Introduction
In the twenty-first century, digital marketing has emerged as the most important medium for marketing and building a company’s brand. This has created a slew of opportunities for both small businesses and large corporations. In the United Arab Emirates, the digital industry is a rapidly expanding industry. According to IWS, internet users in the United Arab Emirates account for 98.4 percent of the population (Haneef and Ansari, 2019). In the United Arab Emirates, internet users have increased significantly in the last ten years. Dubai is a renowned business hub and has recently been rated among the top destinations for medical tourism.
As the COVID-19 pandemic hit many sectors globally, digital marketing in Dubai also experienced a dynamic shift. With the unrestricted trade between countries facilitated by WTO policies, Dubai has become a center of trade, health care, exhibitions, and conferences. According to Aburumman (2020), at the end of 2019, the tourist industry in Dubai contributed 11.5 percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Modern-day meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) promote economic development by encouraging the judicious use of historical and heritage leisure resources. During the first quarter of 2019, well over 2.3 million people listed business as their primary reason for visiting Dubai, representing a 2% rise over the same period in 2018 (Aburumman, 2020). The Dubai MICE industry was, therefore, among the world’s top performers before the outbreak of the COVID-19 disease. This essay examines digital marketing trends in Dubai during the pandemic by reviewing two peer-reviewed articles.
Theories and the impact of Technology on Digital Marketing in Dubai
Technology has played a key role in facilitating digital marketing strategies across the globe. With the exponential growth in E-commerce, many countries have sought ways of combining technological solutions, culture, and innovation in various forums. The seven Ps of marketing theory is one of the major theories that have influenced Dubai’s markets. This theory outlines the seven factors: product, place, process, price, people, physical evidence, and promotion. Aburumman (2020) reports that the pandemic was a test of the resilience of Dubai’s fast-expanding digital markets. The pandemic affected the products’ physical evidence and inhibited personal contact in addition to limiting promotion mechanisms. On the same note, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory became evident, whereby people limited their spending to only basic needs and those that ensured their safety (Duygun and Şen, 2020). With these changes, technology played a central role in sustaining Dubai’s markets.
Dubai Expo is one of the renowned avenues that reveal how technology impacts digital marketing. Research conducted by Haneef and Ansari (2019) on Dubai Expo 2020 unraveled the various digital marketing strategies employed in Dubai and the impacts of COVID-19 on marketing trends in the country. While the pandemic crippled business interactions in many ways, the Dubai Expo provides a clear picture of the on-the-ground effects and a benchmark for future interventions. Although physical gatherings were limited by the pandemic, Dubai Expo 2020 marked a crucial event that not only reignited the spirit of technology and innovation but also served as a motivation for businesses to capitalize on digitization.
Media and Marketing Frameworks in Dubai
Although Dubai has been one of the most famous business hubs, the pandemic altered digital marketing strategies and introduced new media and marketing frameworks trends in the country. According to Aburumman’s (2020) research, Dubai has perfected the art of online marketing, employing a variety of techniques. Given that almost every individual in Dubai has a smartphone, they access many social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and LinkedIn. UAE has enhanced SEO among its most intelligent initiatives, skillfully matching a term to a firm and drawing the target market to the business, resulting in increased sales for your organization (Haneef and Ansari, 2019). In today’s world, social media marketing is more than just publishing a photo with a caption and thinking you’re done with it. Among the many forms of the social media marketing that Dubai employed during the pandemic were videos and data, email campaigns, and infographics (Aburumman, 2020). Dubai has continued to expand its digital marketing strategies to date.
Since social media is the major platform for digital marketing, Dubai’s culture has been instrumental in shaping industry trends. Owing to their rich cultural diversity, they develop creative ideas daily. The breadth of their digital marketing activities is expanding daily as they develop new methods of doing so. Their video material, for instance, is about more than just the brand and product, but also a video lacking audio explaining the idea of the brand that attracts one to discover more about it. In addition, Dubai is one of the few countries that specializes in PPC or pay-per-click advertising (Haneef and Ansari, 2019). A large number of advertisements and sponsorships appear when users visit a website. Advertisers obtain the desired customer base by obtaining the necessary information, such as the audience’s age, language preferences, and interests. Experts in this industry can be found in Dubai who monitor keywords, divide ad groups, report, reach tallies, and visuals.
