this guide. I will now simulate an overly simplified version of a halal travel company researching the industry before it starts operating. My aim is to:

1. Collect demographic information
2. Identify my competitors 
3. Build and define audience personas 

So I started with demographic information and competitors:

Awesome! Now all I need to do is confirm the facts and, in the real world, I would need more than this of course.

I wanted to dig just a little bit deeper to show you how granular you can go with these prompts:

Looks like I am up against some high-quality competitors.

Next, was my favorite and I was really looking forward to what ChatGPT would say about my audience persona.

1/2

2/2

I needed to know how to approach this buyer persona, known as Aisha:

Of course, all of this does not even come close to the depth you need to go into for proper market research. However, it is the perfect place to start in combination with brainstorming sessions.

While this is all great, make sure you know the pitfalls of using ChatGPT for your halal marketing and advertising. We will cover this in an upcoming article.

Conclusion

So, that’s all you need to know to get started on ChatGPT, for now. 

Using ChatGPT can be an effective tool for your halal business, especially if you’re looking to connect with Muslim consumers. By understanding the unique needs and preferences of this demographic, you can create tailored marketing and advertising strategies that resonate with this niche audience on a deeper level.

From supporting social media recommendations and market research to providing personalized product recommendations, ChatGPT can help your business build trust and loyalty among Muslim consumers. 

By leveraging this new technology, your business can save time and resources while still delivering a high level of customer service. It is a very promising and enticing technology, but it’s important to remember to think about how you’re doing your work, what products and services you offer, and how AIs like ChatGPT can enhance workflows and help to deliver better customer experiences rather than to do it all for you.

If you’re ready to start advertising to Muslims, then we can help you at Muslim Ad Network. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to tap into this niche and growing market – start advertising with Muslim Ad Network today. 

The post The ChatGPT Guide for Muslim Marketing and Advertising 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.

In April 2021 we released an article titled “How Mainstream Brands Can Identify and Serve Muslim Niche Markets”. In it, we advise mainstream brands not to approach the Muslim consumer market as one big market where they can do mass marketing.

The article goes on to highlight the approach brands need to take to identify and serve niche markets within the Muslim communities by:

• Defining an unmet or underserved need
• Researching their Muslim customer base
• Create a niche statement to adhere to
• Marketing their business to their Muslim target audience

At Muslim Ad Network we are passionate about helping businesses and organizations reach and serve the Muslim consumer. So, as a continuation of the above, we interviewed niche marketing experts from across the US, UK, and Canada to get their expert views on this subject.

We have categorized the responses for your convenience and easy reading.

1- Conduct Research to Best Serve Your Muslim Niche

Any part of a bigger market with a specific and limited audience whose needs are not met by a broad-market solution is by definition a niche. However, not every niche will be profitable for your business or relevant to your organization.

Make sure you research thoroughly before committing and investing in a niche. 

Ask the Right Research Questions

In order to look for opportunities, advertisers need to first define their niche audience. Tools like Google Analytics can help you define your target market. 

Ask yourself the following questions:

• How do your competitors deal with this audience? 
• Which channels work best for them? 
• When is the right time to engage with them?

These questions help you determine when to grasp an opportunity. 

It is important to figure out the wants, needs, and expectations of your niche audience. This will help you create more curated strategies for a specific group rather than appealing to the masses. This leads to a greater chance of success.

For example, if your target market is Muslim minorities, look at what they don’t have yet. Do they have a local halal meat store in their area? If not, then that’s an opportunity for you to tap into right there. 

Advertise to the relevant Muslim niche and spread awareness about your product and how you can provide this item to your customers. You can even offer free home delivery.

It is beneficial to focus on things that would otherwise be neglected in the broader market. Make sure to cater to the specific needs of your audience. They will definitely buy your product if it’s something they don’t get from other stores.

Convey the Right Message Founded on Research

For Muslim niches, you will want to enable your advertisement to deliver what would be a belief and culture-informed message. The typical Muslim, for example, follows guidelines that suggest for them to cover relatively more than non-Muslims. Convincing this niche audience regarding respect for their norms is one way to ensure better reception in the market. 

To be able to convey the right message during your campaigns, research your niche market, preferably with individual surveys as well as Search Engine Optimization. 

