No matter what business you have, almost all of your target audience is on different social media platforms. 

You need to reach them and communicate your brand message effectively to make them interested in your products or services and boost your sales.

There are two ways to create, implement, and manage your social media campaign – with an in-house team and outsourcing it to an external agency. Both options have their own benefits and disadvantages. 

Since Dubai is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, you will find numerous social media agencies all claiming they are the best of the best.

In this situation, how do you make sure that you have found the right option?

We are here to help. Today, we will share some tips to hire the best social media agency in Dubai.

Some Stats About the UAE’s Social Media Users

Before we talk about teaming up with an agency, let us see some interesting facts about how the residents use different social media channels.

While the UAE has an estimated over 10 million population, almost 99% of them are internet users while the number of social media users is close to 12 million.

Also, UAE residents spend close to three hours every day on different social platforms. Compared to global users, this is a good sign for you to market your products or services since this indicates they spend a good portion of their time online. 

What’s more, TikTok and WhatsApp are the most used platforms in the UAE, followed by Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter. 

You might be thinking, what do the locals spend their time on? 

This chart gives you the answer. 

Around 52% of the users are there to keep in touch with their family and friends while 36% use it to spare time.

Many users prefer watching sports, doing research, or reading news. Around 30% use their social profiles to find and buy products. 

Overall, as a business entity eager to tap into this fast-growing market, these stats give you the confidence that there is no lack of prospects to reach out. 

7 Tips to Hire the Best Social Media Agency in Dubai

1. Make Sure the Agency Is Not an Outsourcer

Setting up and training a team of in-house social media marketing team is time-consuming and cumbersome. That’s why you are outsourcing the project to an external agency.

The best part is that these dedicated agencies have enough resources and tools to help achieve your goal. In other words, they are specialized in this type of service.

However, the problem is many of these agencies, especially the small and mid-sized firms often assign full or some parts of their client projects to other agencies when they cannot manage those tasks themselves. 

Of course, they won’t inform you about this. But this will be obvious when you see your campaign is not generating any real results and there is a discrepancy between what was planned and what has been implemented. 

We recommend that you hire a large social media agency because they will have a large team in their arsenal and the possibility of your project being assigned to another agency or freelancers will be to a minimum.

It is true such big and renowned firms might charge you higher than their smaller counterparts, but the value you will get in the long run will make up for that. 

2. Look for Specific Skills That Your Goal Requires

Different social platforms have different marketing strategies, and their algorithms are constantly changing to keep up with the ever-changing user behaviors, content trends, monetization options, and more. 

One agency might be specialized in Instagram marketing while another could have a good portfolio in Facebook marketing. If you think most of your prospects and leads are using Instagram, you might naturally want to hire the former. 

When you have singled out a handful of the top choices and shared what you want to achieve, you will know which firm can cater to your needs better. Before that, you should create a list of questions to ask every agency, which we will share later. 

However, before that, you have to identify exactly what you want to achieve from your investment. This could be increasing audience engagement, generating more leads, or gaining more exposure.

3. Consider Their Local Market Knowledge

Most parts of the UAE, especially Dubai have a diverse population. Expats constitute around 88.50% of the total population, while Emiratis make up approximately 11.50%.

You should use both Arabic and English so that your content reaches people from all corners of the world. 

Influencer marketing has gained popularity in recent years in the UAE. Local influencers are flaunting Dubai’’s lavish lifestyle that millions of people enjoy on a regular basis.

The social media marketing agency you hire should keep in mind these factors when creating a strategy for your business. They should know which type of content is the most appealing to a specific type of user based on their country of origin, cultural background, social status, and many other factors. 

The strategy is what matters most. You do not need previous experience to identify a really good plan. The moment you go through a list of strategies crafted by a handful of companies picked by you, you will know who is bringing more to the table to help you stay ahead of the competition. 

4. Check to See if They Follow the Latest Trends

Most social media users are young and they do not like the same thing for long, whether it is the topic, presentation style, or something else. 

Based on experience, we know that you have to be highly creative if you want to gain a large and loyal following. 

Two individuals may have the same content idea to present to their target audience, but one might succeed while the other will fail depending on how innovative, engaging, and informative their content is.

Recently, AI has taken over the world, and its impact can be seen in how content is made on different social sites. 

When you are consulting your agency, make sure their approaches incorporate the latest trends in the UAE’s social media industry.

5. Read Client Feedback

You will find rave reviews on the websites of every social media agency. But the problem is, you do not know if they are real reviews or made up by the company itself.

We always recommend that you try to get in touch with a few of their previous clients and make sure that they are not bluffing. 

