Many companies in Lebanon are using social media to increase their awareness and promote their brands. If you are a business operating in this market, you have to learn how to stand out from the competition and differentiate yourself on social media.

Below are a number of powerful tips that will help you succeed in social media in Lebanon:

- Build your awareness. Tell people that you are on social media too. Increase you awareness through advertising. This is how Lebanese internet users will know that you are present on social media and will be able to learn about your brand. Not all companies are leveraging the power of social ads for the purpose of creating branding and awareness. Use that to your advantage

- Ask questions and run competitions. Lebanese social media followers love to interact and engage with you. Social media is not only about posting pictures and videos and advertising your offers. You should ask questions and make your fans participate in your competitions. This way you increase your engagement rate on your social media pages and accounts
 Many Lebanese companies have done a great job on social media and have achieved remarkable success in reaching and engaging people through creative competitions.

A recent success story is the Mother’s Day competition by The Spot Lebanon. Lebanese abroad had to post a video on Facebook using the hashtag #shta2tellikmom telling their Moms how much they miss her and the user with the most creative video won a trip to Lebanon to see his Mom. This competition reached thousands of people and gathered hundreds of participants and achieved great buzz
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- Post quality content. Don’t underestimate the power and reach of social media. Lebanese people spend a lot of time on social channels checking posts and reading news. Your social media content should be rich, informative and interesting. Talk about your company news, your employees, your daily activities, your history, etc...
People want to know about the human aspect behind your brand not only about the products you sell

- Use powerful hashtags. Hashtags have become essential when posting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms. People find your posts through searching hashtags. Use popular Lebanese hashtags such as: #livelovelebanon, #beirut_lebanon, #lebanonshots, #lebanontourism, #lebanoninstagram, #lebanonphoto, #Lebanon, and #Beirut.
 PF.Chang’s Lebanon is an example of restaurants successful on Instagram partly thanks to using popular Lebanese hashtags such as #beirutfoodporn and #beirutrestaurants

- Be creative when creating cover pictures. Covers on Facebook and Twitter represent the identity of your brand. Put a picture that represents your brand and update it regularly to promote your events, offers, competitions, news, products, etc…

- Analyze your competition. No company can succeed in social media without doing a competitive analysis. First identify your competitors, second analyze their social media strategies, and third differentiate yourself by adapting a more creative strategy and posting more attractive posts

- Answer your fans. Lebanese people follow you for a reason on social media: they are interested in your and what you have to say. Give your Lebanese fans attention and answer their inquiries. They will feel appreciated and they will always check your latest updates

- Measure your results. The key to succeed in social media is to measure your results through analyzing reports and insights registered in your social media analytics. Compare your campaigns and identify your strengths and weaknesses in order to get better results.

Whether you are a small company or a big enterprise, being present on social media has become crucial nowadays. Pay attention to what you post on social media and have a clever strategy tailored to the Lebanese market.
We care about your success and we are here to help you better reach and engage with a Lebanese audience on social media.

Let us help you, all you need to do is contact us.

Instagram has become the number one online photo sharing platform in Lebanon. According to latest industry research, Instagram has more than 400 million monthly active users worldwide including more than 950,000 active users in Lebanon.
 
40 billion photos have been shared on Instagram to date, 80 million photos are being shared daily (global figures), and more is yet to come. It is also interesting to note that about 85% of Instagram users in Lebanon access the app every day.
 
To all Lebanese advertisers: Whether you own a small, medium or big enterprise, the use of Instagram as a marketing tool to promote your offerings must be in your 2016 to do list.

On a global scale, more than 200 thousands advertisers are using Instagram to date and in 2016 this number is expected to grow further. With social media changing rapidly, Lebanese marketers are expected to refine their online marketing strategies and utilize Instagram in a creative way to stand out from the competition.
 
How are Lebanese companies using Instagram in 2016, and what are the latest trends on Instagram in the local market?
 
The use of correct hashtags is the number one rule to follow in 2016. Hashtags are the key to expand the reach of your photos. Lebanese accounts are particularly wise in choosing their hashtags and they are focusing on a mix of post-relevant and popular tags. Make sure you include at least 11 hashtags in each post for maximum performance and engagement.
 
Using GIFs on Instagram is another trend this year. Static images will still be used but we are expecting to see more animations going forward.
GIFs have become more popular are expected to become 2016’s hit. Fortunately there are many popular apps where marketers can create their GIFs and share them on Instagram and other social media platforms. One that we particularly recommend is Boomerang. If you haven’t yet, go check it out now.
 
