‘We don’t want to push our ideas on to customers. We simply want to make what they want,’ Laura Ashley. Companies are most interested in identifying their clients’ needs to meet them. Therefore, British companies seeking growth and development by providing products to Arabs should not believe that ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do.’ These organizations need to seek the understanding of the Arabs in the UK and identify their needs for the sake of personalized marketing.
Apart from the general advantages of personalized marketing, Arab purchasing power is a major reason why British companies should target Arabs in the UK market. The various challenges facing personalized marketing reduce the number of competitors in the British-Arab market since it requires dealing with marketing tools to overcome these different challenges.
Some of the essential benefits of Personalized Marketing:
‘To save money on gifts, give someone their favorite candy in a beautiful, customized vessel with a personalized tag. It’s sweet and always appreciated,’ Dylan Lauren. In other words, the value of the gift is not determined by its price but by the recipient’s appreciation. Personalizing a gift can be considered one of the unique ways that make a gift valuable.
The importance of personalization is that they increase the value of the product for the client. It helps convey personal messages for the client and better explain the value that the product brings. Thus, it helps build stronger relationships with existing customers and attract new ones. Hence, it can be said that personalized marketing gives the product provided by the organization a different value than those of competitors. They are willing to pay more for these products. According to a questionnaire in England, Scotland, and Wales, 20% of consumers who expressed an interest in personalized products or services are willing to pay a 20% premium. 22% of customers are happy to share some data in return for more personalized customer service or product.
According to The 2017 State of Personalization Report- Segment, on average, 71% express some level of frustration when their experience is impersonal. 44% of consumers say that they are more likely to become frequent buyers after a personalized shopping experience with a particular company.
In addition, personalization makes products and services simpler and thus reduces production and marketing costs. So personalizing products helps expand the profit margin. It also helps smaller companies join the market due to the cost reductions and the profit increase on investment.
The advantages of personalized marketing for the Arabs in the UK:
When choosing a company for the target market, it is crucial to choose a market with the right purchasing power to make a profit. Therefore, it is important to consider the Arab market when selecting a target market sector because Arab consumers are the largest spenders in the UK. Figures indicate that Arab shoppers spend 15 times more than the average UK shopper.
Arabs in the UK constitute a significant market for products that would make personalized marketing pay off well, especially in the peak season of their purchases. For example, London businesses expect the sales figures to go up as Ramadan approaches and peak before the Eid festival.
The Challenges of Personalized Marketing:
Despite the importance of Arab-customized marketing, one should know that the task of personalization, in general, is not easy. 63% of Digital Marketing Leaders Still Struggle with Personalization, according to Gartner.
However, the difficulties and challenges upon the Arab-personalized marketing mean reducing the number of competitors who compete in the Arab market. Therefore, if the organization responds to challenges and difficulties positively, it will benefit more from the Arab market and increase profits.
To better address personalization challenges, one needs to recognize them. These difficulties include:
- Starting difficulties in the personalization process:
The first step is always the hardest. Starting personalized marketing is no exception, for many marketers find difficulty knowing how to start personalization.
- Getting information:
Technological development has assisted in collecting customer information more than ever. But the difficulty lies in the availability of sources that accurately provide the required information. Personalized marketing based on false information may lead to greater damage than if it wasn’t at all provided. Therefore, marketers should look for a platform that provides good-quality Arab customer information rather than caring for the amount of data provided by the platform.
Primary data can be collected from Arab customers in the UK by voluntarily providing information for the sake of products and services they buy, for example, using questionnaires or interviews directly and clearly. As Tea Liarokapi of Moosend puts it,
“the main concern of users – and by extension, your prospects and your customers (hopefully) – is not whether or not your business gathers data; they already know that you do. Rather, they feel unsure and unsafe when they don’t know the kind of data you’re gathering and how you’re using it.”
Organizational challenges:
Concerning marketing for Arabs in the UK, to achieve personalized marketing, the organization needs cooperation and participation among all its departments, let alone the staff breaking their comfort zone. Therefore, some organizations believe that due to the regulatory system and organizational structure, they cannot change what they do to target the Arabs.
