Three questions before choosing
- Who is your customer? Age, city, and how they use their phone.
- What content can you produce every week? Short video, photos, or live offers?
- What result do you need? Store visits, WhatsApp enquiries, online purchases, or bookings?
Snapchat
Very present in Saudi Arabia and the GCC, and suited to casual, everyday-looking video, quick offers, restaurants, cafés, and retail. It needs content that feels natural in the first two seconds, not a miniature TV commercial.
TikTok
Strong for reach and discovery, rewarding a good idea more than a big budget. It suits products you can explain or show results for in a short video, such as beauty, fashion, and consumer goods. Success depends on producing fresh content constantly.
Meta: Facebook and Instagram
The widest range of targeting options and formats, and a fit for most businesses, especially when you have a website or store with proper tracking. In Egypt, Facebook remains a core platform for broad audiences, while Instagram matters for visually driven businesses.
And Google?
Google is different: it reaches people searching for you right now. If people search for your service by name, like “plumber near me” or “accounting firm in Riyadh”, search ads usually carry higher intent than any social platform.
A practical example
A restaurant in Riyadh wants more weekday bookings. It starts with Snapchat videos of dishes and atmosphere, plus Google search ads for phrases like “dinner restaurant in Riyadh”. After a month it compares the real cost per booking from each platform, not the view counts.