Advertising
Anghami grows its Audio Ad business in the region three-fold in one year
Dubai – Anghami, the leading music streaming company in the MENA region, revealed today that it has recorded an amazing three-fold growth in Audio Ad revenue last year as part of its music marketing services with the support of their advertising partners DMS, the digital arm of Choueiri Group.
Anghami is the first platform to bring music marketing into the region through audio ads and sponsored playlists.
Anghami has the largest licensed music content offering ever in MENA including Arabic and international music.
The solution is not only disrupting the regional music industry but also giving top brands the opportunity to exclusively customise a user’s experience driven by innovation and creativity through data and technology.
The rise of streaming has extended artists’ reach, expanded users’ content accessibility and improved brands’ targeting. Through Anghami, marketers are tapping into “deep music intelligence” to communicate the right audio ad to their target audience using technology, data and emotions.
Partners with over 200 global and regional companies as well as governmental entities
This represents one of the mega trends within music marketing in the region. Since inception, Anghami has partnered with more than 20 mobile operators from 10 countries and works with over 200 brands and technology providers to provide international and local music to over 40 million users. Brands have realised the value of audio ads and using them to create a big impact amongst their target customers.
Elie Abou Saleh, Commercial Director at Anghami said: “Music has always been a major focus for brands to communicate to potential consumers. Nowadays, the change is through the medium and the message. We are helping brands craft their sonic identity through different personalised solutions by creating tailored music that fits different moments of the day. This allows them to offer users a musical journey that complements their activity and matches their product or service.”
While social media presence is important for growing awareness and engagement with brands, the digital marketing trends in MENA are expanding. MENA consumers are relying more on brands’ digital messages to guide them through a purchase journey. 91% of online consumers in the UAE and 88% in KSA have acted after seeing an online ad, video, audio, or website content from a brand that is relevant to them.
In a region where the majority of the online population consumes content across devices, brands are looking for ways to put their content into context to reach their relevant consumers. With the rise of streaming services and voice-controlled devices, digital audio advertising on a music streaming platform have become very attractive and represent 67.5% affinity compared to advertising on podcasts or radio. 79% of audio consumption takes place while people are engaged in activities where visual media cannot reach them.
Abou Saleh adds: “We expect to continue to see a rise in music marketing. Audio ads in particular offer a captive experience that provide brands 59% higher brand recall as well as 2X more on purchase intent versus display. In addition, targeting with Anghami’s audio ads not only utilises data metrics but also emotions.”
Today, music is more accessible than ever before with the increasing popularity of streaming. This means music listening is at an all-time high and people rely on their favorite songs to accompany their various experiences. Anghami leverages the connection between music and activities by providing people with playlists made up of the best songs for activities like running, driving, exercising etc and offers brands the opportunity to sponsor those targeted playlists.
As traditional advertising revenues plummet globally and broadcasting budgets are slashed, The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and South East Asia (SEA) regions have reported tremendous growth in digital adoption and a rise in digital advertising revenue as a result.
This growth is driven by an increase in internet users, smartphone penetration, and the rise of social media platforms. AI Copywriter tools are now being widely adopted by brands, organisations, and companies in these regions to enhance their digital advertising campaigns.
Let’s delve deeper into the trends and statistics of advertising revenue and digital adoption in MENA and SEA.
Digital Advertising in MENA
MENA has emerged as one of the fastest-growing digital advertising markets, driven by a young population and increasing smartphone penetration. According to a report by McKinsey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has the highest degree of digitisation, while Egypt represents the largest untapped opportunity. The report also highlights a growth in the adoption of digital channels and spending in the coming years, coinciding with the increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) across all sectors.
The Market Size
The digital advertising market in the MENA region is estimated to be worth over 1.2 billion U.S dollars in 2021. The market is expected to continue growing, with a projected growth rate of 20% by 2024. The region’s e-commerce market is also expected to grow and reach 69 billion U.S dollars by 2020. The GCC and Egypt account for 80% of the regional e-commerce market.
Media Channels in the MENA
The advertising market in the MENA region is witnessing a major shift toward digital advertising. Traditional channels such as newspapers are declining, while the internet is taking over with 44.2% of the total ad expenditure in 2020, according to Statista. Social channels account for more than half of the total digital ad spend, surpassing global benchmarks. The region is also moving towards a “mobile-first” strategy, with a majority of internet traffic generated through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
Performance Marketing in the MENA
Performance-based campaigns are gaining traction in the MENA region, with 59% of advertising agencies significantly shifting into performance-based campaigns, according to a survey conducted by the Interactive Agency Bureau (IAB). Brands are demanding payment by results (ROI & Return on ad spend ROAS) as well as enhanced consumer insights and analytics.
Digital Advertising Agencies in the MENA
The MENA region has over 500 advertising agencies that have a large number of employees, with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE fuelling the region with small and medium-sized agencies. The UAE is home to big advertising firms, while Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan represent the majority of digital marketing talents and creative resources. However, the highly qualified talents in digital advertising and performance are always moving outside the region to join companies in the European market.
Programmatic Advertising in the MENA
The slow transition from traditional to digital media is one of the key reasons programmatic advertising is struggling to dominate the region. Collectively, the MENA trails other regions in innovation and adoption of ad tech and marketing technologies. The top ad networks in the MENA region include Facebook, Google Ads, IronSource, Applovin, Adcolony, AdFalcon, InTarget, AdZouk, and Ambush. The United Arab Emirates is leading the growth in programmatic advertising due to technology partners and pressure from clients and brands to automate the process and use AI.