Digital Revenue Models and their Impacts
As with physical transactions, digital business operations entail revenue models for income generation. The main business models in Dubai are business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C). The choice of either model is guided by a company’s marketing strategies, resources, and intended audience. In Dubai’s digital market, B2B and B2C business models are governed by five main revenue models; sales revenue model, subscription revenue model, advertising revenue model, affiliate revenue model, and transaction fee revenue model.
Although companies may apply B2C and B2B models simultaneously, the benefits and challenges associated with each vary depending on the situations at hand. Haneef and Ansari (2019) note that many companies operate on a B2C basis and leverage on sales and subscription revenue models. Affiliate and transaction fee revenue models are the main channels through which B2C business models operate. Although B2C digital operations have dominated Dubai’s markets, there has been significant growth in affiliate companies. With such rapid growth, newer companies can take advantage of the already-established digital market and increase their digital presence.
Key Research Questions Addressed
The two research articles reviewed in this paper focus on different aspects of digital marketing and are based on different research questions. Aburumman’s (2020) article focuses on Dubai’s MICE industry and seeks to address three main research points. First, it majors on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Dubai and UAE digital markets. Second, the author evaluates the pointers of economic efficiency applicable to the assessment of UAE MICE companies. Lastly, Aburumman (2020) offers recommendations on the best strategies through which companies can survive and excel in the global environment. Through the above three questions, the author comprehensively handles the past, present, and future of MICE industries in the UAE with a view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Expos have been used as avenues for information sharing and technological and economic development. Haneef and Ansari (2019) dedicated their research to investigating marketing strategies in expos during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular focus on Dubai. The authors sought to answer the question of the types and phases of digital marketing strategies in Dubai. They also looked into the main digital communication channels used by Dubai’s tour operators. These research queries were aimed at showing how mega-events have been affected by the global pandemic and the digital marketing trends that emerged in response to the disruption witnessed.
The Methodologies Applied
The choice of a research methodology depends on the type of data required and the subsequent volume of information expected. Aburumman (2020) needed both numerical and descriptive data in the study on Dubai’s MICE industry. For the objective of determining the implications of COVID-19 on both the global and the Dubai MICE markets, quantitative and descriptive-analytic methodologies were utilized to examine the information collected (Aburumman, 2020). It was proposed in this study to combine the DuPont analytical framework with the gross margin from sales indicator to assess the viability of MICE enterprises.
The net income from the transaction can be used to measure the effectiveness of the transportation service charges on the firm’s profitability, thereby strengthening the outcome of the economic investigation. The study used a quantitative method to collect information on the attractiveness of the MICE sector and the perception of customers (Aburumman, 2020). According to the authors, the use of this strategy would allow managers to plan on business recuperation and productivity initiatives in a more timely and efficient manner. Production function models were used to express the relationship between the number of service offerings and the variables that impact the MICE business.
Expos are global tourism avenues that need to be improved for the long-term sustainability of digital marketing and worldwide tourism and hospitality. In their research on Dubai Expo 2020, Haneef and Ansari (2019) sought to obtain first-hand information from the expo’s attendees and facilitators. To collect data, a series of short and unstructured questionnaires with open-ended queries were administered over a two-week period as a step in the research methodology (Haneef and Ansari, 2019). The interviews entailed a strong team of Dubai Expo 2020 executives from the sales management and technology departments. The information was recorded to be retrieved and analyzed later. An additional poll was done over a five-week span with 150 tourism enterprises (Haneef and Ansari, 2019). This resulted in a complete sample of data on the most effective marketing tactics for the promotion of tourism products and services.
A Reflection on the Results
The research provided sufficient data for making valid conclusions on Dubai’s digital marketing strategies and trends witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic. As would be expected, Aburumman (2020) found that the pandemic significantly reduced global tourism participation. His results showed that flights and tourism declined by a total of 69 percent by May 2020 (Aburumman, 2020). Reflecting on these values, it is apparent that as COVID-19 restrictions were enforced, many people found it challenging to visit new locations, adding to the fact that their hierarchy of needs changed considerably. Pre-pandemic data-driven computational results revealed that the long-term viability of the MICE sector is possibly stable and is not affected by investments made after the outbreak (Aburumman, 2020). From these results, it can be deduced that with the introduction of a new tourism services, the rate of interest will decline. A queuing model in collaboration with Kotler’s marketing mix would provide the framework and strategy needed to optimize performance in the MICE sector.
