More than a quarter of company marketing budgets in the Middle East are expected to be spent on digital channels in 2012, according to the second State of Digital Marketing in MENA survey by Econsultancy.
The proportion spent on digital has increased from 22% in 2011 to 27% in 2012. The latest State of Digital Marketing in MENA survey looks at the digital landscape in the Middle East and North Africa. The survey also revealed that 54% of respondents are increasing budgets for social media, following the rise of platforms like Twitter and Facebook, as well as the need for onsite community engagement.
Econsultancy commissioned the State of Digital Marketing in MENA survey, in partnership with ITP, to establish trends in the use of digital channels, budgets and investment plans, social media marketing, measuring effectiveness and return on investment and digital skills.
The results of the State of Digital Marketing in MENA will be presented by Econsultancy CEO Ashley Friedlein at Digital Cream Dubai on 21 February 2012. Digital Cream Dubai, run in partnership with GEM events, is the event for senior client-side marketers to discuss online channel investment, technologies, agency selection and local challenges that they face in delivering best practice digital marketing and advertising.
The event features 12 independently moderated round tables covering a range of digital marketing disciplines including user experience, email, social media, e-commerce and mobile marketing.
Attendees confirmed include the heads of digital from leading regional brands including: Jumeirah, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Motivate Publishing, Mubadala, Gulf News, Emaar Malls, HSBC and Patchi.
As well as Econsultancy’s State of Digital Marketing keynote the event includes a keynote from Consulting Digital Strategist Alex Vaidya from Porsche Cars Great Britain. Alex was a key figure in developing Porsche’s social presence (the company’s Facebook page has been liked by more than 2.5m people). He will talk about ‘Creating the Online Porsche Experience’.
Entry to Digital Cream Dubai is free to all senior online marketers from brands, retailers, publishers and the public sector.