Digital Advertising by Sector
According to Ipsos research, the top ten sectors in the region are dominated by beauty care, food, telecommunications, and entertainment. Telecommunications companies, followed by real estate and banking, are the top categories.
Digital Advertising in SEA
SEA is a rapidly growing digital advertising market, driven by a young and tech-savvy population. According to a report by eMarketer, digital ad spending in SEA is expected to reach 15.3 billion U.S dollars in 2021, with Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam leading the growth.
The Market Size
The digital advertising market in SEA is expected to grow at a rate of 13.7% in 2021, with a projected market size of 22.45 billion U.S dollars by 2025. The region’s e-commerce market is also booming, with a projected market size of 153 billion U.S dollars by 2025.
Media Channels in SEA
SEA is also witnessing a major shift toward digital advertising, with traditional channels such as newspapers and TV declining. Social channels are the most popular, accounting for 63% of total digital ad spend, according to a report by Hootsuite. Mobile advertising is also on the rise, with a majority of internet traffic generated through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
Performance Marketing in SEA
Performance-based campaigns are becoming popular in SEA, with advertisers demanding more accountability and transparency. Brands are looking for more measurement and optimisation to ensure their campaigns are reaching the right audience and delivering the desired results.
Digital Advertising Agencies in SEA
SEA has a large number of digital advertising agencies, with many emerging startups and creative agencies. The region is home to a highly skilled workforce, with many professionals trained in digital marketing and advertising.
Programmatic Advertising in SEA
Programmatic advertising is becoming more popular in SEA, with many brands and agencies adopting the technology to automate their advertising campaigns. The region is also seeing an increase in the use of AI-powered tools and platforms to help advertisers optimise their campaigns.
Digital Advertising by Sector
The digital advertising market in SEA is dominated by the retail and e-commerce sector, followed by the travel and hospitality sector. The region is also seeing growth in the financial services, healthcare, and automotive sectors.
AI Copywriter Tools in Advertising
AI copywriter tools are becoming increasingly popular in the MENA and SEA regions, with many brands and agencies adopting the technology to enhance their digital advertising campaigns. These tools use natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning algorithms to generate high-quality, engaging content that resonates with the target audience.
AI copywriter tools can help brands and agencies save time and money by automating the content creation process. They can generate a large volume of content quickly and efficiently, allowing advertisers to test multiple variations of their ads and optimise their campaigns for better performance. AI copywriter tools can also help advertisers improve the quality of their content by ensuring that it is grammatically correct, engaging, and relevant to the target audience. They can analyse data from social media and other sources to identify trends and insights that can inform the content creation process.
Conclusion
The MENA and SEA regions are witnessing tremendous growth in digital advertising and digital adoption, driven by a young and tech-savvy population, increasing smartphone penetration, and the rise of social media platforms. AI copywriter tools are becoming increasingly popular in these regions, providing brands and agencies with a cost-effective and efficient way to enhance their digital advertising campaigns. The future of digital advertising in these regions looks bright, with continued growth and innovation in the years to come whilst broadcast and traditional advertising feels the pinch. The time has come for the more conservative amongst us to take the plunge and fully embrace digital and all it entails.
Facebook will no longer allow Special Ad Category advertisers to use the Special Ad Audiences tool.
Meta will be sunsetting Special Ad Audiences, a tool that lets advertisers expand their audiences for ad campaigns related to housing, employment, and credit ads.
In 2019, in addition to eliminating specific targeting options for housing, employment, and credit ads, Facebook introduced Special Ad Audiences as an alternative to Lookalike Audiences.
Since the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Special Ad Category advertisers must declare their category before creating ads. If advertisers fail to declare it, the Facebook policy team shuts down their advertising accounts.
Now, it’s getting more limited with this new rule.
Deprecation Timeline
Following is the timeline from Meta regarding the deprecation of Special Ad Audiences:
- August 25, 2022: you will no longer be able to create new Special Ad Audiences.
- September 13, 2022: Special Ad Audiences will no longer be available in new ad creation via the API.
- October 12, 2022: Special ad audiences will no longer be available in new ad creation across Ads Manager and the API. After this date, the affected ad sets may be paused for delivery. To resume delivery of the paused ad sets, you will need to update them to remove Special Ad Audiences.
According to this timeline, you’ll no longer be able to use Special Ad Audiences in new ads via the API on September 13 and Ads Manager on October 12.
How can the Special Ad Category advertisers benefit from Facebook after this update?
It’s still unclear if Facebook is going to introduce a new way or release some restrictions for Special Ad Category advertisers or not.
That said, the only option is to go broad audience. However, some other options still benefit from the Facebook advertising platform. I will prepare some tips and tactics. Please keep an eye on Digital Boom for more.
Fresh Egypt, a Home Appliance company kicked off its Ramadan campaign with a 1:43-minute Ad promoting the company’s products. Starred by Ruby and Mahmoud El-esseily.
The Ad gained more than 600L views on YouTube and over than 1.2M views on Facebook. Fresh Egypt Ad caught the audience’s attention with its beautiful rhythmic song, saying, “because everything is much better when it’s fresh, make your life fresh and day delightful.”
Some people described it as one of the most beautiful ads this Ramadan, especially Ruby and Mahmoud El-esseily fans. Although it’s a bit different than last year’s ad that was performed by Ruby and Dina El-Sherbiny went viral in a split second.
Watch last Ramadan’s Fresh Ad featuring Ruby and Dina El-Sherbiny.
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