Tools that help personalize marketing for the Arab market in Britain
Marketing for Arabs in the UK requires the marketing mix technique that helps organizations target the Arab market in the UK.
One of the most prominent marketing mix techniques is what is called The four Ps of marketing:
Price: Which represents the fees paid by Arab customers to obtain products.
Products: What the organization provides to meet the need of the Arab client
Place: To deliver Arab customers’ products in the right place and time.
Promotion: To attract Arab customers’ attention to the product and how it meets their needs.
Another element was later added to the marketing mix: People. People here doesn’t mean customers but staff. How the level of service and the expertise provided by these people can be used to set the company apart from competitors and provide the best value to its Arab customers.
However, there’s one element missing: strategic partnerships. Is the company interested in building new partnerships or enhancing existing ones? For example, establishing a partnership with Arabisk Media is one way for organizations that target Arabs in Britain.
Physical evidence of a company’s professionalism is one of the key elements which gives clients trust. For instance, a company can gain trust through a professional website, highly qualified staff, or their building appearance.
Yet, it would be a mistake to proceed before checking if the right data is there. Before choosing and employing the appropriate strategy for each element of the marketing mix, organizations need to gather and analyze the accurate data that would enable them to recognize what the Arabs need or don’t. Without them, it would be challenging to provide the appropriate marketing mix for Arabs in Britain, regardless of how advanced the technology used.
Therefore, paying attention to selecting the appropriate tools to learn about Arabs is essential. Arabisk London provides a platform that can be used for questionnaires to know the needs of Arabs better. It also provides articles that introduce Arabs and their consumer behavior in Britain.
After both the Arab introduction and employing the elements of the marketing mix, it would be best to provide products needed by the Arab client. For example, a partnership with Arabisk Media can promote the targeted strategic plan using Arabisk London Quarterly, Arabisk Express Semi-monthly publications, and their website. Moreover, they can use the Arabic platform and social media influencers in the UK to offer integrated solutions to promote for companies that intend to target the Arab client in Britain.
Examples of organizations that personalize marketing for Arabs in the UK
You can search via the internet for Arab targeting organizations in Britain. The search will show organizations that offer personalized products for Arabs simply by its inclusion of Arabic. That could be achieved through including names of Arabs, for example, writing Aysha. Mohsen, Latifa on clothes, necklaces, bracelets, hats, cups, mobile phone covers, bags, or Arabic numbers on watches and clocks.
One of the organizations where the Arabs consist a large part of its clients is Grosvenor Hotel, about 80%.
Other organizations that target Arabs with particular advertising messages are some ministries and government agencies.
Conclusion
Despite the various advantages resulting from the personalization of products to the Arab market in Britain, personalization will remain fruitless without addressing the accompanying challenges appropriately and leveraging the related tools. “If you don’t appreciate your customers, someone else will.” -Jason Langella
Questions for Arabs:
Do you order products from the Arab world because they are not available in the British market?
Does the purchase of your products take longer than the British take to buy their products?
Have you been asked to fill in a questionnaire by an organization to provide services or products that suit you as an Arab?
Do you find organizations that claim to have an interest in Arabs offer products and services that meet your needs?
References:
https://mediareach.co.uk/Does-More-Diversity-in-Brand-and-Ad-Agency-Teams-Add-Value
https://kibocommerce.com/blog/personalized-marketing/
https://thinkethnic.com/arab-consumers-are-largest-spenders-in-the-uk/
https://www.sendwithscout.com/article/the-challenges-of-marketing-personalization
http://grow.segment.com/Segment-2017-Personalization-Report.pdf
https://netcorecloud.com/blog/10-personalization-challenges-are-you-stuck-with-any-of-these/
https://www.smartinsights.com/marketing-planning/marketing-models/how-to-use-the-7ps-marketing-mix/
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/dylan_lauren_539432?src=t_personalized