Since their inception in late 2015, Instagram ads are expected to boom in the Lebanese market this year. Many Lebanese companies have included a dedicated Instagram advertising budget in their 2016 plan. Promoted posts and videos are already starting to crowd the platform especially from big brands.

>> If you need help launching your Instagram Advertising campaigns, contact Clouds Media and we will be glad to assist.
 
One of the most important new features released by Instagram in 2016 is the option allowing admins to manage multiple accounts at the same time without the need to logout from the App. Lebanese companies that have more than one account on Instagram are already starting to use this handy feature. It is now easier to toggle from one account to another, hassle-free.
 
Instagram marketing is a massive opportunity for companies based in Lebanon and the Middle East. The platform can help businesses and individuals increase their awareness and promote their products and services while appealing to a young audience.
 
We believe 2016 is a very promising year for Lebanese users, businesses and advertisers on Instagram.

Since its launch in 2006, Twitter has seen tremendous growth in the Middle East and especially in Lebanon where it is increasingly being used as a tool for delivering news and stories to a Lebanese audience highly active online. It is an important part of digital marketing today.

Almost every newspaper and news portal in Lebanon is using Twitter marketing and many of them are tweeting their latest news and stories even before announcing them on TV or radio because Twitter is faster and has a strong reach.

Below is an overview of how Lebanese news sites and portals are using Twitter:

-          Annahar Newspaper has 244,000 Twitter followers which is among the highest following in the Lebanese online newspaper sector. Annahar is following 668 users and has 212,000 tweets. This newspaper joined Twitter in December 2011. Annahar tweets about politics, stories happening in the society and about celebrities’ news. A lot of pictures are used in their posts and they tweet around 20 times per hour.

-          Tayyar.org has 40,800 followers, is following 106 people and has 106,000 tweets. This online portal is tweeting 5 to 10 times per hour and the majority of their tweets are political.

-          L’Orient le Jour has 40,700 followers, is following 308 users and has 60,500 tweets. This newspaper has a low engagement on its page and all its tweets are about political news and social stories. The page directs users to l’Orient le Jour’s website through a link and the number of tweets varies from 5 to 15 per hour.

-          Lebanon Daily News has 5,186 followers, is following 2,264 people and has 21,300 tweets. This newspaper joined Twitter in February 2010 and has a directory from its account to its Facebook page and its website.

LDN posts every hour 2 or 3 text messages and photos about politics and social events.

 

Twitter has become a priority for the majority of Newspapers. Journalists are tweeting about live, spontaneous and immediate insights about people’s concerns and topics of the day. Newspapers are adopting Twitter as a channel to reach potential online users and are benefiting from the big success of this innovative microblogging platform.

Instagram is a fast growing social media platform used for personal and business purposes. When this application started out in 2010, it was simply used to share, like and comment on photos. Nowadays Instagram has become an essential marketing tool used by companies to promote their businesses.

From 2010 till 2013 the number of Instagram users has increased from 1 million to 100 million monthly active users. 55 million photos are posted daily with more than 8500 likes and 1000 comments per second. Instagram ads are proven to increase brand awareness.

 Companies are taking advantage of these huge numbers and trying to achieve their marketing goals through interacting with their audience and engaging them in their posts.

Many companies are integrating Instagram in their social media management strategy. Here are some benefits of using Instagram for your business:

-          Instagram has a unique feature in displaying your photos. You can be creative and artistic by using filters and editing your images the way you want.

-          The photos that you post will reach your followers and their friends also. When your followers like, comment or share your photo, this photo will appear in their friends’ news feed.

-          You can directly share your photos from Instagram to your Facebook account. This will be easier and faster than posting separately.

-          When you post pictures of your products, employees, people using your products and also funny and nice pictures, your followers will be attracted to your page and they will interact with your brand.

-          Posting your latest products, offers and events will keep customers updated. People are very interested in knowing about your latest news and this will let them continuously check your page and engage with your postings.

-           The use of hashtags in your posts is very important. Once you hashtag a word with Instagram, all account users can see it even the ones who are not following you.

Instagram connects people from around the world through images. Using Instagram for your business will help you gain followers, potential customers and new partners. Customers need images that you should provide them. So if you are not on Instagram, you should sign up now because you are missing out a lot!

