17% of Moroccan companies' marketing budgets goes to digital, as industry promises an increase

Companies in Morocco allocate an estimated 17% of their annual marketing budget to digital marketing according to a recent study, a figure that is only expected to rise in upcoming years.

The study on “digital trends in Morocco for the year 2022” indicates that 56% of advertisers plan to increase their budget in digital communication by 19% for the current year.

The study, which was completed in January 2023, included a sample of 52 advertisers on several topics, including digitization in contracting and marketing strategies in the digital world, in addition to the goals and budget allocated for this purpose.

All participants in the study stated that they relied on digital marketing last year, compared to 81% in the 2017 edition of the study, and 27% of them plan to hire human resources in the field of digitization, especially data science professions, project officials and website and application development.

Regarding the success factors of digital strategies, the study talked about several elements, most notably the experience and the availability of the appropriate budget, in addition to the full involvement of the management in achieving several goals, on top of which is the digital reputation and improving the customer experience.

Social media platforms remain the most important channels for implementing companies’ digital strategies, as it comes in first place for 98%, and in second place we find direct marketing through SMS and e-mail, then other apps in the third place.

Advertisers use all social media platforms to implement digital communication strategies, primarily Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter.

Unsurprisingly, TikTok which is witnessing a significant increase in the frequency of use among both Moroccan audiences and companies.

With regard to digital content, the study stated that 88% of advertisers have a digital content strategy that relies primarily on images and videos, with articles coming in third place.

French dominates online content, then Arabic, and then the Moroccan dialect, Darija.

The study results were revealed during the fifth edition of the African Digital Summit, which opened on Thursday and continued on Friday.

It is organized at the initiative of the Gathering of Advertisers in Morocco, in the presence of marketing and digitization specialists from around the world, and with the participation of 2,000 people from 38 countries, including 23 African countries.

This event represents an opportunity for managers of small and medium enterprises, actors and decision-makers in the professions of marketing, communications, digitization and media, nationally and internationally, to discover digital trends and developments in the digital field.