Ramadan 2020 was one of a kind as it arrived under even more special circumstances than usual; we saw new trends, learnings and adaptabilities. Of course, 2020 saw the first Ramadan without gatherings and post-Iftar outings with the GCC going into lockdown.
While the month was really quiet in the physical world, social media was booming, seeing unprecedented peaks in content created across all categories. New trends were noticed, food content prevails and Ramadan lasted more than 30 days.
Highlights of Ramadan 2020
Ramadan is known to be the biggest focus for advertisers in the MENA region and that is for all the right reasons. Social media consumption by users increases by 30% during the month, which leads businesses to increase their advertising budgets by 20%.
In return, content creators publish the most amount of content during this month, with a huge focus on F&B brands and content creators.
Ramadan 2020 saw an increase of 20% in number of posts created on instagram by food and lifestyle creators when compared to the pre-Ramadan period.
While the Ramadan period had the highest number of posts published, content creators appear to be posting 3 weeks prior as they prepare to welcome it. The above graph shows the increasing number of content until it hits its peak with the beginning of Ramadan.
Posts do flood instagram during Ramadan; however, interactions act differently. Content created by creators seem to have a long-lasting effect which carries on to the period beyond the period of the month. Users revisit and interact with content after Ramadan.
The end of Ramadan saw the peak of interactions for the first half of the year which proves that the month lasts longer than 30 days on Instagram. The pre-Ramadan period creates the posts, and the post-Ramadan period interacts with it.
What to expect in Ramadan 2021?
Ramadan 2021 returns under less special circumstances. 2020 was different, but 2021 wont be as unique. Regardless of the situations, whether COVID is still around (highly likely) or not, Ramadan wont be as different.
Life has already started to get back to normality in the GCC (mostly in the UAE), with vaccines being rolled out at a very high scale. The KSA expects to welcome back international flights – but still has not given indication about Umrah.
Regardless, Ramadan 2021 is not expected to be as restricted as Ramadan 2020 and awaits to perhaps welcome back gatherings. In terms of content, we believe that we will be seeing new peaks for both content creators and regular users. Ramadan 2021 will bring back traditions that were not present during the previous year. While the content produced may differ from 2020; we expect to see the return of trends that shape up the Ramadan that we know.