For the cherry on top, you can compare methods with competitors as well and hence use the most appropriate language and wording that Muslim niche audiences are likely to use when discussing pain points and solutions.

When exposed to your advertisements with the right images and culture-informed wording, individuals from the niche will be more receptive to your products.

Research Your Competitors

In order to find a niche market, you must ask yourself a question, “What needs can I address for my customers?” To best answer this, you need to research your competitors.  This means going onto Google and Amazon and finding where they are hitting the mark and where the gaps are that need to be filled.

Looking at message boards and reading reviews will also provide you with good data. It is especially important to pay attention to unfavorable reviews and opinions. This will provide you with signals of where your business can step up to the plate. 

By thoroughly researching your competition, you can gain a unique understanding and have a better chance of finding your niche market.

Determine your Talents and Interests

Begin by examining what you have to give and what you excel at. The most effective niche marketing techniques capitalize on your brand’s distinct assets and viewpoints. 

Consider the unique and remarkable aspects of your brand, team, and offers. Determine the areas in which you love working as well as the individuals with whom you enjoy working with. 

Niche marketing allows you to dig down and focus on the group of individuals you want to connect with the most, so identify who you want to serve the most.

Conduct a competition study to determine whether there are rivals in this area and, if so, what those brands are already doing. Look to discover if any gaps in your target market have been overlooked, as well as if there is actual demand in the sector.

2- Build a Community Based on Friendship and Trust

The community has been an integral aspect of Muslim life and culture from the onset of Islam. Your business or organization will do well by earning trust and building friendships so much so that you become part of the Muslim community.

Building a community will give your targeted Muslim customers a place to feel seen and heard beyond the usual stereotypes. You are inviting Muslim audiences to become part of something bigger and empower them. 

Such a shared brand experience and collective impact will make Muslim consumers in the niche you are targeting more likely to purchase your product or service.

Become One With the Muslim Niche Community

To attract people who are interested in niche content, you have to be one with those niche communities. In order to thrive in 2022, you can’t just advertise to your audience; you want to be part of it.

It’s no longer just about finding keywords and audiences, but really being part of the community itself. 

Finding ways to really get into what people care about, what they’re talking about, what they’re interested in is going to be a big priority for advertisers in 2022.

Become More Aware of the Needs of Muslim Minorities

It’s important to consider the needs of different minority groups such as Muslims. Advertisers should keep an eye out for the local stores dealing in items that hold importance to their target audience and advertise it accordingly. 

The brands should carefully study the market in which they would want to advertise their products before beginning their marketing campaign.

Better Business Bureau – “a private, non-profit organization whose self-described mission is to focus on advancing marketplace trust” – can also help advertisers gain access to different stores all across the USA. This measure can help advertisers look into different opportunities in their local market. 

Once the niche is defined, it is then time for you to create content. The content strategy should be such that it helps build trust and fosters a friendly relationship with the niche audience. 

The advertisements should be optimized for different devices such as mobile phones or laptops. This measure would enable easier access to ads which would help improve user engagement rate. 

The key for running a successful ad campaign would be to make it enticing and create its importance among the population. This strategy would allow the mass audience to understand and be more aware of the needs of minorities such as Muslims.

Speak Up Against Issues Facing the Community

With the information age, people are becoming more aware of social issues. As part of society, people have the inner drive to contribute to a good cause. And this phenomenon is a good opportunity for advertising.

Customers are more willing to commit to a brand if they share the same values. Having a unifying value will allow you to connect with your customer on a deeper level to achieve a common goal. That is why it is wise to research your niche market and see what their common political views are.

Speak the Lingo of the Community

Do your research and learn about your niche market’s lingo. People nowadays crave being part of a community. They want to be able to connect with other like-minded people who share the same values. 

Learning about how your niche market speaks, how they communicate with one another, and what they believe in and incorporating those elements into your content is the most authentic way to demonstrate that you care.

3- Work with Influencers and Micro-Influencers

Picking up where we left off from the last chapter, we want to reiterate the importance of speaking the lingo of the community.

Who is better suited to help you speak to the Muslim community and convey your message more fluently than influencers within the community?

