Introduction
The digital age has revolutionized business by transforming marketing strategies and approaches. Thanks to the rapid advancements in mobile technology, computer applications, and the internet, enterprises can execute most of their functions electronically. The tourism industry can leverage social media platforms for branding, advertising, and targeting diverse market segments.
Interestingly, the tourism industry accounts for 5% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) and employs up to 8% of the world population (Abuhjeeleh, 2019). The “Saudi Vision 2030” has provided special interest in promoting the state of tourism and entertainment (Sahahiri et al., 2019). Therefore, the kingdom can benefit from adopting and executing an effective social media marketing (SMM) strategy. Although many businesses adopt SMM, its effectiveness depends on listening to and observing the market before setting goals and creating an effective strategy.
Listening and Observing the Saudi Tourism Market
Listening to the preferences of tourists and observing visitor trends in the country is essential for understanding the market and setting goals for SMM. Observation of the number of people visiting Saudi Arabia for luxury purposes indicates that in 2018, there were 64.7 million visitors, and the expected number for 2023 is 93.3 million (Verma, 2021). Marketing strategists should try to segment visitors based on their age, gender, and whether they are local or international.
The rationale is to target social marketing to the right customer segment. For example, Snapchat is considered the most intimate and casual platform, mostly preferred by young consumers (Dwivedi et al., 2021). Therefore, it should be used when targeting the youth, as it may not be effective for the older generation. If the target is to reach business tourists, then Twitter, now called X, is the best platform as it is considered the most informative and relatively official.
Furthermore, it is vital to consistently listen to the demands and expectations of tourists and strive to meet their expectations to gain a competitive edge over rivals. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is firmly rooted in the Islamic religion and Sharia law, which influences the attitude of visitors in a positive or aversive way, depending on their values (Bahurmuz & Al-Kubaisy, 2022). The country may need to adjust some of its policies to meet the demands of international tourists. For instance, in September 2019, the country relaxed the strict dress code for female visitors (Verma, 2021).
The change is intended to promote visits from people in Western countries who are used to modern fashions. Moreover, within the same month, the Kingdom launched tourism visas that could be obtained online or upon arrival for a fee of SR 440 for individuals from approximately 50 countries (Debusmann, 2019). The move illustrates how the Saudis are listening to the requests and demands of foreign tourists and making the relevant changes.
Findings on the Saudi Tourism Social Media Platform
The Saudi tourism industry is already utilizing multiple social media platforms in an endeavor to reach a broader market, both locally and internationally. A good example is the establishment of the Jeddah website, which uses the power of a geographic information system (GIS) to navigate all the historical heritage in Jeddah (Sahahiri et al., 2019). Websites provide a reliable source of information where anyone with the intention of visiting the kingdom can get a glimpse of the sites, charges, and travel recommendations.
The only challenge is that there are many organizations in the tourism sector, each with its own website. Therefore, the marketing strategist utilizes social media platforms, including email marketing, blogging, forum posting, and search engine optimization, to ensure that potential clients can easily access the website (Sahahiri et al., 2019). Having many platforms for marketing increases the chances of reaching a broader and more diverse audience.
Best Avenues for Listening and Observing the Market
One of the best ways to observe the market is by utilizing secondary sources, which provide detailed information and statistics on tourism in Saudi Arabia. One researcher acknowledged that he gained considerable information on the efforts made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by reading literature, including government publications and newspapers (Abuhjeeleh, 2019). Moreover, the strategist can observe marketing trends by reviewing the records and suggestion boxes maintained by various tourism attraction sites. The reviews on websites and social media platforms provide an excellent way of listening to clients’ experiences. Moreover, it is helpful to conduct formal empirical research, such as a survey, where potential clients provide direct responses to matters concerning tourism developments before launching a social media campaign.
Goals of Saudi Social Media Advertisement
Valid metrics frameworks are a set of tables that provide organizations with a process for measuring the effectiveness of marketing and public relations programs. They help ensure that the tourism sector’s development strategy is convenient, practical, and logical. Each type of campaign should have specific metrics for the organization. Notably, social marketing entails a range of promotional activities to attract and engage potential tourists (Elzanaty, 2023). Within the context of Saudi Arabia, SMM can be used to expand reach, build brand awareness, and target segmented groups.
The goal of expanding the tourism customer base, both locally and internationally, requires metrics that measure the effectiveness of efforts in disseminating messages. The metrics used include the lead-to-customer conversion rate, click-through rate, and cost per lead. Therefore, a more refined goal is to increase the number of leads that click the advertised links and become actual tourists by 20% and 10% by 2024, respectively—the metrics for building brand awareness and having positive reviews for Saudi tourism. Thus, the goal can be to increase the mean of customer reviews from four to five stars by 2030.
Relation to the Saudi Vision 2030 and Tourism Development
The SMM campaign is one of the most effective strategies for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. One target for Vision 2030 is to develop and promote tourism of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage sites, such as Jeddah (Sahahiri et al., 2019). Achieving the social media marketing goals will ensure an increase in the number of tourists visiting the region. Moreover, as many people visit the region and have a positive experience, they can give positive reviews on social media platforms, leading to a strong tourism brand. The kingdom will be able to achieve its vision of making tourism a primary source of income and employment.
Conclusion
Social media platforms are essential for marketing tourism sites to potential clients. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia boasts a rich heritage recognized by UNESCO, which lends it great potential for attracting a diverse audience. Moreover, given the digital developments and internet penetration, social media can be instrumental in establishing a strong brand.
Ensuring that the right platform is used to target a particular segment is vital. Listening and observing the market is vital in understanding and meeting the expectations of tourists. Moreover, when setting goals, it is essential to ensure that there are metrics in place to test their viability. Thus, only through informed and strategic SMM will the Saudi tourism sector realize its vision.
References
Abuhjeeleh, M. (2019). Rethinking tourism in Saudi Arabia: Royal vision 2030 perspective. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 8(5), 1-16.
Bahurmuz, L. A., & Al-Kubaisy, Z. M. (2022). Role of social media marketing in the development of users’ attitudes towards tourism in Saudi Arabia. 2022 9th International Conference on Computing for Sustainable Global Development (INDIACom).
Debusmann, B. (2019). Saudi Arabia takes to social media to promote attractions. hoteliermiddleeast.com.
Dwivedi, Y. K., Ismagilova, E., Hughes, D. L., Carlson, J., Filieri, R., Jacobson, J., Jain, V., Karjaluoto, H., Kefi, H., Krishen, A. S., Kumar, V., Rahman, M. M., Raman, R., Rauschnabel, P. A., Rowley, J., Salo, J., Tran, G. A., & Wang, Y. (2021). Setting the future of digital and social media marketing research: Perspectives and research propositions. International Journal of Information Management, 59(21), 1-37.
Elzanaty, E. (2023). Revolutionizing tourism in Saudi Arabia: The power of digital marketing. LinkedIn.
Sahahiri, R., Arrowsmith, C., & Alitany, A. A. (2019). Mapping the historical places: A case study of promoting tourism in Jeddah, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 6(1), 1-11.
Verma, J. (2021). 5 ways visit Saudi is using social media in its tourism-revival marketing plan. SocialSamosa.