A few days ago, a business owner complained that his online presence was costing considerable sums of riyals with minimal results. After reviewing his approach, I identified multiple serious mistakes that are extremely typical among Saudi businesses.
Last week, a eatery manager in Riyadh expressed frustration that his business wasn't visible in Google results despite being well-reviewed by customers. This is a frequent problem I observe with regional companies across the Kingdom.
Successful methods:
- Implementing Saudi financial services like local services
- Upgrading local details
- Showcasing regional support availability
- Including confidence builders tailored for Saudi customers
Initiate by mapping ALL your rivals – not just the well-known ones. During our research, we found that our largest competitor wasn't the well-known company we were tracking, but a emerging company with an innovative approach.
For a doctor's office in Jeddah, we increased their local visibility by nearly one hundred percent by confirming their company details was perfectly consistent in both Arabic and English on all directories.
Not long ago, my family-owned business was struggling to reach new customers. Our website was completely hidden in Google listings. That's when I made the decision to try expert search ranking services Jeddah engine optimization.
Essential adjustments:
- Commitment period adjustments for Saudi customers
- Word-of-mouth impact weighting amplifications
- Occasional buying patterns acknowledgment
- Status-driven purchases evaluation
Last quarter, a store group invested over 200,000 SAR in standard promotion with disappointing outcomes. After transitioning just 30% of that budget to mobile marketing, they experienced a three hundred twenty-eight percent increase in foot traffic.
For a apparel brand, we executed a detailed medium performance analysis that discovered their highest ROI channels were totally separate from their worldwide patterns. This insight allowed a reallocation of budget that improved their overall ROI by 213%.
Remarkable results:
- Ephemeral platforms exceeding Instagram for certain products
- Late marketing substantially surpassing afternoon efforts
- Motion media producing higher ROI than still visuals
- Mobile efficiency exceeding computer by significant margins
Six months into our launch, our sales were underwhelming. It wasn't until I accidentally a detailed analysis about our industry that I understood how oblivious I'd been to the business environment around us.
I currently utilize several tools that have significantly improved our market intelligence:
- SEO tools to analyze other companies' search rankings
- Social listening tools to track competitors' social activity
- Digital tracking tools to observe modifications to their digital properties
- Newsletter subscription to obtain their campaigns
When I started my e-commerce business three years ago, I was sure that our special products would be enough. I ignored competitor analysis as unnecessary – a mistake that practically cost my entire company.
For a high-end retailer, we created a regionally-appropriate attribution approach that acknowledged the distinctive buying journey in the Kingdom. This technique uncovered that their network investments were actually delivering 286% more results than formerly calculated.
I dedicate at least two hours each week reviewing our competitors':
- Digital organization and user experience
- Articles and content calendar
- Online platforms engagement
- Customer reviews and evaluations
- Search approach and rankings
A few months ago, a retail client consulted me after spending over 500,000 SAR on online advertising with limited outcomes. After restructuring their methodology, we achieved a dramatic increase in value generated.
Not long ago, I observed as three competitors spent significantly into growing their presence on a certain social media platform. Their initiatives were unsuccessful as the medium turned out to be a poor fit for our sector.
I advise classifying competitors as:
- Direct competitors (offering very similar products/services)
- Secondary competitors (with limited resemblance)
- Emerging challengers (new businesses with game-changing models)
Key considerations:
- Protracted consideration phases in Saudi buying paths
- Family influence factors in conversion actions
- WhatsApp as a major but difficult-to-track influence channel
- Physical verification as the last buying stage
I use a simple spreadsheet to track our rivals' rates adjustments weekly. This recently enabled us to:
- Identify seasonal discount patterns
- Recognize product bundling strategies
- Comprehend their cost structure