This strategy did not start with the influencers we see online today. It is a powerful means of rallying up the masses to take action. It has been used for decades by politicians to gain votes from different groups and communities. It even goes back to the ancient times when leaders wanted to influence fragmented communities and tribes.

Influencers are trusted by people in their communities and their opinions matter. Influencer marketing is one of the fastest and most effective ways of spreading your brand message to targeted communities.

A study shows that working with influencers generates ROIs for businesses averaging a 650% return.

Partner with Micro-influencers from the Muslim Community

Online advertisers should not only target the usual big-time influencers with huge followings on social media that usually have huge payouts and contracts.

These big-time influencers are in some situations no longer in demand and are often disconnected from their followers. They have millions of followers and have signed huge contracts in the past but brands have noticed that at times partnerships with them do not translate into sales. 

Their millions of followers are often too many and diverse that it is quite difficult to reach out to. What brands are looking for in 2022 are micro-influencers.

Micro-influencers on social media typically have 3,000-100,000 followers/subscribers and in specific niches like pets, cooking, beauty/makeup, finance/investing, they do not often have a huge following.

So why are brands shifting their campaigns to them?

The answer to that is that micro-influencer effectiveness as endorsers has been proven effective by many brands. As advertisers, we see them as most profitable and promising because they attract a more engaged audience and are cost-effective as brands try to tighten budgets due to the pandemic.

The influencer marketing industry has changed metrics from the number of subscribers to actual data-driven insights and engagements that are easily converted into sales. 

Brands and commercial retailers are now more willing to work with micro-influencers because they are affordable and are seen by their engaged audience as more authentic than the bigger and well-established influencers in the industry.

Micro-Influencers and Metaverse are Growing in Stature

I believe that partnering with micro-influencers and the mainstreaming of metaverse in the market can serve advertisers opportunities to fulfill the needs of their niche audience.

In the past year, we saw micro-influencers creating a lot of awareness in several niches for advertisers. I think the trend will continue this year as well because they are gaining popularity. Finding the right micro-influencer can serve a lot of opportunities for advertisers in 2022.

On the other hand, the recent development of metaverse is changing a lot of things and is bringing a lot of trends for advertisers. If it is properly used, advertisers can create many opportunities for themselves to serve their niche audience. 

With the help of metaverse, they can reach their audience efficiently.

Use Muslim Micro-influencers as Alternative to Strict Media Platforms

Digital platforms are becoming very strict about detailed targeting options that are related to the topics like race, ethnicity, political affiliation, religion, etc. Therefore, it is getting hard for marketers to target minorities or specific niches even for their beneficial purposes.

Influencer marketing could be the best solution for targeting specific niches which also removes the barrier of racist content from the marketing platform. This happens because influencers act as a filter between automated and personal-generated content.

Marketers can acquire influencers that are more famous in the Muslim community to market their product or service. There are a number of famous Muslim influencers creating great content on TikTok and Instagram for the Muslim community. Marketers can choose from micro-influencers to the top-rated influencers depending upon the marketing strategy and output they are desiring.

4- Engage Your Muslim Niche Audience on Social Media

In one of our previous articles:” How to Leverage Muslim Consumer Behavior Online with Social Media Marketing”, we explained how to successfully market your brand or business to Muslims on social media.

We highlighted how it requires an understanding of the behavior of Muslim social media users. We also established that Muslim audiences use social media mainly for:

• Interacting with friends and family
• Talk about social issues
• Get news from unbiased sources

Since the advancement of social commerce in the past year, you can add shopping to the above list.

Build a Rapport with the Muslim Niche Audience on Social Media

Social media provides a unique opportunity to connect with your niche audiences and build a community with them. Facebook groups and even Reddit allow your company to interact with niche groups on topics that are relevant to your business. 

When you build a rapport with your niche audiences through communicating openly with them, you are able to build a stronger bond. This solidifies your customer base and helps you increase your customer retention rate.

Join the Interaction on Social Media Platforms

Look for what your niche audience is engaging with on social media. 

Whether it be video content on services like TikTok and Instagram, articles and blog-style content, or even long-form video content, the ability to join the interaction and conversation with your consumer base is crucial to your success.

The ability to quickly jump onto trends and open discussions with your niche audience will help you find better results as you seek advertising and interactive opportunities.

