Ramadan was a monumental cultural and search milestone in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) earlier this year, featuring the highest-ever peak in Google searches. People across the region made 7.2 billion general searches during the holy month — a 21% jump compared to Ramadan 2022.1
We saw 193 million searches directly related to the occasion — for example “Ramadan meal. That’s 73 Ramadan-specific searches being made every single second — day and night — during that time across the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.2
Of those 193 million searches, people made around 1.5 million queries related to the Ramadan countdown. This is indicative of people’s excitement and anticipation in the lead-up to the holy month.3
Source: Google internal data, EG, KSA, UAE, All Ramadan-specific queries across Google platforms, 2023
This year, Ramadan retail sales were projected to reach USD $66 billion, despite the impact of inflation. And they look set to grow even more next year, with 56% of people who celebrate Ramadan in Saudi, 64% in UAE, and 74% in Egypt saying they’d spend more during the holy month.
Here are three simple actions your brand can take to capture the full Ramadan 2024 opportunity:
1. Offer people value
Today’s consumer shops for a diversified range of products during Ramadan, from food and grocery to apparel and from home and garden to beauty and electronics. Interestingly, 86% of regional consumers think Ramadan is the ideal time to find the best deals.4
No matter what they’re shopping for, however, people are seeking value during the holy month. And that can mean different things to different people.
For some, value is related to how green a product is. Over 90% of regional buyers are concerned about at least one aspect of sustainability.5 Forty-one per cent of consumers in Saudi and 52% in Egypt care whether beauty brands avoid harmful ingredients and additives in their products.6 Meanwhile, 41% of UAE shoppers prefer to buy from food and grocery stores that steer clear of longer routes.7
Of course value can relate to price too. Amid rising inflationary pressure and global uncertainty, price is seeing growing scrutiny across markets and categories in MENA.8 Three out of ten regional consumers said they purchased from a new brand or retailer this year because they were cheaper.9 This is especially the case for food and groceries, with price searches related to this category seeing 75% year-on-year growth in Egypt.10
Top tip to entice Ramadan consumers looking for value
Ensure you’re offering consumers value by clearly mentioning anything related to price — like discounts, reductions, or sales — in your Ramadan ad campaigns. If you’re already running sales or discount campaigns and want to ensure you maximise your return on investment, AI-powered Performance Max can help you multiply conversions across the Google Ads inventory. Use it to find untapped growth opportunities from new search queries, Google platforms, and even price-sensitive consumers.
2. Entertain and inspire consumers during each phase of Ramadan
Consumers across the region love to hone in on what truly matters to them during Ramadan. Eighty three per cent search for spiritual inspiration,11 while 78% watch cooking content, gift ideas, and how-to videos.12
And exactly what people watch for inspiration evolves throughout the phases of Ramadan.
Home decoration, food preparation, spirituality, and comedy are popular in the preparation phase. We witnessed search interest for “house cleaning before Ramadan” rise by 23X in the lead up, with “Ramadan henna” growing by 11X.13
Series, lifestyle shows, and gaming kick into higher gear during the actual month of Ramadan, with search interest for “Ramadan games” growing by 14X, and “Ramadan series 2023” hitting 10 million search queries.14
Finally, music, gaming, and celebratory content rise in popularity over Eid. Search interest for “Eid songs” rose by 47X, with 14 million search queries made for “Ramadan songs”.15
Top tip to help Ramadan consumers find what matters most to them
Help connect consumers with what they care about during Ramadan by showcasing your content at a time that makes the most impact. YouTube’s cost-per-hour masthead is a great way to generate wider awareness and maximise brand exposure on the platform. For the best results, focus on maximising exposure at a specific moment during Ramadan, like suhoor, iftar prep, or iftar itself.
To go beyond awareness and help people go deeper on new products as they spend more time consuming content, YouTube Select sponsorships can help. Not only does it allow you to pick the content category you’d like to appear in, it also helps you collaborate with creators that are fans of your brand, leveraging their passion to reach audiences in a more authentic way.
3. Give people a chance to explore and research during the holy month
Once people have been inspired by what they’ve watched online, they start actively researching for Ramadan.
One in five start their preparations three to four weeks before the holy month actually starts.16 We saw search interest for “iftar special recipes” grow by 19X in the lead up, with “Ramadan invitation ideas” on the rise by 70%.
And people are increasingly exploring retail-related Ramadan topics online. We’ve seen a 2.8X rise in retail searches over the past five years.17
But people are not just exploring shopping options for themselves. Ninety five per cent believe that Ramadan is a time for thinking about the needs of others, with 59% spending more on charity this Ramadan versus last.18 Family and friends come into the picture too, with 46% of consumers increasing their gifting budget this holy month compared to last.19
Top tip to entice Ramadan consumers
It’s vital to create demand in those moments that inspired consumers are in the mood to explore. Demand Gen generates and grows demand by helping consumers to discover products and make purchase decisions as they stream, watch, or scroll across Google platforms — including YouTube Shorts. To capture consumers’ attention and drive conversions at moments that matter, ensure your ad creatives are immersive, relevant, and highly visual.
Feeling inspired? Take your Ramadan planning one step further and discover how to own the online video moment during the holy month, uncover the top three video trends likely to shape this year’s Ramadan content, read how a Saudi charity used AI to raise millions of dollars for orphans, and understand how Christian Dior Parfums used augmented reality ads to reach more than 4 million people over Eid.
