Second Ramadan during Covid 19. How can we prepare as marketers?

The holy month of Ramadan – celebrated by 26.9% of the earth’s total population – is around the corner.

For mobile marketers, this time period is extremely crucial…and why wouldn’t that be the case: as of 2020, we have 176 million Muslim smartphone users in Southeast Asia alone!!

Since COVID – an even larger audience has diverted towards online shopping. This is exactly why with Ramadan around the corner during coronavirus, mobile marketers need to prepare well to cater to the incoming stream of demands from the audience.

Let’s consider the situation of m-commerce in this scenario: Mobile commerce sales grew impressively during the holy month of Ramadan in 2020. In fact, ecommerce apps noticed a 34% increase in mobile sessions during the month of Ramadan. Seeing the pattern of last year, mobile marketers now need to prepare themselves beforehand, so they can maximize the potential and bring out the best for their business. 

This brings us to the ultimate question: Are YOU as a mobile marketer ready to handle this incoming workload? 

Don’t worry if you haven’t sorted it out yet – this article is full of tips & tricks for mobile marketers for the month of Ramadan.

2020 Ramadan Insights – Take a Sneak Peak

Statistics suggest that mobile sales increase up to 26% before Ramadan. The reason is pretty simple; people shop online for not just purchasing eid gifts but also Ramadan grocery.

Last year, the Southeast Asian market observed an exponential growth in purchases via smartphones during the month of Ramadan. In Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, around 200 mobile app installations were made – which drove over 100 million products!

In the month of Ramadan, growth within the ecommerce vertical has accelerated consistently since the pandemic. Now mobile marketers need to allocate ad budgets for Ramadan marketing according to top verticals. Last year, the Indonesian market observed that the 10 days before Ramadan and its second Ashra are the peak shopping times. Given how Muslims prepare for both Ramadan and Eid, it is important to consider the time period and peak shopping hours.

Please note that shopping trends may vary depending on the vertical where business is operating. The peak online shopping hours are 12:00 – 3:00 AM in Saudia Arabia while in Malaysia it’s 4:00 AM onwards, for instance.

Ramadan and Mobile Marketing – Tips & Tricks for Marketers

The pandemic will hit mobile marketers differently this time. It is crucial to explore different areas and learn from last year’s experience. The best-case scenario is to review 2020’s shopping patterns and build new strategies based on it. 

Keeping research from last year in mind, mobile marketers need to start differently in 2021. By pinpointing the peak shopping times, we can take advantage of the extraordinary increase in consumer spending. 

The following tips and tricks will prove to be fruitful for mobile marketers in this regard:

Run Customized User Acquisition Campaigns

Running customized user acquisition campaigns is indeed an effective and efficient way to extend the customer line. But, for doing so, marketing teams need to be extremely clear about the idea of peak hours and shopping time. This has a lot to do with verticals too. Last year, for example, food delivery apps in the Indonesian market observed a spike in orders between 3:00 AM to 6:00 AM (before Sahur).

  • Acquiring and Engaging Customers:

The foremost step is acquiring users who are expected to actively engage with the business’ app. Mobile marketers have to define the goal; which in this case is to provide products relevant to the month of Ramadan. Next, they have to identify the users who would love this app; which is obviously Muslims. Lastly, marketers need to analyze the performance of the campaign and scale it accordingly. 

  • Using Re-Engagement Strategies:

In the year 2021, it is important to not just extend the user base but also focus on old users. So, with customized user acquisition campaigns, mobile marketers will be able to design strategies that can get, keep and grow customers. The data collected from 2020 will come in handy here. By utilizing a re-engagement strategy, businesses can now engage old users and maximize amplify the performance for all. 

  • The Three-Second Rule:

Before customizing the campaigns, marketers need to explore a bit about the three-second rule and implement it with their business campaigns. Reach out early to customers, before they even start Ramadan shopping. 

Utilize Micro-moments

Mobiles have become an indispensable segment of our lives, and thus consumer behavior has changed. Right now, mobile marketers can utilize micro-moments to enhance their clientele. 

  • What are Micro-moments? 

Micro-moments are the small-time intervals in which mobile users search for information on their device in the middle of any task for inspiration or ideas.

For the month of Ramadan, business owners can utilize micro-moments to market their business. It is crucial for businesses to create buyer personas according to their ideal customers. These personas allow sellers to design strategies that can anticipate and target their micro-moments. For this purpose, Google Analytics can also be used as they allow users to identify where their ideal consumers land during their micro-moments. Once the location and timing have been figured out, businesses can bring relevant content right in front of them. 

