Best practices and practical tips to create successful Ramadan social media campaigns.

1. RAMADAN
SOCIAL BEST PRACTICES
IN FMCG INDUSTRY

2. 5 Key Takeaways
▶ An average page from FMCG industry promoted 29% of
content published during Ramadan 2016
▶ 16% increase in share of promoted posts compared
with the previous year lead to 44% growth in terms of
Total Interactions in FMCG industry
▶ Number of FMCG brands adopting paid-only approach
doubled in 2016
▶ There was a 26% increase in total number of posts
published by an average FMCG brand during Ramadan
2016 compared with the previous year
▶ Average share of videos nearly doubled during
Ramadan 2016 in comparison with the previous year
02
Social media plays an important role in beginning the
consumer’s purchasing journey. FMCG brands need to
spend their budgets efficiently and effectively to get
Fans engaging with their content. This is especially
true during special sales events and the holy month of
Ramadan.
We analyzed 50 biggest FMCG Food and Beverage
brands from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi
Arabia on Facebook during Ramadan to discover the
best social marketing techniques to help drive future
revenue.
Introduction

3. 03
RAMADAN 2016 BENCHMARKS IN
FMCG INDUSTRY ON FACEBOOK
COMMUNITY SIZE
Total
Fans 192 408
% Change vs
Ramadan 2015 18%
ACTIVITY
Total
Page Posts 24
% Change vs
Ramadan 2015 26%
ENGAGEMENT
Total
Interactions 20 565
% Change vs
Ramadan 2015 44%
PAID MEDIA
Share
of Promoted
Posts
29%
% Change vs
Ramadan 2015 16%
Sample: 50 biggest Facebook pages in FMCG industry in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia
All benchmarks are based on average values

4. 04
INVESTMENT IN PROMOTED CONTENT IS ON THE RISE
FMCG brands in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia
increased share of promoted posts by 16% during Ramadan
2016 in comparison with the previous year.
An average page promoted 29% of content during Ramadan
2016, while in 2015 share of promoted posts was at 25%.
26% of FMCG brands in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia
did not promote any posts during Ramadan 2016; this represents a
21% decrease in Facebook pages relying on organic-only strategy
compared with Ramadan 2015.
On the other side, number of FMCG brands adopting paid-only
approach (investing in 100% of posts) doubled in 2016.
Sample: 50 biggest Facebook pages in FMCG industry in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia
25%
29%
23%
24%
25%
26%
27%
28%
29%
30%
Ramadan 2015 Ramadan 2016
Average % Share of Promoted Posts
59%
67%
26%
24%
15%
9%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Ramadan 2016
Ramadan 2015
Change in Promotion Strategy of FMCG Brands
Promoting from 0% to 25% of all Posts
Promoting from 25% to 75% of all Posts
Promoting from 75% to 100% of all Posts

5. 05
PAID-ONLY STRATEGY DOES NOT GUARANTEE SUCCESS
From our global research conducted on 6,274 pages on
Facebook we found out that brands keep promoting more
content, however, their Total Interactions remain relatively flat:
Promoting 100% of content is a risky strategy, as it increases your
chances of investing in under-performing posts, which can have
serious consequences for your brand:
▶ 100% higher Cost per Click (CPC)
▶ Nearly 20% higher impression cost (CPM)
▶ 7x less viral
▶ 4x more negative feedback*
0
100 000
200 000
300 000
400 000
500 000
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
AVG % of Promoted Posts AVG Page Interactions
% of Average Promoted Posts vs. Average Page Interactions; 2014-2016
Do not promote 100% of your posts – evaluate organic
performance of every piece of content first and only then invest in
the best-performing posts to maximize Reach and Engagement
KEY TAKEAWAY FOR YOUR BRAND
FOR RAMADAN 2017
*Source: Socialbakers analysis of 400 000 Facebook posts by brand Pages in September and December 2015

