Essential Strategies For Ramadan Marketing: Win Hearts and Wallets Through Loyalty Programs

With the delectable flavors of Iftar and the heartfelt serenity of dua;  the world is gearing up for the holy month of Ramadan, filling the air with goodness, warmth, and spiritual renewal. 

It is also the time for brands to gear up for their Ramadan marketing and use their loyalty programs to create Ramadan campaigns that:

-engage their customers

-attract new customers

-re-activate their lapsed customers, and 

-build a deeper emotional connection with them

Did you know that 86% of regional consumers think Ramadan is the ideal time to find the best deals?

An added bonus during this month is that it coincides with the spring break, making it ideal for brands to double down on their activities to add value and create delightful experiences for their customers. 

 Here’s the complete guide to help you make best of your loyalty program during the month of Ramadan. 

Consumer Behavior and Trends During Ramadan

The 4 Phases of Ramadan Celebration

The first step to creating valuable experiences for your loyal customers is to understand how they behave around Ramadan month. Besides the MENA region, Ramadan is a monumental festival in Southeast Asian Countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

 Last year, Singapore experienced the most significant year-over-year sales growth, with a 19% increase in retail transactions, while Malaysia witnessed a 17% rise in year-over-year sales, indicating robust consumer spending during the festive season.

While there might be a slight shift in trends in these different regions, the larger picture of the celebration remains the same.  

Understanding how consumers spend during Ramadan

Customers have a Ramadan shopping budget set aside as the month serves as a time of increased spending, with individuals seeking gifts, food, and services to commemorate the occasion. 

According to a Google study, 56% of people who celebrate Ramadan in Saudi, 64% in UAE, and 74% in Egypt say they’d spend more during the holy month, opening opportunities for brands to increase the wallet share of their customers. In Southeast Asian markets, Singapore and Malaysia are anticipated to experience comparatively restrained growth in consumer expenditure. 

An emotional sentiment that brands need to understand is that people don’t buy things just for themselves during this season but also for others. It can be for their friends and family and even for charity. In 2023, 59% of people spent more on charity during Ramadan compared to 2022. 

Four major shoppers during Ramadan

While brands seek to create valuable experiences through their loyalty programs, value can mean different things to different people. For some value can be associated with price, while for some it can be associated with a greener cause or even convenience. And that is why it is important to categorize your shoppers. There are different kinds of shoppers during the Ramadan month and it would be easier to split them in the above shown categories.

Industries that are high in demand during Ramadan 

While food and beverages did take up 23%+ of the market share last year, Ramadan season is not just limited to the F&B industry. Ramadan is also the time people slot in their travel plans, leading to an increase in online bookings. 

Data Source: Think With Google

In 2023, online bookings were up 16%, just three days before Eid. This indicates a great opportunity for the hospitality and travel industry to level up their marketing during Ramadan.

Cleaning up and decorating the house is common during any festive season, and during Ramadan home decor items see a huge surge in demand. 

Along with this comes the preparation for family gatherings and functions, which leads to an increase in demand for apparel, clothes, and beauty products. Apparel and accessories alone amounted to 30+ % of the sales last year. 

Key Strategies for Leveraging Loyalty Programs

1. Creating Customer Journeys

Brands can leverage the journeys feature in their loyalty program during Ramadan to create dynamic and engaging experiences for their customers. 

Firstly, they can design specific Ramadan-themed journeys for their Ramadan campaigns that guide customers through key moments and activities during the month, such as preparation for iftar, shopping for Eid gifts, or participating in charitable initiatives. 

Additionally, brands can use the journeys feature to facilitate community engagement, encouraging customers to share their Ramadan traditions, recipes, and experiences, nurturing customer loyalty. 

Journeys is one of the highlight features of Capillary’s product suite and one of the most loved ones by our clients.

2. Personalizing Your Communication

Understanding when and where your customers are most active strengthens your communication. In case of Ramadan, customers are active at odd hours, like during the crack of dawn. 

Packaging your communication using hyper-personalization is a clear winner and we at Capillary can guarantee that based on the success we have seen for our clients in the past.  

Our clients also get an AI helper, our very own Aira, to help craft converting messages that adapt its messaging for different customer cohorts and channels. Know more about Aira here. 

You can also reach new customers using relevant ads. With Capillary’s Engage+, brands can create personalized ads with complex segmentation filters, reaching their best customers and scaling their returns through lookalike audiences. 

4. Adding Gamification to Your Loyalty Programs

Believe it or not, Ramadan is a time when people are searching for exciting games. Search trends indicate an increased interest among users in group-oriented games during Ramadan. 

This is the perfect opportunity to consider adding gamification to your loyalty program to engage, delight, and reward your customers. In case you are wondering how to get started on that, here’s our guide on taking the gamification plunge. 

5. Incorporating an Omnichannel Approach

During this festive period, consumers often engage with brands across various touchpoints, including online platforms, social media, physical stores, and mobile apps. By adopting an omnichannel approach, brands can ensure a seamless and consistent experience for customers regardless of the channel they choose to interact with.

6. Engage Customers With Innovative Rewards

During the Ramadan month, brands have a unique opportunity to leverage their loyalty programs to offer exciting and exclusive rewards that resonate with the customers and enhance their overall brand experience. 

One effective strategy is to tailor rewards specifically for Ramadan-related activities and purchases, such as special discounts on iftar essentials, exclusive access to themed events or virtual gatherings, or bonus points for charitable donations made through the loyalty program. 

7. Leverage Data Analytics to Understand And Anticipate Customer 

By diving deep into the data, brands can uncover hidden patterns and trends during the holy month, enabling them to predict customer needs and desires. This means being able to stay one step ahead in offering value that truly resonates with customers. This is where Capillary’s Insights+ shines bright. By tapping into Insights+, brands gain a comprehensive understanding of their customer base, unraveling intricate patterns and preferences that shape purchasing behaviors. 

Conclusion

Ramadan might be a month-long festival, but its impact lasts far beyond, presenting ongoing opportunities for brands to elevate their connection with customers. Reach out to our experts now, and we can help you make your Ramadan marketing a lasting success.

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With a knack for creating engaging content and crafting effective social media campaigns, Anjali wants to make it her mission to leverage the power of content as a strategic marketing tool for businesses. While she is not working, she is either binging movies or writing about them on her blog.