Slimmer Media Models Will Increase Competition

We all know the popular social media networks. 

Despite public criticism of its policies, Facebook reported an increase in daily and monthly active users. 

Newer platforms, on the other hand, offer a much slimmer media paradigm, designed to make community interaction easier to manage and safer. 

Not all are social media sites. Among the newcomers are podcasting services like Spotify, live chat platforms like Clubhouse, mailing systems like Substack, and sub-communities within major social media platforms like Twitter Spaces. 

Everyone wants meaningful connections with their favorite creators or communities rather than relying on artificial participation. 

Conclusion

We would like to thank all our experts for their time and contribution.

It is important for us that you as a reader benefit from this rare behind-the-scenes look by 14 different experts in the field of marketing and advertising.

Please feel free to contact Muslim Ad Network for any additional information on what was discussed or for any other questions you may have. Also, take a look at our advertising page to learn more about advertising to Muslims.

The post 14 Experts Share an Insider Look at Opportunities for Muslim Niche Markets in 2022 appeared first on Muslim Ad Network.

In our last blog post, we talked about shorter videos being The #1 Video Advertising Trend for Epic Muslim Consumer Engagement in 2022.

As we continue on our series for the top trends for Muslim consumer engagement in 2022, we would like to stay on the topic of ‘video’. In this blog post, we talk about a video format that, although not new, has recently taken off like a rocket. It is none other than video live streaming.

Here are the top reasons why you should consider live video streaming for 2022:

Live Video is Indispensable for Marketing to Muslim Audiences

We witnessed live video streaming become an indispensable tactic for marketers in 2021. 

2021 showed marketers that live streaming is popular and profitable even after the relaxation of pandemic lockdowns. Common business sense dictates that it’s vital for marketers and brands targeting Muslim consumers to seriously consider adding live streaming into their repertoire.

Live stream videos offer users the ability to enjoy high-quality live streams with little or no buffering. In 2021, live streaming video was one of the fastest-growing trends in social media marketing, especially with the advancement of social commerce.

Up until this point, most businesses have treated live video as a magic tool. It is definitely powerful, no doubt! But in 2022, you’ll see the power come from using live streams strategically, and the businesses who do will be the winners!

Source: Luria Petrucci, Founder of Live Streaming Pros on Wave.Video

Here are some hard-core live streaming stats for 2022 that you just can’t ignore:

• Live streaming is projected to grow by 60% in 2022.
• The number of hours streamed per day will increase by more than 50%.
• Live streams are expected to generate over 315 million monthly active users by 2022, representing one-third of the total population.

Source: ReelnReel

While these are undoubtedly very powerful stats, none of them hit closer to home for marketers and brands than the following statistic mentioned by Vimeo Livestream:

80% of consumers would rather watch a live video from a brand than read a blog.

That’s right, that’s 8 out of 10 consumers! The Muslim consumer, just like with all other statistics mentioned, is not immune to this.

Most social platforms limit the organic reach of friends and contacts on your posts. Livestreams bypass that limitation on some platforms. Facebook, which is notorious for limiting organic reach, is a good example.

Facebook recognizes a live stream video notification as a priority post. Users see a small pop-out screen that appears when a live stream event begins. Live stream events are recorded and saved by topic; that way new and interested Muslim users can find you.

Get Started With Muslim Live Stream Videos in 2022

If you have started creating live stream videos, do more in 2022. If you haven’t started, get started now and prepare for 2022.

It’s best to reach out to others with experience in live stream videos for help and guidance. Perform thorough research for trends and try to understand the culture of streaming events to solidify your brand at the forefront of live streaming.

Always remember your business goal and tie that into your live streaming tactics. Do you want to go live so you can hang out and answer questions? Or do you want to talk about your products/services? Or perhaps both?

Make sure you have a plan and structure in place before going live.

When starting, don’t get intimidated by the low numbers watching your live stream. When people watching the replay find value in your video stream content, they will be motivated to make it onto one of your live streams and interact with you.

Live Stream Video Trends for 2022

In-stream Shopping

Ecommerce is expected to be driven by live streaming in 2022. A report by Coresight Research states that “eCommerce live streaming is forecasted to generate $25B in sales in the US by 2023”.

