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Social Media for Businesses in UAE – 2022 Statistics you Need to Know

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Feb 9, 2022

Social media has revolutionized the way humans communicate with each other and with brands. Brands communicating through newspaper ads, television ads, radio ads, or billboards is an old-school way of advertising. The audience wants to personally interact with the brands in real-time and to see humans behind the brand. Today consumers are much more informative and more likely to research before making a buying decision. Social media is one such cost-effective way to educate consumers and attract attention. To harness that, let’s have a look at some statistics for Social Media Marketing Dubai in 2022.

Important Factors to Consider from UAE Social Media Statistics

  • Around 98.99% of the total UAE population is spending a good amount of time on social media platforms.
  • 99% population in UAE is using the internet.
  • As per 2022 reports, UAE has now a population of 10.08 million.
  • UAE population’s average spending time on social media platforms is 3 hours and 4 minutes.
  • The most popular messenger app in the UAE is Whatsapp with a booming 8.08 million users.
  • From the total 99% of internet users, around 53% users use social media to connect with friends and relatives.
  • As per the reports, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram are the most popular three platforms in UAE used by internet users.
  • Tiktok is also getting popularity day by day by covering the 59.07% of internet users in UAE.

Social Media Users In The UAE

With almost 98.98% of the total population of 9.83 million in the UAE being active on social media, it is of utmost importance for businesses big, or small to have a social media marketing strategy in place. Social media is a platform where companies can get brand awareness and reach out to potential audiences at a very low cost as compared to traditional marketing. Social media has a reach that traditional media can’t even compare to. One other benefit of social media usage for brands is the power of listening. As a company, you can get real-time data and feedback about your product or service and tweak your strategy accordingly.

There are 9.52 million social media accounts in the UAE. The year 2021 saw a whopping 10.6% growth with 932,000 new users added last year. Falling smartphone prices and easy access to the Internet are two of the reasons for such tremendous growth. UAE, especially, is a country with most users with a ratio to its population. As a brand, we come to the question that how to harness that for our brand’s growth?

Fact that the Internet is a basic human necessity is proven with the statistic that a UAE resident averagely spends 7 hours and 3 minutes online whether through phone or desktop. For perspective, more people sleep less than 7 hours in the UAE. 93% of internet users come online at least once a day. The average daily time spent on social media in the UAE is 2 hours and 57 minutes whereas the average user spends 3 hours and 55 minutes using the Internet on phone.

Getting attention on social media sites is the utmost goal of all marketers and brands. With attention span getting lower and lower every year, marketers have to come up with more interesting and innovative ways to get attention. In social media terms, more attention equals more awareness which results in more sales for the brand.

With 7.77 million users in the UAE, Facebook only comes second to Youtube of social media sites with the most users. Instagram comes a close third at 6.68 million users but Facebook is still the crowd’s favorite. According to studies, Instagram is also the fastest-growing platform in the UAE. Young people like Generation Z prefer Instagram over Facebook.

Videos As a Content Strategy

Videos are the future. Content creators and marketers are spending more of their marketing budget and time on video creation.

96% of people watch videos on the internet for content consumption. Any marketing strategy is incomplete without videos. Today creating a video is becoming cheaper and more efficient. Even Instagram is also promoting videos for their platforms. IGTV which is a feature on Instagram is soon to become monetized.

A new app is also in the town which is engaging and everybody is a star. Tik-Tok is a video-sharing app where people upload their own videos. 1 in 4 UAE residents is a Tik-Tok user. Brands are also coming on Tik-Tok to connect with their audience.

Messenger Apps

Coming to messenger apps, WhatsApp is the most popular site at 7.77 million users. Coming only a second, there are 62% of Facebook Messenger users at 6.09 million. Snapchat still has an impressive number of users at 2.95 million and it is expected to grow in 2022.

Social Media And Advertisement 

Although we all strive to grow our channels through organic measures, we can’t deny the importance of social media ads. Paid advertising has somewhat become a necessity for brands’ marketing strategy. 31% of new brand discovery happens through social media ads. Social media ads can unleash the true power of the internet if done correctly.

There is one surefire way to reach Gen Z and Millenials as social media is the most relevant advertising channel for them at 50% and 42% respectively.

Social Media And Sales

Brands’ Social media accounts are the biggest source of inspiration for consumer purchases with 37% of consumers finding purchase inspiration through the channel. No wonder it is a necessity for a brand to have an online presence in 2022.

With Facebook and Instagram become more friendly for shoppers and brands with each year passing, the shopping experience on social media sites is bound to grow. Just this year, Facebook has passed a new feature called “Facebook shop” to promote small businesses on their platforms. In lieu of lockdown affecting the restaurant industry, Instagram also introduced a feature called Order food in partnership with food-delivery apps.

Social Media Agency

Whether you are deciding on a social media platform or pitching a strategy to the client, it is of utmost importance to use data to back up your ideas. Decision-making of any kind should be based on solid data provided by research. These statistics help brands make informed decisions keeping in mind their goals.

A good social media agency will help you with their expertise as they are informed about the new happenings in the industry. Read more about our guide to choosing a good social media agency.

If you are looking to create a social media marketing strategy, then contact us for a free consultation. Our social media specialist will help you with all your questions and create a customizable strategy for your brands’ needs.