(Photo handout from enova )
By Mohamed Alaa El-Din
The Egyptian market has great chances to achieve rapid development rates in digital marketing, especially as the current share of digital marketing does not exceed 3% out of the companies’ total budget for marketing.
According to Natalie Youssef, CEO for Enova Digital Marketing & Advisory, the Egyptian market has many opportunities to achieve development in the digital marketing field, due to its high population, the presence of more than 46 million Internet users and more than 21 million Facebook users.
What do you think of digital marketing in the Egyptian market?
Digital marketing in Egypt went through many phases. The first phase was before the 25 January Revolution. During this period the concept of the digital marketing was not common. The majority of the companies did not know the advantages of advertising via social networks like Facebook. They considered Google the only means for digital advertising. And despite this, its usage was limited.
The more important phase concerning digital marketing was after 2011; the Internet played a strong and effective role, as well as social networks during the events of the 25 January Revolution. No doubt, Facebook was then seen as an important means to influence people. Despite this fact, spending on digital marketing was limited during this period due to the country’s economic situation. On the other hand, many companies relied on digital marketing to market their products, convinced that it is more effective and less expensive than other traditional means.
The third phase of digital marketing activities in which Egypt lives until now started in 2013. Many companies allocated more spending for advertisement via Internet; moreover, they started to hire employees in their company for digital marketing.
What value does digital marketing add compared to traditional advertising?
Advertisements on the television or other traditional means are looked at as no more than advertisements. The audience may not be convinced by the idea or might not be eager to know more details about the product or the service. However, advertising through social networking is different. For example, the client sees that his friend bought a specific product, the targeted client will look for the same product, because he trusts his friend. Advertising via social networking is considered the natural form for what is known as verbal advertising.
What are the sectors with the top spending in digital marketing?
The consumption sector’s spending on digital advertising is on top of other sectors, followed by the communications sector and also healthcare products, which is one of the largest sectors expected to witness strong opportunities for growth in the coming period, in addition to the automotive sector. Real estate companies and banks are expected to join this list in the upcoming period.
How do you see the evolution of spending on Internet advertising?
During this year, the size of Internet advertising expenses by various sectors doubled compared to last year.
The digital marketing sector was able to acquire between 3% and 5% of the total marketing budget for companies, and, according to current indications observed in the Egyptian market, the next three years will witness a leap in spending on digital marketing.
What are the growth rates of the digital marketing industry?
The digital market industry is growing with accelerating rates, as it exceeded 120% per year globally. This is because of the strong change in the culture of marketing campaigns which take digital tools as a basic foundation, which reduced the gap between digital media and its traditional advertising counterpart. As for the local level, the gap is still significant, where the size of spending on digital marketing is still less than 5% of marketing budgets.
What are the pillars that guarantee growth of the digital marketing industry in Egypt?
Digital marketing has promising growth opportunities not only in Egypt but also in the Gulf region, and this is due to several factors, the most important of which is the growing number of Internet users either through mobile phones or through other means, as well as the presence of more than 81 million users on the social networking site Facebook, of which 21 million users are Egyptians, and also the fact that the majority of new users to the online community are young people, which creates a large market.
Add to this that the advertisers increase the size of spending on Internet advertising, which provides the foundations for the growth of the industry from more than one side.
Does the demand for online marketing campaigns depend on the size of advertisers?
On the contrary, the advantage of digital marketing is that it can have a flexible budget, as it fits small or large companies, but the challenge lies in the decision maker of the company; the older they are the more reservations they have regarding spending on Internet marketing, and, according to our experience in the Egyptian market, young managersare forthcoming on spending on online marketing campaigns.
What are the major regulations through which you determine the form of the marketing campaign that you undertake?
The marketing strategy we settle for companies is determined according to a number of factors, most importantly, the targeted audience and the growth level of the advertiser company, which can make us know the needs of the company, as well as helping us focus on the campaign objective, whether it is a new trademark that aims for publicity, or a company which changed its trademark or targets ensuring its customers’ loyalty, or pushing sales.
Will digital advertisement have a role in the next parliamentary elections?
Digital advertising means played a major role in the elections and referendums that Egypt witnessed since 25 January Revolution; my expectations are that the role that digital advertisement plays in the advertising campaigns of candidates will continue through the next parliamentary elections.
We already received demand during the Economic Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, from someone who intends to run for next parliament, in order to lead his advertisement campaign through internet, but we did not yet reach a final agreement.
What are the platforms that you depend on while leading your advertisement campaigns?
Facebook, now, is topping the most important platforms on internet, due to its tangible efficiency and the great number of people who communicate through it, then comes the short television advertisements that depend now on YouTube videos and after that they are transferred to television, meaning that the advertiser creates an advertising campaign on the Internet and then it is used on TV advertisements.
What is the category of clients that costs more to attract through Internet?
The cost of attracting clients of certain limited categories is the highest, whether in regard to age group or their targeted interests.
What are the countries that are most expensive with regards to the cost of attracting clients through digital advertisements?
UAE is topping these countries due to the small number of its Internet users and the presence of a lot of digital advertisement service providers. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait come next, while Egypt and Jordan come in a similar category regarding prices and clients’ trends in usage.
Who are the most significant clients for whom you offer solutions?
Amer Group, Misr Elkheir Foundation, Unilever, El Araby, the Egyptian Food Bank, and TE Data.