Most tech companies have jumped onto the live stream shopping bandwagon in the United States, for a piece of the action. You’ve probably noticed the new shopping features on YouTube, Amazon, Instagram, and Facebook.

Selling products directly on social media (social commerce) is already worth $51.2 billion in the US. The possibility to combine shopping and live streaming on social platforms is heralding a new era of in-stream shopping for 2022.

Influencer Live Stream Video Events

Today, the status and impact of influencers for branding purposes is not in any doubt. Now, with the rise in popularity of live shopping the impact of influencers has become even more significant.

Brands have realized this and have started working with influencers more and more on their live stream videos. However, influencer live stream video events work magic not just for eCommerce brands.

Any organization with a goal, even those that exist for a good cause can capitalize on the power of live streaming with influencers.

A great example of this is the Dutch branch of Make-a-Wish. They recently collaborated with Yarasky – a gaming vlogger – for a live stream on YouTube.

The team raised more than €10,000 and reached an audience of nearly 6 million people; that’s one-third of the population in The Netherlands.

Shorter Live Stream Videos

The number one video trend for 2022 is videos getting shorter. It’s also the reason why TikTok’s turnover grew by 545% in Europe in 2020.

It just goes to show how excited people are about consuming short-form videos. Vidyard explains that the majority of videos being created (60%) are less than 2 minutes long.

What does that mean for live streaming video? Users prefer shorter streams on social networks and when creating live streams for your Muslim audience, this should be your preferred format.

Proof of this is also in the fact that Instagram has caught up and is scaling back on their long-form video platform IGTV. Now, instead, they are focusing on the short-form Reels, as an answer to TikTok. 

YouTube rolled out Shorts in the United States in March 2021. Social video consumption behaviors are changing, and this time (smaller) size matters.

Of course, you can still produce long live streams in 2022. Just make them educational in the form of courses and masterclasses for example. If you look at LinkedIn and Google as a brand, they do an excellent job at creating courses (although not live streaming) through LinkedIn Learning and Google Digital Garage.

Conclusion

Live streaming will prove to be a powerful asset for brands and organizations that want to boost their consumer engagement and revenue as well.

If you are targeting Muslim audiences or own a Muslim brand, 2022 is ripe for you to start using live stream events.

Don’t wait too long, advertise through Muslim Ad Network and let us help you with your Muslim consumer marketing in 2022 and beyond.

The post 8 out of 10 (Muslim) Consumers Prefer Live Stream Video Over Reading Your Blog appeared first on Muslim Ad Network.

Our team at Muslim Ad Network continually endeavors to bring you insights into the latest marketing and advertising trends that you can use to target Muslim consumers.

Last time around we looked at whether Muslim brands should be active on the metaverse.

Today, we look at whether Muslim brands should advertise on retail media networks.

What is Retail Media Marketing?

A retail media network allows retailers to set up an advertising platform on their website, app, or other digital platforms within their network. Stores, their partners, and other brands advertise to customers on these platforms. Think of it as in-store advertising in a digital format.

Here is an example of an ad on Walgreens, one of the biggest retail media networks:

Ads on retail media networks can be displayed on:

• the home page,
• category page,
• product detail page,
• search result page, and
• other pages.

Subsequently, this enables your Muslim brand to advertise your product at different phases of the buyer journey.

The Rise of Retail Media Networks

Over the years, the retail giants have shown the smaller retailers what’s possible in terms of revenue. Amazon, for example, reaped tens of billions in retail media network revenue, and Walmart, Target, and Kroger have seen similar gains. 

There’s an excellent opportunity for retailers to get on board—but in a different way than their larger counterparts—and unlock their first-party data and generate profit through retail media networks

This also spells opportunities for brands to advertise their products on these networks on which users are readily looking for products to buy.

Reasons for both retail giants and advertisers to prioritize retail media networks are getting longer by the minute. The year 2020 created a major shift in user behavior making the opportunity all the more attractive: 

We are talking about the permanent shift to eCommerce brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic that has encouraged more consumers to go online, in more places, and more often. In fact, some sources claim that global digital sales increased by 45%.

