As a marketing mix specialist, What are the best 2016 marketing trends for a tech business in Dubai?

1. Try to be everywhere

2. Manage leads — don’t generate demand

3. Test everything — but don’t over test

4. Seed your community.

5. Establish marketing’s credibility early

6. Don’t forget to train the sales people

7. Invest in the right tools.

Top tips for doing business in the GCC:

1. Be careful when selecting and managing local partners. Gulf Arabs are charming to the core. The idea of signing a strategic partnership or Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which is a regional favourite, with a foreign company is very appealing, and thus several less reputable Gulf-based companies will readily agree to become your local partner without necessarily thinking about your expectations of them and the drive to help and support you sell your products and services. Whilst there are several benefits to working with local partners and it is in fact compulsory in many places, do not rely on being flooded with leads and new orders. Local partners can be difficult to manage and generally high maintenance. The best way to approach a partnership is to look for commercial synergy between the two organizations and intellectual synergy between the people from both parties. How does your business compliment the local partner company and what difference will it make to the local partner to be aligned with your firm? What are the incentives for the local partner to help and support you and are these incentives considered a big deal? Can your would-be local partner really open doors for your and do they have the resources and intent to flex their political muscle (if any), or leverage their contacts and market position to help secure new business for you? Have you clearly defined the roles and responsibilities of both partners and is there a clear buy-in from the senior most management tier in the local partner company? Be sure that the people you will be working from your partner company are like-minded individuals with a clear understanding of their operational roles and responsibilities. Always maintain regular contact with the senior most management team in the local partner company. Keep them up-to-date with progress and inform them of good news as well as bad. If you confronted with bottle-necks, give them an opportunity to remove them. The likelihood is that the news they are getting from the inside is that all is hunky-dory. You must ensure you secure and maintain mindshare with the management at all times. You do not want to be working with middle-managers and other staff who you are finding difficulties in working with. It is in your interest to spend some time establishing a rapport with key contacts and stakeholders both personally and professionally, so that you’re confident the partner is someone you can definitely work with before you sign anything. If a Gulf-based organization comes recommended by a foreign company, lawyer or law firm or somebody you know professionally and trust, that’s a good base to work from.

2. Business and personal friendships are one and the same, and Arabs generally prefer to do business with people they know and like. Small talk is more than just a courtesy; it is a way of finding out whether you would be a suitable business partner. Engage in conversation freely and enthusiastically, and have a few stories in your back pocket to break the ice.

3. Gulf Arabs are exceptionally proud of their language, which is a strong, uniting bond right across the Arab world. Learning at least a few words of Arabic is an easy way to demonstrate that a relationship is personally important to you rather than just another business deal. Your effort will be greatly appreciated.

4. Gulf-based organizations can be many-tiered and difficult to penetrate. If you don’t have a business associate or influential friend who can help you find a way into a prospective customer, consider hiring a professional intermediary with clout to save you time, money and frustration in identifying and reaching the real decision makers you want to target. If you can contact one of your prospect’s existing suppliers/vendors or an individual they have done business with in the past, form a ‘sales taskforce’ in order to clinch a deal and avoid bottlenecks, so much the better. Teaming up with experienced, local business people and firms to close a big deal makes a lot of sense.

5. Decisions can take a long time, probably longer than you’re used to. Don’t be impatient, as this will reflect poorly on your character. Be flexible and prepared to accommodate shifting schedules. In fact, patience is the most valuable virtue you can demonstrate throughout your business and social life living and working in the Gulf. You can learn to demonstrate this most precious quality in the most frustrating of business situations, you will surely reap the rewards.

6. Body language is just as important as the spoken word. Your opposite number may be telling you with a raised eyebrow, reclined posture or tone of voice that it’s time to change tack. Your instinct will usually be enough to guide you provided you’re on the lookout for non-verbal signals.

7. Arabs will often speak in vague terms, generalities, stories and metaphors during negotiations. This is not a calculated effort to irritate you, but rather a method of dialogue that allows for communicating ideas without causing anyone else around the table to lose face. Insulting potential business partners through blunt demands or rejections can be fatal to a deal. Be subtle and always promise to consider requests. Likewise, you’ll need to make double-sure everyone in the room understands exactly what is on the table. Arabs may not ask for clarification for fear of losing face, so it’s up to you to make sure every angle is covered. Nobody will sign a deal they don’t fully understand. I recall a key business presentation I delivered many, many years ago in Saudi Arabia. I came out feeling on top of the world hoping to get a Purchase Order the close of the quarter. This was sometime in February. To my dismay, I discovered that my counterparts were expecting to get back to me by the last quarter! The moral of the story is don’t be fooled by several faces seemingly nodding in agreement with you. Avoid overloading senior Gulf Arabs with information. Keep it short and simple, delivered in bit sized pieces. Take extra care and time to ensure you have been understood.

8. The best way to communicate is always face to face. If this isn’t possible, make a phone call. The written word is considered less personal and less important, and you could find your letters and e-mails go unanswered for some time if you don’t at least follow up by phone. This is certainly the case with email. Some countries, like Saudi Arabia, don’t really do serious business by phone with Westerners, so a personal visit is your only option.

