Content Alone Isn’t Enough: Are GCC Businesses Leveraging Social Media Enough?

Have you noticed how the businesses in GCC are now heavily investing in content creation? The digital landscape is transforming with every passing moment. Now, you will find content everywhere, in every shape and form. Content is now the king in GCC, in the true meaning of the word.

From breathtaking visuals, engaging blog posts, to branded content, you will find businesses splurge on good, well-thought-out content. But there’s one question marketers and decision-makers need to ask themselves:

Is content alone enough to win in the digital era?

The easy answer is “no.” You’re skipping a key part if you think that great content will find its audience on its own: a strong content marketing plan. Visibility is just as important as value in today’s world of constant connectivity, where people get messages all the time on many different platforms. Everyone scrolls somewhere, like on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, or YouTube. Because of this, your content needs more than just creativity. It needs accuracy, time, and performance that is tailored to the medium. Many businesses now turn to a social media marketing agency to help bridge this gap—ensuring not just top-tier content creation, but also sharp audience targeting, platform-specific strategy, and real-time adaptation. Here’s a closer look at how forward-thinking brands across the Gulf are doing more than just posting pretty pictures:

1. Multi-Language Meme Pages Are Tapping Into Fringe Communities

Think memes are just for teenagers? Think again. In the GCC, meme culture isn’t just entertainment, it’s a marketing vehicle. And the smartest brands are building multi-language meme pages in dialects like Khaleeji, Levantine, and Egyptian Arabic to tap into micro-communities. For example, a homegrown Qatari food delivery startup launched a dedicated meme account using Gulf Arabic slang, targeted specifically at Tier 2 city youth. The tone was casual, funny, and extremely local. No polished ads. No influencer hype. Just raw, relatable humor.

The result? Far better engagement than their main brand handle. This grassroots approach built cultural relevance, virality, and long-term loyalty.

Takeaway: Want attention in the Gulf? Speak the language and the dialect.

2. “Boring” B2B Brands Are Winning with Relatable Social Micro-Moments

B2B industries that used to be “boring,” including logistics, healthcare, and industrial services, are suddenly getting a lot of attention on social media by using humour and real-life tales instead of jargon-heavy messages. According to the LinkedIn B2B Institute, 72% of B2B buyers read material that makes them laugh or feel something. This change is most obvious in the GCC, where logistics companies are making reels that highlight how messy the warehouse is, how SOPs fail, and what a typical day is like for team members.

These little moments that people can relate to don’t simply make them laugh; they also create trust. According to the material Marketing Institute, B2B organisations who use employee advocacy and behind-the-scenes material get twice as many people to interact with them on social media. Regional companies who use this method are getting more story responses, more organic followers, and even direct leads, all without spending more on paid marketing.

Takeaway: If your industry is “boring,” your content shouldn’t be. Relatable is not equal to unprofessional.

3. Private Communities Are Outperforming Public Likes

Likes and shares are public but conversion is often private. A growing number of GCC businesses are moving away from vanity metrics and instead building closed digital communities via:

• Instagram Close Friends
• WhatsApp broadcast groups
• Telegram private channels

This is especially powerful in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, where high-net-worth individuals and VIP consumers prefer curated, exclusive content drops over public timelines. One luxury beauty brand in the region shifted budget away from feed content and began offering early product reveals, invite-only promos, and private polls on their Instagram Close Friends list. The impact? They saw higher conversions from these private Stories than from their entire feed combined.

Takeaway: In the Gulf, exclusivity drives engagement and sales.

4. UGC Scripts & Templates Are Empowering Everyday Creators

Telling users to “tag us” is outdated. Empowering them to co-create with your brand is the real magic. Smart brands across fashion, beauty, and tech in the GCC are handing users reel templates, audio clips, hook-lines, and scripting cues, essentially giving them the tools to recreate branded content, their way.

One Saudi electronics company launched a “Day in the Life with Our Smartwatch” campaign. But instead of hiring influencers, they created a pre-written voiceover script, a reel format template, and a sample structure.

Result? Over 1,000 UGC entries in a week without paying a single influencer. This content was not only authentic, but also widely shared, especially among younger users.

Takeaway: Give your audience the scaffold, they’ll build the narrative for you.

5. Long Captions and Arabic/English Carousels Are Making a Comeback

Short-form video might dominate algorithms, but that doesn’t mean users are done reading especially when content is meaningful. Across the GCC, brands are now leaning into dual-language (Arabic + English) carousels paired with long-form captions. The tone? A blend of LinkedIn-style thought leadership and Instagram storytelling.

Types of high-performing posts include:

• Founder’s personal POVs
• Brand myth-busting (e.g., “Why We Don’t Offer Discounts”)
• Customer case studies
• Deep dives into product decisions

This works especially well when paired with visual slides that simplify complex ideas. Bonus: these posts have higher dwell time, more saves, and better DM response rates than static photos or short reels.

Takeaway: In a region that respects both Arabic and English fluency, content depth (and duality) creates trust.

6. Hyperlocal Geo-Memeing Is Winning Subcultures

Blanket “Dubai-wide” campaigns may get impressions, but hyper-targeted geo-personality content is what’s actually going viral. Brands are tapping into neighborhood identities to create shareable, localized content. Think:

• “Marina girl vs. Deira guy”
• “Riyadh office life vs. Jeddah remote work culture”
• “Sharjah student vs. Dubai startup bro”

This type of geo-memeing sparks pride, community discourse, and most importantly, shares. It’s no surprise this strategy is especially resonant with Gen Z, who crave specificity, cultural cues, and humor that “gets them.”

Takeaway: In GCC cities bursting with diversity, hyperlocal > hyperloud.

Final Word:

The Gulf is evolving. So should your social strategy. From meme culture to micro-communities, scriptable UGC to private content drops, brands that win in the GCC are those that go beyond visibility and lean into real value. So if your social media playbook still revolves around polished posts and big-name influencers, it’s time to pivot. Because in the world of social media marketing in the GCC, content is just the starting line.