… the rise in online shopping, the desire for retailers to create additional revenue streams, and the need for advertisers to track customers ahead of the end of the cookie have all caused that growth to blow past industry expectations…  81% of consumer packaged goods brands plan to grow their investments in retail media networks within the next 12 months… Forrester estimates retail media will be a $50 billion advertising business globally next year (2022).

Source: AdAge

Pros of Advertising on Retail Media Networks for Your Muslim Brand

First-Party Data

Advertising on retail media networks gives you access to first-party data.

First-party data is collected and owned by the website, and in this case, that’s the retailer’s website. It’s cleaner and more reliable than third-party data.

First-party data is collected right at the point of sale, giving you better insight into buyer behavior.

This is important because personalization plays a vital role in creating ad campaigns that convert well thanks to accurate data.

First-party data will become even more valuable because of the impending death of cookies.

Have a look at Advertising to Muslims Online in 2022 After Third Party Cookies Disappear.

Tracking Ad Spend

When you advertise on retail media networks you will be able to tie ad spend to sales easily. 

This is due to the fact that sales happen closer to the ads and therefore it’s easier to attribute a sale to a specific ad and action. This helps your strategic decision-making like allocating resources for example.

It goes without saying that these ads increase visibility and that helps drive sales.

Although still relatively new, retail media has already become a powerful form of advertising with experts claiming that it could become core in future online shopping experiences.

Cons of Advertising on Retail Media Networks for Your Muslim Brand

Just like all advertising strategies and platforms, there are also disadvantages to using retail media networks.

However, these are crucial disadvantages.

The biggest and most known disadvantage of using retail media networks is that it amplifies the power of brands that are already big and creates disadvantages for smaller brands. It is an uneven playing field and smaller brands that don’t have the traffic, budget, and infrastructure to set up retail media networks of their own can’t compete.

There aren’t many ‘big’ Muslim brands and chances are, you who are reading this blog, are a small to medium-size business. If by chance you ARE a ‘big’ Muslim brand, then you should inquire as to if taking advantage of an uneven playing field is ethical.

Another disadvantage of retail media is that it’s still new and requires infrastructure that most retailers don’t have. Because of that, it’s a learning curve for all the parties involved and we do not know for sure where it will end up.

The alternative is to use an advertising platform, such as the platform we’ve built at Muslim Ad Network, dedicated to Muslim publishers, advertisers, brands, and any entity wanting to target a Muslim audience.

You can learn here all about advertising to Muslim consumers with MAN.

The post Should Muslim Brands Advertise on Retail Media Networks? appeared first on Muslim Ad Network.

The internet has kept on evolving from the day it came into our lives. We’ve gone from email being the best thing that ever happened. Then we moved on to social media, mobile, virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence.

All these iterations of the internet, however, may not have been as big as the metaverse is expected to be. This has a direct impact on brands including halal ones and those advertising to Muslims online.

With Muslim brands and those brands targeting Muslim audiences already behind in today’s internet world, we wanted to discuss what the next one looks like. We want to give you, the reader, an opportunity to understand where the internet is heading so you can be ready.

What is the Metaverse and Why is it Awesome?

The term “metaverse” has been thrown around for many years in the world of gaming. Today, it is taking on an entirely different presence on the internet.

Let’s take a step back and talk a bit about the internet. When the internet started its existence and became a thing a lot of our lives changed. It created convenience, new business opportunities, new billionaires, and even new economies. 

Metaverse is the new phase that will take the internet to the next level. So far we have had the choice of purchasing products, services, and entertainment either in the real world or in the virtual world.

Metaverse is creating a brand new world where it brings the real physical world and the virtual world together. You can look at it as twofold. We have the physical persona in real life and then we have our digital persona in the digital world – on LinkedIn, Gmail, Instagram, Reddit and many more platforms. What metaverse does is create a convergence between the physical you and the digital you by sucking you into the computer.

Well, not literally, but by taking your two-dimensional online experience and turning it into an augmented three-dimensional experience.