If the clients can not be contacted easily or are not responsive at all, something might be fishy. In that case, you should ignore that agency.

After all, you are investing money and your brand’s reputation and success are at stake here. You do not want to take any chance unless you are 100% sure that the company you are hiring lives up to its claims.

There are also business directories like Clutch.co where you will find a list of the top social media marketing agencies in Dubai. Other business review websites like Trustpilot can also be of great help.

With some research, these sources will help you come to the conclusion if a particular company is legit or not. 

6. See How Communicative They Are

In business, communication is key. As a client, you deserve a dedicated project manager as your single point of contact who will be submitting their proposals, implementing the plan, and updating you on the performance of the campaign regularly. 

During your consultation, if you feel that the representative is not professional, r hey are finding it hard to grasp your idea,  or simply something is off, look for another agency. 

A highly experienced social media marketing agency will get it before you even go to the details because they must have worked on similar projects before. 

Another important thing is that the best agencies do not do it all on their own. They make you a direct part of the process and regularly take your feedback to refine the strategy along the way.

In other words, you become an active team member of the campaign where everything unfolds right in front of your eyes. As a result, you do not stay in the dark wondering about the progress. 

Starting from defining your goals to setting your budget to creating, executing, and monitoring the campaign, you will be guided as a partner so yu can stay worry-free about the whole thing. 

7. Assess Their Content Creation Capabilities

To make your content highly innovative and engaging, the agency has to create top-notch graphics, illustrations, long and short videos, infographics, and more. They should have the resources available to generate different forms of content whenever required. 

They should also know how to tailor content to different social sites. For instance, you will need creative, quick, and trend-based video content for TikTok; professional, informative, and authoritative content for LinkedIn; and polished images, reels, and graphics for Instagram and Pinterest.

When checking their portfolio and case studies, do not forget to consider this factor because it matters to differentiate yourself from the competition. The ideal agency should have dedicated SEO, content, graphic design, and video editing teams to fulfill your needs. 

Questions to ask a social media marketing agency in the UAE

The unique blend of local and international businesses, high-end luxury markets, and its vibrant online audience makes social media a powerful tool for your business, but only if you can use it effectively.

Asking the right questions is part of it. To help you with that, we compiled a list of key questions that you should ask:

• What is your experience in the UAE’s local market?
• What industries do you specialize in?
• Can you provide examples of brands you have worked with in Dubai?
• Can you showcase specific campaigns from businesses in my industry?
• Can you provide case studies or results of past campaigns?
• How do you approach content creation and strategy?
• How do you ensure that campaigns are compliant with UAE’s National Media Council (NMC) guidelines?
• What is your process for managing paid social campaigns?
• How do you optimize ads for maximum ROI? How do you select your audience segments?
• How do you handle influencer marketing in Dubai?
• How do you approach multi-channel strategies?
• How will you adapt the strategy if my campaign is not performing well?
• What is your pricing structure?
• What results should we expect, and how long will it take to see them?
• What is your team structure and who will handle our account?
• How often will you provide reports, and what metrics will they include (e.g. reach, engagement, conversions)?
• What key performance indicators (KPIs) do you prioritize when measuring campaign success?

Based on this, you can create a shortlist and keep it with you when consulting with your preferred agencies. 

How Much Does a Social Media Agency Charge in Dubai?

As usual, quality comes at a price. Since the best agencies house diverse and skilled professionals complemented with cutting-edge tools and resources, they charge more than smaller agencies.

Naturally, this price range depends on the scope and scale of your requirements. Whether you want to run a one-time project or a continuous one should also be faceted in.

In general, for basic SMM campaigns that involve strategy and analytics, profile creation and management, and content generation, you may have to pay anywhere between AED 5000 to AED 20,000 for a one-time campaign lasting for six months.

In the case of campaigns that require more, such as online reputation management and running targeted ad campaigns, the budget will be much higher e.g. from AED 10,000 to AED 50,000.

Final Thoughts

There is no single best social media agency in the UAE. What works well for one company won’t be the right fit for another since each business has its unique goals, needs, and target audiences.

If this is your first time launching a social media marketing campaign, you may be confused about the whole process. When you discuss with different companies, they all will assure you that you will get the best services. But that promise will do you no good if you see your social followers did not grow by the end of the campaign. 

As one of the top digital marketing agencies in the UAE, we can develop a tailored strategy to boost your brand visibility and create different types of engaging content that touches the heart of your audience.

Our proven track record speaks volumes about our competence in the UAE’s digital marketing sector.

Feel free to book a call and talk to one of our social media marketing specialists.