Marketing Ideas to Connect with Your Audience During Ramadan: Insights from GMG (Paras Rishi, Senior Manager Marketing)

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Editor’s Note: Continuing with our special edition of Ramadan Bytes, where marketers from known brands in the region share their thoughts on Ramadan 2023 and the changes they expect, we spoke to Mr. Paras Rishi, Senior Manager Marketing at GMG, about the trends during Ramadan and what brands can do to connect with their customers.

Please share a brief about your background and your role at GMG.

I’m currently the Senior Manager Marketing at GMG. I am an omnichannel marketing professional passionate about technology-driven growth. I currently lead all things marketing for GMG’s E-commerce business side, where I’m responsible for digital marketing, affiliate marketing, SEO demand generation, and so on. 

Prior to joining GMG, I held various marketing roles at companies like Flipkart and Myntra.

Ramadan is a special period for customers and marketers alike. However, in the last couple of years, there has been a shift in the trends. How do you see this Ramadan period playing out in terms of customer interaction this year vs. the last year?

Ramadan is a special month that infuses a lot of excitement for many retail brands. While things are back in full flow and customers are stepping out, E-commerce demand has also remained strong. In fact, despite all pessimistic views, online shopping has witnessed consistent growth.

As the holy period inches closer, retailers are building the right assortment and inventory with E-commerce supply chain capabilities being ramped up. As a retailer, we are expecting strong demand in numbers this season, and this probably will be the case across the industry in the Middle East region.

In your opinion, what are some kinds of campaigns that brands are planning to run this year?

As a consumer, I am usually intrigued by a lot of FMCG brand campaigns, with food being the strongest category as it resonated with Ramadan. This is certainly followed by other verticals like automobile, travel, and E-commerce.

On the other hand, as a marketer, I am observing some new trends, like how automation and AI intervention is playing a crucial role. It would also be interesting to see how marketers rely on new-age campaign formats like Meta advantage plus and Google’s performance campaigns.

Personally, I think these campaigns are going to positively impact the industry, and many retailers and omnichannel brands plan to follow this trend.

Additionally, it is also important for the consumer-tech industry to have sustainable growth on the back of strong margins – meaning – E-commerce brands will have to move away from deep discounting to ensure that the industry remains in a healthy state.

Data has been coined as the new oil, and brands are leveraging data to derive insights and enhance customer engagement. What are some data points that you look towards while drawing up a campaign?

Consumer behavior around Ramadan is complex. The insights for categories like grocery, beauty, travel, and fashion vary from one another. One insight for the fashion E-commerce category that is evident is that there is an uptick in revenue starting two weeks before the Ramadan month, and this continues until the Eid holidays. However, the biggest peak, as per the industry data in recent years, is in the latter half of Ramadan. It is very much similar to the 11/11 Singles Day spike that we witness during November. 

What is the role of a customer engagement platform during such a period?

An engagement platform enables a high level of segmentation and personalization, which is vital for improving conversions across channels. 

We have been using MoEngage, amongst other tools, to successfully achieve our business goals. 

However, regardless of the martech stack or an engagement platform, it is imperative for brands to have a robust strategy in terms of marketing tools, especially during Ramadan, where the consumer spike is much higher than usual.

Ultimately, a robust strategy will enable you to deliver goodness for an extended period of time.

What are some strategies brands should develop to ensure that there is not a major drop in engagement metrics post the holiday season?

After a long period of excessive marketing, deals, and high consumer intent, there is an expected drop in platform metrics across the industry. 

During a festive time, consumers are exposed to so much marketing that there tends to be shopping fatigue in the end.

But, in the case of Ramadan, it offers brands an opportunity to deliver a baseline shift in business as usual (BAU) numbers.

However, if your brand does not see that baseline growth post-Ramadan, it may be a good time to deep-dive into your customer accusation strategy and also CLTV metrics across marketing channels.

Also, if your baseline numbers are not more than the pre-Ramadan levels, then you have not acquired the right kind of customers that you should have been focusing on.

Thank you so much, Paras, for chatting with us and sharing your thoughts on how brands can engage with customers during such a special time.

Readers, you can connect with Paras for more tips and advice on customer engagement during Ramadan and also watch out for his upcoming podcast on Ramadan Shopping Festival.

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