YouTube is increasingly attracting users from the entire world and according to Google, Saudi Arabia has the largest share of users per capita.

Statistics show that more than 1 billion users visit YouTube each month and Saudi Arabia encounters around 90 million YouTube views every day which is the highest number of viewers in the world. Smart phones are gradually penetrating the market and are mostly used by Saudis to watch You Tube videos. Another YouTube fact is that in KSA more than 60 hours of video clips are uploaded in one minute.

What are the reasons behind these facts and what is attracting the Saudis to spend the majority of their time online and specifically on YouTube?

Many factors are contributing in the rise of YouTube in KSA. Here are some of these factors:

-          Demographic factors: 70% of Saudi Arabia’s population is under 30 years old. This youthful population is surfing YouTube on a daily basis searching for relevant drama, comedy, sports and news.

-          Accessibility of Internet: Internet is available in all Saudi Arabia and Saudis are accessing YouTube through their smart phones.

-          Non Availability of entertainment sources: public entertainment is almost scarce in KSA. People are searching for amusement on the Internet because they don’t have public movie theaters, nightclubs don’t exist, and many western programs are restricted.

There are many restrictions in Saudi Arabia that Saudis want to escape.  YouTube is helping people to live, communicate, have fun and discover what their government is forbidding them from.

Advertising on Facebook is becoming increasingly essential. The average internet user uses Facebook almost daily which makes this channel a prime advertising tool that allows companies to target their audience on a continual basis. Nowadays most companies are promoting their products and services on user’s Facebook pages through many types of ads. The following ad types are the most popular:

• Page post link ad: appears as a photo with a text on the news feed page of the user’s desktop and mobile or on the right-hand side of the screen and directs him to the advertiser’s web page.
• Page engagement ad: appears as a photo, text or video on the right-hand side of the screen and in a user’s news feed on his desktop or mobile and it drives awareness of your message.
• Page like ad: appears as a photo with a text on the news feed page of the user’s desktop and mobile or on the right-hand side of the screen with a “like” button. This ad will increase your page’s likes.
• Offer ad: appears as a photo with a text on the news feed page of the user’s desktop and mobile or on the right-hand side of the screen with a “get offer” button. 
• Event ad: appears as a photo with a text on the right-hand side of the screen with a “join” button. 
• Mobile app ad: appears as a photo or a video with a text on the news feed page of a user’s mobile. This ad drives users to the advertiser’s mobile app for installs (with a “install now” button) or re-engagement (with a “use now” button).
• Desktop app ad: appears as a photo with a text on the news feed page of the user’s desktop or on the right-hand side of the screen with a “use now” button. This ad drives people to the advertiser’s desktop app.
  

Facebook has many targeting options that can help you choose your audience. You can target by location, age, gender, language, interests, connections and other categories. For more info please contact us.

Check out the latest interview of our CEO Imad Karam talking about the latest eCommerce project by the Clouds team, Natasawak.com, the innovative flash sales company in Lebanon and the Middle East. The interview was aired on Dubai's DMTV on December 18, 2013. The interview was conducted by Daniella Rahme and prepared by Elie Abou Saleh.

If you haven't used Google Plus yet you need to do so ASAP because you are missing on a big opportunity to enhance your web presence.
Google Plus has been launched a couple of years now but its impact on the internet audience is already tremendous.

Rather than seeing it as a pure social network, you should see G+ as a social layer which Google has added to all its web properties including Google Search.
It is very important to become active on Google Plus as this will enhance your presence on Google Search and generate you additional traffic and exposure.
Enough said, watch the below video for a full introduction on Google Plus!

Online advertising in the Middle East is experiencing a very strong growth.
Many big businesses and SMEs are currently experimenting with this relatively new medium and market research shows that there is big increase in Internet advertising spend in middle Eastern countries such as Lebanon, UAE, Jordan, Qatar and many others. Advertisers are increasingly seeing the value of online marketing which is not only cost effective but also a measured medium allowing them to draw reports and analyse their ROIs. Among the most popular online advertising tools, SEO (search engine optimization), paid search and social media marketing are probably the most effective channels. Companies is different sectors including ecommerce, real estate, banking and content providers are now allocating a significant portion of their marketing to the online channel and this trend is expected to grow even more in the future.
For more info on
internet advertising feel free to visit Clouds website.