Epyllionco Managing Partner Matthew Ball explains:

The best way to think about it is a quasi successor state to today’s mobile internet in much the same way today’s mobile internet was built off of the internet of the 90s and 2000s. In this instance, however, the iteration is not necessarily going into a smaller computer but into virtual worlds; virtual simulations enabling the purchase of things in the real world through those environments. But also in particular purchasing things that solely exist in virtual environments. Lastly, we think about the augmentation of the world around us, not just the idea of AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality) inside of a store but really the connectivity of the real world through the internet of things into virtual simulacra at the same time.

How the Metaverse and NFTs are Manifesting Themselves in Consumer Markets

Lessons from Gaming

This phenomenon is already well advanced in the world of gaming. Think of Roblox and Fortnite who have used it to give players the ability to buy NFTs (Non-fungible tokens) and use them across different games.

So for example, you can buy a character costume on Fortnite and use it on Minecraft. This is another feature of metaverse that is going to break the internet.

You know how Apple and Google apps are not compatible? Imagine your favorite Muslim consumer app being compatible for both without having to create a version for Google Play and another for App Store.

In the world of the metaverse, everyone works together because no one owns it. An awesome example is DC versus Marvel superhero characters who you will never see together on the big screen, in comic books, on TV, or anywhere else. However, in the metaverse world of Fortnite, they are all working together.

Real Events by Real Artists and Real Money

Today, on these gaming platforms, young people hang out together like they would in real life. They spend real money buying virtual products like clothes (avatar skins) so they can look cool during their virtual hangout.

They even attend concerts by real music artists who perform using their own avatars. In fact, in 2020 the rapper Travis Scott performed a virtual concert on Fortnite that drew 12.3 million attendees. This surpassed the prior record of 10.7 million for a virtual show featuring DJ and music producer Marshmello in 2019.

Not Just Child Play

This is how Upland, a virtual real estate company based in the Silicon Valley, United States describes how users can make real money on their NFT metaverse:

Join a new, virtual economy where you have the opportunity to make money in the metaverse. Start out by earning a return on your properties and collecting fees from visitors. Feeling ambitious? Flip some of your properties for profit in our free and open marketplace or generate income by becoming a business owner in Upland.

Upland allows you to purchase the NFTs of the digital versions of properties from the real world. Payment can be made with cryptocurrency or a credit card. Some of these real estate properties go for thousands of dollars and are located all over the world. This is levels higher than kids buying avatar skin on Fortnite.

This is not child play at all, as many of the real-world behaviours are shifting into the world of the metaverse, where people are purchasing virtual products for thousands of dollars, attending political rallies and more.

Emily Chang of Bloomberg Technology, mentions that:

…the market opportunity for the metaverse could be 800 billion dollars by 2024.

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.

What Your Halal Brand Needs to Know About the Metaverse Environment

What’s the Experience of Brands Currently on the Metaverse?

Brands have found their entry into the metaverse challenging. Most are at the stage of experimenting with relevant ways to create their own environments and display ads for virtual world dwellers.

According to AdAge:

With the real world becoming increasingly challenging, the social network (Facebook) sees the virtual world as its next frontier.

Coca Cola and Campbell Soup Company were the latest big names to start experimenting with the metaverse at the time of writing this article; joining other consumer goods brands like Taco Bell, Gucci, AB InBev, Procter & Gamble, and e.l.f. Cosmetics.

Coca-Cola auctioned off its first NFTs — unique digital assets stored on a blockchain. Meanwhile, Campbell Soup Company commemorated the change of its iconic soup label with its first NFT digital art pieces.

Here is the deal though: brands have to play by certain rules as each platform has its own approach to branded content:

• Roblox, for example, does not allow for just any brands to work with them on experiences.
• When Facebook started allowing ads in its Oculus virtual reality games in June of this year, backlash from players stunted the application. 
• Minecraft applies strict commercial guidelines regulating the use of logos and advertising on its platform. 

Other brands have started creating their own virtual worlds so that they can adhere to regulations and at the same time enable them to collect first-party data.

Immersing your halal brand into metaverse is serious work and will need some investment. Facebook and other brands for instance “are forming metaverse-focused marketing teams, similar to digital or social teams that have evolved over the past decade.”  – Christina Wootton of Roblox, VP of Brand Partnerships

Islamic Jurisprudence Issues and the Metaverse

Disclaimer: Muslim Ad Network is not claiming to have knowledge of Islamic Jurisprudence. We can only tell you about the opportunities in advertising for your brand. We do feel compelled as Muslims to make you aware of the Islamic standpoint(s) on certain methods or platforms you may want to use for your brand. This is because our motivation is to help brands grow awareness online in a halal way. However, we can only tell you the general standpoint(s) on a high level. You may need to consult people of knowledge for better decision making.

