Changing privacy laws, building Omni channel marketing strategies, and engaging consumers at home, are the top challenges for 2021

CMOs Magazine interviewed Lara El Khoury, Digital Marketing Manager at Choueiri Group, ( The largest media representation house in the Middle East), discussing top challenges in digital marketing in 2021 and the importance of data and metrics to the industry, in addition to her advice for digital marketers in order to implement a successful content marketing strategy for Ramadan.

Lara El Khoury has over 10 years of experience in Marketing and Communication. As the Digital Marketing Manager at Choueiri Group, she manages the development and implementation of marketing campaigns aimed at promoting the company and its products as well as her responsibility for directing media relations, branding, advertising, and website development, in addition to overseeing partner-sponsored seminars, conferences, exhibitions, and bespoke events.

Returning to script of Interview…

Digital marketers must communicate content that is in line with brands’ values and business objectives in order to implement a successful content market strategy for Ramadan.

What do you foresee as the top challenges in digital marketing in 2021?

Given all the changes that 2020 brought, from brickand-mortar businesses closing to digital media consumption skyrocketing, 2021 could very well be the Year of the Digital Marketer.

For both new and existing digital marketers, the top challenges I foresee this year are changing privacy laws, building omnichannel marketing strategies, and engaging consumers at home.

1. Changing privacy laws..

In addition to changing privacy laws, marketers are going to face the phasing out of third-party cookies. To reach their target audiences and turn valuable insights into actionable results, marketers will need to gain access to first-party customer data and offer brand safe and audience loyal environments.

2. Building an Omnichannel Marketing Strategy.. With customers now using multiple devices and platforms, marketers must move away from single-channel marketing strategies to omnichannel marketing strategies if they hope to improve customer retention and increase customer loyalty.

3. Engaging Consumers At-Home..

Restrictions imposed on consumers have continued well into 2021. Marketers will need to meet consumers where they are by becoming a part of and enhancing their ‹at-home› lifestyles with local focused marketing strategies.

To what extent will the pandemic affect strategies and digital advertising budgets in 2021?

While ad spending witnessed a significant decrease in 2020 due to COVID-19, it is poised for growth in 2021 and beyond. As businesses begin to explore new ways of brand-building, we expect to see both an increased focus on customized strategies as well as increased flexibility in media procurement and buying.

With online shopping seemingly here to stay and ecommerce trends on the rise, unique and effective ecommerce marketing strategies are imperative. Advertisers are therefore moving their budget from broad-based brand advertising towards direct response marketing to better attribute performance and increase revenue generation.

How crucial is the role that data plays in your decision-making and marketing planning?

In order to be effective, marketing undeniably has to be data-driven. By identifying our target users’ behavior, goals, pain points, and challenges, we can develop marketing campaigns that cater to their needs.

Data and metrics such as users browsing patterns and social media activity not only help us focus our marketing efforts on what works and what matters but are the core of all our marketing strategies.

Are there any changes you see being carried forward post-pandemic?

I definitely see many disruptions and changes being carried forward post-pandemic. E-commerce and virtual events are here to stay and will most likely expand in the post-pandemic world.

Omnichannel marketing and social media marketing will become essential to reach and engage with today’s consumers. As advertising costs soar, we will most likely see more brands shift to quality organic content marketing.

Finally, the screenless consumption whether music, podcasts, or on connected devices will most likely continue to increase as a result of new consumer habits that will offer marketers broader opportunities to reach their consumers.

When ‘content is king’ how can digital marketers implement a successful content marketing strategy for Ramadan?

While the essence of Ramadan remains the same this year, with its spirituality and sense of community, the way consumers celebrate and connect has changed. In order to implement a successful content market strategy for Ramadan, digital marketers must communicate content that is in line with brands’ values and business objectives.

There are two ways of doing this. One is having a foundational editorial strategy in place focused on building brand awareness and delivering premium editorial content associated with relevant content themes and keywords. The second is by collaborating with local publishers. At DMS, we proudly raise the voice of local independent publishers and know firsthand the important role they play in the ecosystem. By collaborating with local and trusted publishers, brands can not only drive deeper engagement but also create authentic and relevant content.

Digital marketers must also look at consumers’ behavior and sentiments. According to our research at DMS, consumers in UAE, KSA, and Egypt expressed an overall optimistic attitude towards Ramadan this year, although Egyptian consumers showed a higher tendency of feeling confused and a lower tendency of feeling confident. Comparing our 2020 and 2021 findings, we found that consumer attitudes towards shopping behavior have improved and the purchase of non-essentials is expected to grow, particularly in Egypt where the increase in purchase is significantly higher across non-essentials such as electronics including mobile phones and tablets (29%, up from 20%) and apparel including shoes and accessories (28%, up from 11%).

Ad spending is poised for growth in 2021 and beyond, in contrast with the significant decrease in 2020

E-commerce and virtual events will most likely expand in the post-pandemic world.