  • Bring Out the Creativity:

Sellers need to be highly creative when it comes to micro-moments. Such moments are personal, and marketers need to strategize perfectly to get something out of the micro-moment. Go to the previous statistics and data, and extract the valuable information. Micro-moments are a significant part of marketing, and mobile marketers create a lot of unique campaigns out of it. 

Create an „I WANT IT NOW“ moment; the behavioral change is increased due to smartphones‘ use. Food delivery apps can utilize their unique selling propositions here to spike their sales during Ramadan. Research suggests that 60% of consumers cite speed of delivery as a key factor when ordering food online. So marketers can base their Ramadan centric campaigns around optimal delivering time

Whether consumers are searching for a product or looking for manuals, they always have their eye on a specific product. It is the job of mobile marketers to bring that particular product in front of them. Besides, the products added in the cart during micro-moment are huge: 86% of them are successful purchases. 

  • Communicate with the Client:

Without increased dependence on smartphones, marketers are unable to digest the information. The customer journey is divided into hundreds of real-time and infinite micro-moments. Each month is an opportunity for businesses to shape up a purchase. 

The main thing that marketers need to do:

  • Identify their consumer’s „I WANT TO BUY“ moment. By talking with customers online, their pre-purchase behavior and purchase decisions can be learned. 
  • Presence in the time of the moment. Create a strategy and work across the channels. 
  • Relevant content deliverance. Look at how people search; their queries and create content that covers all the questions. 
  • Make the purchase easier.

Focus on Multi-channel Campaigning

Multi-channel campaigning is difficult to understand, and it is challenging to know where to meet the right customer. However, it is even more challenging to know about the potential customers in the multi-channel marketing environment. 

  • Increase User Engagement:

Mobile marketers must tap the customer at home, at a wedding, at a swimming club, virtually anywhere on earth. The exchange of value is the key takeaway over here, and it’s the job of marketers to provide unique and personal benefits to the customers. Digital marketers must use all the platforms to the fullest and be creative about all the possible engagement and interactions. 

  • Focus on User Patterns:

People who do not walk in the changing environment are relatively isolated. Not to mention; that the world is all about innovations and changing patterns. The pandemic has changed everything; hence, it is important to be virtually present almost everywhere. 

Multi-channel or multi-marketing is all about presence so sellers need to ensure that their customers can feel the business presence on every platform. Be it an informational platform, an entertaining one. Expanded reach and increased engagement; is possible by multi-channel campaigning. 

Take example of the Ramadan custom pattern. Here peak timing is near Maghrib, right before breaking fast, so mobile marketers can offer special promo at this time to attract more audience.

Create a Personalized Banner

In this age of technology, the Ramadan effect on the Southeast Asian market is huge! Marketers can help businesses utilize this time to grow their audience exponentially. Personalized banners play a huge role here. The fact is, consumers are seeking more information during Ramadan. Marketers can use this time to serve the information that matters to their audience. 

Here are a few tips on how to build a good banner:

  • Bring out Creativity: When designing ad banners, it is crucial to think creatively. A bigger chunk of the audience views ads via smartphones so marketers need to work with a mobile-first strategy. 
  • Play with the Words: It is important to use short, concise text on banners. Remember that mobile banner ads require you to limit the word count. A great practice here is to choose a unique typeface.
  • Check out Animated Banner Ads: To capture the attention of the audience, animated banner ads come in handy. Marketers can create HTML5 animated ads to gain viewer’s attention. IAB suggests that the best time limit for such ads is 15 seconds. Also, it is essential to ensure no high contrast, flashing animations come in.

Final Words

Ramadan is just a few weeks away, and it is high time for mobile marketers to start planning their strategy. When it comes to acquiring a new customer base and boosting the app’s purchase rate, it can be a bit challenging. 

However, the competition rises significantly during the holy month, which is why businesses need to hire mobile marketers who can come up with a different marketing mix that can help make a difference to their revenues during this peak time of the year. 

By applying these strategies, we ensure that businesses will feel a drastic difference in consumer behavior (both online and offline). We recommend businesses to go for marketers who have already explored the past year’s data and planned according to the pattern.

Is it a lot to digest? We understand that attracting customers at the right time and place can be a mind-numbing job. But that’s what Koneo Mobile is for. We understand that mobile engagement is personal. Nobody goes without a smartphone in their hand – and your targeted customer is right amidst them. 

With Koneo Mobile’s user acquisition and re-engagement strategies, businesses can achieve the right amount of quality required for achieving growth and maximizing the ROI. So don’t worry about Ramadan’s m-commerce strategy this year as we have it all sorted for you!

Want to know how? Contact us Today!

Author:

Julie Huang
Director of Business Development

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