The marketing methods employed for Dubai Expo 2020 have proved to be visually appealing, diverse, efficient, and fast. In Haneef and Ansari’s (2019) study, social media communication was cited as a leader in digital marketing strategies. Investors and business agencies in Dubai, as well as officials from Expo 2020, have all indicated that online marketing tops the list of effective means of communication for commercial purposes (Haneef and Ansari, 2019). When it comes to travel agencies and tour operators, social media marketing channels, particularly Facebook, have the highest level of recognition in terms of utilization (Haneef and Ansari, 2019). Reflecting on these results, there is a requirement for the development of an online marketing approach that will allow for the creation of more personalized marketing strategies. To increase participation in Dubai’s Expos, it would be important to tailor the marketing strategies to reach each potential participant individually. Although Dubai Expo 2020 was largely successful, the trends change daily, and so should the strategies employed.
Implications of the Findings
The MICE industry is becoming more popular as business operations resume. Aburumman’s (2020) article provides valuable information on which hoteliers and organizers in the MICE sector can leverage for optimum returns. To tackle the COVID-related problem and boost the competitiveness of the MICE business, travel agencies, MICE-related enterprises, and researchers can apply unique firm and market information to build solutions to counter the issue. The pre-pandemic information included in this study was limited due to a scarcity of valid post-pandemic data (Aburumman, 2020). With the availability of real-world data, more precise calculations can be done, and theoretical studies may be validated. Accordingly, there are sufficient chances for additional research to apply the current study’s findings to specific post-pandemic MICE market situations.
The research done on Dubai Expo 202 has implications both locally and globally. From the data presented by Haneef and Ansari (2019), it can be concluded that Dubai is being prepared to become a world-class location for sizable conferences and conventions. The country is endowed with the potential to compete with Las Vegas as a meeting, incentive, convention, and exposition destination. Furthermore, Dubai will be able to establish itself as a preferred venue for a diverse range of events that will attract participants from around the world (Haneef and Ansari, 2019). Based on the findings of this study, it is logical to argue that there is a requirement to reconsider and reinvent marketing methods. This can be accomplished by tailoring marketing strategies to the economic structure and customer behavior without forsaking any specific marketing channels.
As other countries see the value of hosting mega business and technology events, they can benefit from Dubai Expo 2020’s extensive research and recommendations set forth. This research on the advertising strategies for the Dubai Expo 2020 is of importance to the business community, government agencies, and other interested parties (Haneef and Ansari, 2019). Other countries staging big events in similar territories may be able to use the study’s findings on marketing tactics as a basis for designing or redesigning their own tourism and marketing plans. Although the research is mainly based on business, innovation, culture, and technology, trends in global medical tourism can be connected to this research.
Conclusion
In the United Arab Emirates, the digital industry is a rapidly expanding industry. As the Covid-19 pandemic hit many sectors globally, digital marketing in Dubai also experienced a dynamic shift. With the unrestricted trade between countries facilitated by WTO policies, Dubai has become a center of trade, health care, exhibitions, and conferences. Modern-day meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) promote economic development by encouraging the judicious use of historical and heritage leisure resources. Kotler’s 7Ps and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are some of the theories evident in Dubai’s digital market in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The research on MICE has shown that as nations industrialize and focus on expanding their global interactions, social media plays a central part in digital communication. Expos are an essential way through which countries can learn from current digital marketing strategies and make provisions for improvements in the future. Focusing on Dubai Expo 2020, it is evident that such mega-events are crucial for a nation’s industrialization goals. As tourism in business and medical fields continues expanding, the research on Dubai’s digital marketing strategies proves invaluable to established and upcoming economic hubs.
Reference List
Aburumman, A. (2020). ‘COVID-19 impact and survival strategy in business tourism market: The example of the UAE MICE industry’, Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 7(1), pp. 1-9.
Duygun, A. and Şen, E. (2020). ‘Evaluation of Consumer Purchasing Behaviors in the COVID-19 Pandemic Period in the Context of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’, PazarlamaTeorisi ve Uygulamaları Dergisi, 6(1), pp.45-68.
Haneef, S. and Ansari, Z. (2019). ‘Marketing strategies of Expo 2020 Dubai: A comprehensive study, Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 11(3), pp.287-297.