Marketing Communication During the Eid Holidays: 5 Tips

As the most significant religious events in the year for Muslims around the world, Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha have become increasingly, and commercially, important to brands and businesses looking to connect with Muslim consumers. If you plan to boost your sales or your image with corporate communication through Eid marketing, PR campaigns and social media content in the lead up to or during the Eid Holidays, it is vitally important that you do so respectfully, and in the right way.

The Holy month of Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha holidays are sacred to Muslims and revolve around devotion, community, culture, traditions, family, gift-giving and charity. When planning your Eid marketing and PR & communications campaigns, it is important that you understand, respect and reflect this in your messaging, especially in the Middle East.

Let’s break it down for you with some essential tips for corporate communication during the Eid holidays.

1. Respect the culture
In the words of soul singer Aretha Franklin, “R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me”, you need to do your research to create informed and respectful content during these sacred holidays. Islam is a religion deeply rooted in tradition, and the Eid Holidays carry a necessity to be highly culturally sensitive to customs and beliefs in any messaging, internal or external. Appearing insensitive or ignorant in your Eid marketing content or visuals can be detrimental to your business.

2. Seasonal Greetings
Eid holidays are the perfect opportunity to send greetings to your Muslim business connections, employees and media to strengthen your relations. “Eid Mubarak” is a customary celebratory greeting. It translates to “blessed festival” and can be used during both Eid holidays and in all your marketing communication, corporate communication and social media messages. For visuals, you should consider including the iconic symbols of the crescent moon and star.

3. Timing of your Eid Marketing
As with Ramadan, the Eid Holidays follow the Islamic Lunar Calendar and fall on different dates each year. Three to four weeks before Eid al-Fitr or Eid Al Adha is the best time to get your Eid marketing and PR campaigns out. This is when Muslims prepare for their travels, buy foods, clothes and gifts for their family members, and there is a noticeable increased rate of consumerism across different industries within the Muslim world.

4. Going Mobile
Since the Eid holidays mean time away from work and quality time with family and friends, desktop usage decreases, while mobile usage increases. Factor in that smartphone penetration in the Middle East is extremely high, and you should absolutely include social media posts in your Eid marketing and communications.

5. Consumerism during Eid holidays
During both Eid Holidays, certain product categories tend to perform remarkably well: food and halal-products, airlines, tourism and hospitality, online retailers, clothes, jewellery, watches and electronics. No matter what product or service you are marketing, you should consider creating special incentives or deals for the Eid periods. Also, as charity is an important part of the Eid holidays, Muslim shoppers are partial to making feel-good purchases. Consequently, you could include charitable activities in your marketing communication by donating a percentage of sales to charity.

In conclusion, with the right awareness and understanding and carefully considered communication, the Eid holidays can provide rewarding business opportunities. If you need help, In2 Consulting is here for you with our decade-long experience in PR and communications in the Middle East.

By Cristina Kristensen, Director of Communications