6. 06
VIDEO IS BECOMING A KEY PART OF SOCIAL STRATEGY
There was a 26% increase in total number of posts published by
an average FMCG brand during Ramadan 2016 compared with
the previous year. An average page included in this analysis
published 24 posts during Ramadan 2016.
This is in line with posting strategy of global brands, that tend to
publish 4 Facebook posts per week on average. Considering the
overall trend of brands decreasing volume of content published
on Facebook, we expect FMCG brands to continue publishing
around 3-5 posts per week during Ramadan in 2017, increasing
share of promoted posts, rather than sheer volume of content.
“I see video as a mega trend, same order as mobile” – this quote
from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg during Q4 2016 earnings call is
a clear indicator that video content will continue to play bigger &
bigger role for the platform in the upcoming years. Diversification of
Facebook video formats (Facebook Live, 360 videos, VR) will further
amplify this trend.
FMCG brands in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are
clearly taking this into consideration, as average % share of video
posts nearly doubled during Ramadan 2016 in comparison with
2015: 15% of all posts published by an average page included in the
analysis was represented by videos.
8%
15%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
Ramadan 2015 Ramadan 2016
Average % of Videos
19
24
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Ramadan 2015 Ramadan 2016
Average Number of Posts
Sample: 50 biggest Facebook pages in FMCG industry in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia

7. 07
TOP 5 FMCG BRANDS ON FACEBOOK
IN TERMS OF TOTAL INTERACTIONS
DURING RAMADAN 2016
127 952 Total Interactions
103 706 Total Interactions
98 250 Total Interactions
90 609 Total Interactions
82 428 Total Interactions
Sample: 50 biggest Facebook pages in FMCG industry in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia
Bostani
Al Islami Foods
Fakieh Poultry Farms
aani&dani
Indomie KSA
Reactions Comments Shares

8. LEARNING FROM LEADERS: INDOMIE KSA
1 2 3
Top Content from Indomie KSA
54 467 Interactions 3 771 Interactions 3 187 Interactions
08
Indomie KSA published significantly more content than an average FMCG page during Ramadan 2016: with 74 posts in total, the brand was
posting nearly 2 pieces of content per day on average during this time period (only 4% of these posts were promoted)
Indomie KSA drove Engagement with its community primarily through contests, encouraging fans to answer questions related to the holy month
of Ramadan to win various prizes; this led to the brand achieving the biggest number of comments (39,870) received from users among all
FMCG brands included in the analysis
Click on the image to view content on Facebook

9. LEARNING FROM LEADERS: AANI&DANI
Top Content from aani&dani
1 2 3
78 928 Interactions 22 076 Interactions 126 Interactions
09
Aani & Dani was the second most engaging FMCG brand in terms of Total Interactions during Ramadan 2016 thanks to a highly successful
promoted post announcing a special new product from the chocolatier, which generated 76% of Total Interactions received by Aani & Dani
during Ramadan 2016
Overall, Aani & Dani’s content strategy revolved around high-quality visuals (91% of page’s content was represented by photos) of signature
brand’s chocolates and cakes
Click on the image to view content on Facebook

10. LEARNING FROM LEADERS: FAKIEH POULTRY FARMS
Top Content from Fakieh Poultry Farms
1 2 3
67 537 Interactions 14 914 Interactions 14 300 Interactions
10Click on the image to view content on Facebook
Fakieh Poultry Farms published 21 posts during Ramadan 2016 with 62% of content represented by photos and 38% by links
All links published by Fakieh Poultry Farms led to brand’s YouTube videos with majority of them being cooking recipes; Fakieh Poultry Farms
could have generated more Engagement from this type of content by uploading it directly on Facebook: from Socialbakers’ research we know
that Facebook native videos have become the main driver of Reach and Engagement for brands in the past few years

11. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR
RAMADAN 2017
▶ Do not promote your every post during Ramadan 2017
- evaluate organic performance of every piece of
content first and only then invest in the best-
performing posts to maximize Reach and Engagement
▶ Video should be a vital part of your content strategy on
Facebook – think about how you can leverage various
formats (Native videos, Live videos, 360 videos) to
drive Engagement with your community
▶Need inspiration for video content? Check out
Socialbakers’ Facebook Native Video Trends report
for the FMCG Food industry in the Middle East
▶ Competitive analysis is crucial for your success during
Ramadan – look into the strategy of your competitors
(how active they are; what is their share of promoted
posts; what type of content generates the best results
for them, etc.) to optimize your own performance
11

12. In today’s social media landscape, every marketer needs to understand their performance in a
competitive context. It is crucial to optimize your performance and continually improve it over time.
Socialbakers Suite gives marketers the competitive insights they need to create the most effective and
thorough social media strategy possible – from content creation and execution to analysis and
optimization.
It is also essential to report to your stakeholders and management about the results of your social
media success. With a tool like Socialbakers Suite, everything you need to succeed is in your hands.
Conclusion