Mahdiya Farook
Qatar is home to many expatriates, and many have capitalised on social media to become influencers -- mainly boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic. These influencers have proven influential in the growth of brands, businesses, entrepreneurs and hidden gems for tourists in Qatar, especially as the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 approaches.
Influencers in the Middle East are gaining global corporate attention and engaging more closely with their audiences than in the past, gathering fans and earning significant sums. Besides, social media has been instrumental in delivering the vision of transforming Qatar into an internationally recognised hub for business, tourism and sport.
“Social media is ever evolving and has played a pivotal role in many people’s lives since the pandemic,” Mahdiya Farook, a Sri-Lankan expat in Doha, said.
“I started creating content for social media three years ago, and since then, I have seen a huge influx of content creators who find social media a great platform to share ideas, news, about themselves, promote products etc.,” she added.
Farook is one of many expat influencers making a name for themselves in Qatar and believes despite the pressure of combining content creation and regular day jobs, the impacts are still worth the stress.
“Social media has made a huge impact in the marketing of products as many consumers are fully engaged. It does not also serve as a platform to absorb news, but consumers and the public can make a statement.”
She added that behind the scenes, real life tips and contents that users find useful and entertaining are the most engaging topics. Also, fashion tips, transition reels, home DIYs, and humour get better engagement than regular posts which aim to promote a product.
According to Influencer Marketing Hub, several factors impact how much influencers can charge per post. The website also rated influencers into categories -- Mega-influencers with more than a million followers, Macro influencers with around 500k to 1 million followers, mid-tier influencers with more than 50k followers, and Micro and Nano-influencers ranging from 1k to 50k followers.
“Being a content creator here is not so lucrative for an expat. There are still few full-time influencers who make a good income, but it’s minimal,” Farook, who makes content not necessarily for profit, stated.
“Most clients want to work on barter deals and do not want to do paid promotions. So it depends on what you are using your platform for. For me, the purpose of my platform is more educational and informative and focused on creating my brand rather than getting commercial collaborations. I choose what interests me, but it might not be the same for all, so it is best to have other sources of income as well.”
According to statista.com, over 3.6 billion people used social media worldwide in 2020. That number is projected to increase to almost 4.41 billion in 2025.
According to Hootsuite data, Qatar has over 2.93 million internet users as of January 2022. Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Instagram are reportedly the biggest platforms being used in Qatar.
Last year, Farook had 15,000 followers on Instagram and now boasts over 27,000 followers. Farook disclosed that many companies and brands still prefer influencers with more followers rather than the actual impact of an influencer, especially within non-Arabic speaking expat communities.
“Newspapers and other traditional media are still coveted as legitimate sources of news, but social media influencing can make a huge impact in micro-communities if strategically used. Government agencies should use influencers to get social messages across, and when choosing, they should target all nationalities. Companies should research and work with influencers from different nationalities and ethnicities to get wider exposure and different target audience.”
