Expatriates make up a large part of the population in the Gulf. In the UAE they are about 89% of residents, and Saudi Arabia's 2022 census counted 13.4 million non-Saudis, 41.6% of the population. They speak many languages, follow different media and celebrate different festivals. This guide explains how to plan marketing to expatriates in the Middle East: who they are, which languages to use, how to target them and when to reach them.
Who the Expatriates Are
Expatriate communities in the Gulf include people from South Asia, such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, from Southeast Asia, such as the Philippines, from other Arab countries, such as Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, and from Europe and North America. Each group has its own languages, media habits and spending patterns, and incomes vary widely within each group.
Arab Expatriates Are Part of Your Arabic Audience
Many expatriates in the Gulf are Arabs from other countries. They read Modern Standard Arabic, and they speak Egyptian, Levantine or other dialects. In markets such as the UAE, Arabic campaigns in clear Modern Standard Arabic reach citizens and Arab expatriates alike, while a strong Gulf dialect speaks mainly to citizens. Our guide to understanding the Arab audience explains the differences between these groups.
Choosing Languages
| Language | When to use it |
|---|---|
| English | The common language for many expatriates and for business audiences |
| Arabic | Citizens and Arab expatriates, and any brand that wants to be seen as local |
| Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam, Tagalog and others | Campaigns aimed at one community, such as money transfer, telecom or food brands |
English alone can miss people who prefer their first language, so test community languages against English for each segment. Our guide to Arabic or English ads explains how to run language tests.
Targeting Expatriates in Ads
- Target by language. Meta and Google Ads let you target people by the languages they use.
- Use interests, pages and creators linked to each community.
- Build custom audiences from your own customer data, with clear consent, as our guide to PDPL compliance explains.
- Match the landing page language to the ad.
Our guide to Meta advertising in MENA covers audience setup on Facebook and Instagram.
Channels That Reach Expatriate Communities
- Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for broad reach in several languages.
- WhatsApp for customer service and community groups.
- English-language media such as Gulf News, Khaleej Times and Arab News.
- Community websites, groups and creators who speak to one nationality. In the UAE and Saudi Arabia, creators need a permit to publish ads, as our guide to influencer advertising permits explains.
- Search in English, because many expatriates search in English.
Seasonal Moments for Expatriate Audiences
Expatriates mark festivals from their home countries as well as local ones. Diwali, Onam, Christmas, Easter and Lunar New Year matter to different communities, alongside Ramadan, Eid and the national days of Gulf countries. Many families also travel home during the summer school holidays, which affects demand for flights, gifts and money transfers. Add these dates to your plan with our MENA marketing calendar.
Products and Messages That Matter to Expatriates
- Money transfers and banking, where trust, fees and speed are the main questions.
- Mobile plans with international calls and data, as our guide to telecom marketing in the Middle East explains.
- Food and groceries from home countries.
- Schools for children, and housing.
- Flights home for holidays.
English SEO for Expatriate Audiences
English keywords in markets such as the UAE compete with global websites. English pages need local details to rank, such as prices in the local currency, delivery to each country and local contact numbers. If you run separate English versions for different countries, connect them with hreflang tags such as en-AE, as our guide to bilingual SEO explains. Our Middle East SEO guide covers both languages.
Mistakes to Avoid
- Treating all expatriates as one English-speaking audience.
- Using stereotypes about nationalities in creative.
- Forgetting that Arab expatriates are part of the Arabic audience.
- Running ads in a community language that lead to an English landing page.
Creative and Measurement for Expatriate Campaigns
Show people and places that each community recognises, and keep the message simple when English is a second language for the audience. Run separate campaigns or ad sets for each language, so results are easy to compare. Report cost per lead, conversion rate and repeat purchases by language and segment as well as by country, and move budget to the segments that buy.
Conclusion
Expatriates are a large share of the market in the Gulf, and they are many audiences, each with its own languages, channels and festivals. Plan each segment separately, and remember that Arab expatriates are part of your Arabic audience. GOTOMENA plans social media and paid campaigns in Arabic and English for global brands through our Arabic social media marketing services. To reach the communities that matter to your brand, contact our team.