Hadley Newman, managing director, Omobono Middle East, said his company plans to increase its annual digital investment in the MENA region by 25%.
Statistics show that 66% of companies in the UAE are planning to raise their digital marketing budgets in the coming 12 months due to the rising awareness on the importance of digital investments.
“We focus on B2B solutions in our business and our expansion in the MENA region two years ago came as a result of a growing demand on digital transformation in government and non-government sectors,” he explained.
“Omobono also focused on the UAE because of its digital initiatives which are an integral part of its visionary development plans. Digital transformation faces many challenges that could turn out to be opportunities – if dealt with properly,” he added.
A recent study by Omobono and Radius Global Market research showed that 20% of digital marketing budgets will be spent by companies on social media, especially LinkedIn, Facebook,Twitter and Youtube, said Hadley. Around 97% of research participants said they would dedicate their digital marketing budgets to employment-related social media platforms vis-a-vis 88% to Facebook, 69% to Twitter and 56% to Youtube.
“LinkedIn is the direct channel for interactive companies and 43% of marketers. Facebook on the other hand enables 40% of marketers to reach a broader category of consumers,” he noted.
The study further revealed that the majority of markets are planning to change their spending priorities within this year but the overall percentage of digital investments over the coming 12 months, will be less than other markets like the UK which is foreseen to witness a 55% growth during the same period.
“The study came out with a very interesting fact. Mobile optimization is not on the list of priorities for major companies though mobile penetration is extremely high in this market,” said Newman.
Source: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/omobono-increase-mena-digital-investments-by-25--671187.html