What Are UAE Marketers' Top Focus? Salesforce Reveals

Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), the global leader in CRM, has unveiled its new State of Marketing report. This report shares insights from over 4,800 marketing leaders across 29 countries, including 99 from the UAE. The study highlights how marketers are integrating AI into their operations, managing data strategies, and ensuring customer trust amid rising vulnerabilities. The findings reveal that leveraging AI is a top priority and challenge for marketers globally.

AI Integration and Data Management

Marketers are increasingly turning to AI to enhance personalisation and efficiency. Both generative and predictive AI are being used to meet these goals. However, outdated tools and technologies pose significant challenges for UAE marketers.

In the UAE, improving marketing ROI and attribution is the primary focus for marketers. Yet, only 32% of them are fully satisfied with their ability to unify customer data sources. Additionally, 66% have access to real-time data for campaigns, but 78% need IT department assistance.

Personalisation Efforts

To meet growing customer expectations, marketers are moving beyond broad audience segmentations to more specific identifiers like individual preferences or past interactions. High-performing teams in the UAE personalise across an average of seven channels compared to 4.5 channels by underperformers.

Despite these efforts, full personalisation remains a work in progress. Marketers are striving to create consistent experiences across customer journeys as third-party cookies become obsolete and AI usage increases.

Trust and Security Concerns

Marketers are keen on applying AI effectively while maintaining security. In the UAE, 83% of marketers are either experimenting with or have fully implemented AI into their workflows. High-performing teams are 1.3 times more likely than underperformers to have fully integrated AI.

The most popular AI applications among UAE marketers include generating content, personalising customer journeys across channels, and offering real-time best deals.

Unified Analytics

The abundance of data sources presents a challenge for marketers who need a holistic view of data for long-term use. In the UAE, 46% of marketers track customer lifetime value (CTV), while 91% claim they have a clear understanding of marketing's impact on revenue.

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) and Loyalty Programs

Companies are increasingly using ABM and loyalty programs for better acquisition and retention. In the UAE, 71% of marketers say loyalty data is fully integrated across all touchpoints, while 57% report that loyalty program functionalities are accessible everywhere.

B2B marketers in the UAE use ABM extensively; 77% use it for upselling and 56% for cross-selling purposes.

Ariel Kelman, Salesforce Chief Marketing Officer, commented on this trend: "We are in a new era of AI, catalyzed by the generative gold rush, and marketers are leading the charge by embracing rapid advancements in the technology to better connect with customers and prospects."

"A strong data foundation will be critical to AI success for marketers as they work to bring together and unify customer data for real-time activation," Kelman added.

Richard Turtle, Regional VP Salesforce Digital MENA, also shared his thoughts: "The State of Marketing report paints a fascinating picture of the nuanced challenges faced by marketers in the UAE."

"While less than a third of UAE marketers are satisfied with their ability to unify customer data sources," Turtle noted that "they recognise areas they want to improve." He highlighted that "83% of UAE marketers are experimenting with AI or have already implemented it into their workflows."

Turtle concluded by expressing optimism about helping these marketers achieve their goals in one of the region's most dynamic markets.