If you are a Muslim practitioner, you may need to seek Islamic Jurispundence advice about involving your brand in the metaverse due to the gaming environment (although this is not the only environment) the content in them, and the depiction of animate objects as avatars, etc.

The general understanding is that drawing inanimate objects is permissible: mountains, trees, planes, cars, etc. In the case of Upland, for example, this is buildings. There is nothing wrong with that, according to the scholars.

With regard to animate objects, forbidden kinds of pictures, an exception is made in cases of necessity, such as drawing pictures of criminals to identify and arrest, or pictures for identity cards, licences, passports etc. and other cases of necessity.

…He has explained to you in detail what is forbidden to you, except under compulsion of necessity …

Source: al-An’aam 6:119

Here is an article that will give you some idea on the Islamic stance on NFTs: “NFTs: Shariah Compliant?”

More high-level information on cryptocurrency and tokens in this research article: “The requirements of cryptocurrency for money, an Islamic view”.

Muslim Presence in the Metaverse

The E-Hijab

Back in 2007, the International Journal of Learning and Media published a paper called, “E-hijab: Muslim Women in the Metaverse”. It stated:

Although many religions exist in Second Life, female Muslim women whose avatars wear the e-hijab bear a clear visual manifestation of religious identity. For the most part, these women tend to use this new public space to attend religious events and congregate to discuss religious issues.

Islamic NFT Art

Soon, the First NFT digital Islamic art agency is expected to launch in the Middle East. According to Arab News:

The NFT art market has grown more than 800% in just the first four months of 2021, from $52 million in January to a whopping $490 million by the end of April, according to a Business Insider report.

With this in mind, the Behnoode Foundation – based in Dubai-  is due to launch the first-ever NFT digital Islamic art agency in the Middle East. It aims to modernize Islamic artwork and “sell its unique digital footprints through live auctions to fine art collectors around the world”.

Fintech Shariah Compliant NFTs

Meanwhile, an ethical decentralized finance (DeFi) is planning to launch a blockchain marketplace for Islamic non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

IFNFintech explains:

The marketplace, currently being developed by Marhaba Decentralized Financial Platform (MDFP) and to be built on the Binance Smart Chain, is designed to encourage and promote Islamic arts and contemporary calligraphy. It will be a no-code platform to enable the creation of NFTs, allowing artists to create and upload their artwork to the app, which will then be converted into an NFT using smart contracts.

Palestinian Activism NFT

The presence of Muslim users in the metaverse has always been there and today manifests in all forms.

Recently, Palestinian artist, Khaled Jarrar, created an NFT that represents the take-over of Palestinian land by Israeli settlers. Alexandra Chaves of The National News mentions that:

Jarrar’s NFT is an animated image entitled “If I Don’t Steal Your Home, Someone Else Will Steal it”, which shows a valley in the West Bank overtaken by Israeli settlement homes cascading across the screen. The limited-edition NFT comes with a handful of soil that will be sent from Ramallah to the collector.

Talk about bringing the virtual world and the real world together.

Conclusion

The metaverse is considered to be the next frontier for brands online. Marketers, brands, and even the likes of Mark Zuckerberg have started preparing. So should your halal brand or Muslim-friendly product start doing the same?

The answer is yes, but this does not mean you should go out and start building metaverse marketing teams already? It is a good time to test the waters like Coca-Cola recently did. It is also the right moment to learn more about the metaverse and formulate an interim strategy on how you want to approach it.

For Muslim businesses, halal brands, and anyone trying to advertise to Muslim consumers, there is still a lot of unchartered land in the current online advertising world.

Work with Muslim Ad Network to optimize and maximize your online advertising efforts targeting Muslims today. When the time is right, we will be there to help your organization enter the world of the metaverse.

The post Is the Metaverse the New Online Frontier for Halal Brands? appeared first on Muslim Ad Network.