9. Know your host. The GCC countries share a common history and culture, yet there are also many differences in terms of their social outlook and approach to business. Treating all Arabs alike smacks of arrogance, and coming across as arrogant is just about the worst thing a western business person can do in this part of the world. If in doubt, err to the cautious and take your cues from the locals. It is always worthwhile hiring an intermediary to help guide you. Local chambers of commerce in the country you are in or a reputable local law firm can always help you out. The trade office of your homeland embassy will also be a smart port of call.

. If you’re just starting out in the Gulf region, it’s a good idea to put together a few small, quick deals to see which companies are serious about doing business with you. If you want to do business with a particular company and see immense potential for significant business, just hang on before you go and pitch for a mega project. Aim for the low-hanging fruit first. Suggest pilot projects or try and close smaller deals. Once you have established a true meaningful relationship with the client, and have got them to part with some money, you can be more comfortable in spending your time and resources on the more strategic, high-value deals. Remember the story I told above about negotiating a time-consuming deal, only to have it snatched away at the last moment due to favoritism? Working with local partners to grab some ‘low-hanging fruit’ is a great way to get an accurate view of the landscape and enable you to better target your energies in pursuing bigger prizes.

. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by warm hospitality and civilized negotiations. Arabs can drive as hard a bargain as anyone else, so you should be prepared to be tough, yet respectful. A senior dealmaker will often demand concessions from you in order to demonstrate his authority, so be prepared for plenty of give and take even at a late stage in negotiations.

. Saudi Arabia is the Golden Goose, but Saudi is a challenging place to sell your wares and deal making in general. Business visas can be difficult to obtain, issued at the discretion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Saudi Arabia and also local Embassies and Consulates. You may think you have all the paper work in place for a6-month multiple-entry business visa and end up with a or day visas stamped when you open up your passport! Letters of Invitation now come through electronically via the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs web site. Invitations must originate from reputable companies in Saudi Arabia. Officially backed companies tend to face fewer problems getting people into the Kingdom. Once you can get into the Saudi market, the wealth of opportunity is well worth all the jumping through hoops.

If your business plan is solid, you’ve done your homework and you’re prepared to embrace a unique social and business culture, is shaping up to be a great year to take the plunge in the ambitious, rapidly-expanding economic zone that is the GCC.

Retargeting and "following" your costumers across all platforms - PC,Mobile

Fully personalized Email Marketing: Its time has come. technology has made it as feasible than ever for marketers to produce filly customized content including-email and consumer know this. Their expectation of customized content is high, and consumer whose expectation are met will be more inclined to respond positively to marketing material.The preference for customization is driving the dip in efficacy of batch and blast email campaigns.  

Growth of Digital Video

According to Cisco, by 2017, video will account for 69% of all consumer internet traffic.

With every time faster broad band systems, 4G growing reach, and the request of content from consumer, Video on demand is becoming the way to reach many targets.   Digital Video is also affordable for many companies with production costs lower than the videos for big formats.

Apps as essential element of Marketing

Now a days, It´s hard to talk about innovation and marketing without talking about Apps!!

Apps – Social, Games, Utilities, Purchase & Media Payment, News and many other categories – represent the most growing entrepreneurial area and of course they also need marketing.

This is a new field, where tools and trends have something new every day.  On the other hand, there are some basic things that are permanent…..and sometimes forgotten!!!

The very first thing we must have in consideration is the goal we have with our App.

There are apps with the only goal to engage consumers/customers in some way (Some brands & news). There are apps developed to be sold (Many utilities & some basic games). There are apps to sell through the App (more advanced games & services, social, subscriptions, shops, etc.).

In summary: What do we want to get from this App? What is its role in our business?

In a general view, an App can be the product itself (many utilities), a way to deliver the product (many services), a sales channel (every day more games & sport apps) or the way to reach and audience to be engaged with the App and sold to an Advertiser (social apps).

https://practical-strategy.net/2016/03/15/marketing-for-apps-apps-for-marketing/Content first

Content is starting to take centre stage as the demands for unique, relevant & quality copy.  Our message must be integrated into the content to deliver our key messages and be the central part of the story, not the sponsor but either a TV Ad.  See link as a reference of a product as the centre of the story without being an advertising

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EP34xKornA

This vide was the key element of communication to launch Asha 501, targetting teens of mid to low socioeconomic levels.  The original video had +1,000,000 views in less than 2 months, with a direct impact in 501 sales.

Get to know your consumer

Evidence of consumer/customer behaviour is the key to understanding your audience better. When used effectively, data allows for valuable insights to consumer preferences, behaviour and buying patterns. The data collection trend is here to stay and as more and more significant information is gathered, it’s imperative that brands constantly work at leveraging available opportunities in order to derive maximum benefit.

 4P ==>  Product, price, promotion and place.

Digital & Mobile AppsAs customers look to transact with companies in more user friendly and simpler ways a higher number of mobile applications are being developed.And, this will push up the demand for developers in this particular area along with support staff with experience in mobile devices.To keep pace with these technological changes, candidates will need to up their technical skills that is in sync with the company’s brand and values.

I would agree with the answers... Variety of right info ... Thank You

Digital Networking Platforms

Big Data & Prescriptive Analytic based Market Research

Entertainment Hubs

Consortium Approach

Reverse Negotiation

Video and Apps thats the marketing trends so far in Dubai.