Marketing through social media is expected to increase dramatically in the Middle East, with research showing that Twitter use has grown from less than 1,000 Twitterers at the end of last year to 12,266 users now registered across the Arab region.

Middle East based-communications consultancy, Spot On Public Relations, says Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have the three largest Twitter communities, accounting for 1,741 users, 1,405 users and 4,952 users respectively.

Carrington Malin, managing director of Spot On PR, said: “There has been a good deal of hype surrounding Twitter, but now we can see from current usage and growth patterns that Twitter is starting to make its presence felt across the region.

“The exciting news for marketers is that the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Twitter community is set to move from thousands to tens of thousands, opening up new marketing opportunities and, indeed, challenges.

“We’re also seeing changes in demographics, as Twitter becomes more broad-based in appeal, spurred on an increasing number of global news stories quoting Twitter or Twitter sources. Whereas the MENA Twitter community was largely the domain of Internet professionals last year, 2009 has seen great numbers of people from other professions join Twitter, and from communications, media and marketing professions in particular. That has led to Twitter ‘hitting above its weight’ both in terms of media influence and search engine impact.”

Mai Abaza, account director, Spot On PR, added: “Compared to Twitter communities in regions such as North America, this region appears relatively small. Marketers might feel discouraged, but instead of thinking of what we would gain from being on Twitter, the correct question is what we would be losing.”

According to the Spot On study, countries like Oman, Syria, Algeria and Libya are still lagging behind the region in terms of adopting Twitter. In the UAE, a few brands have started utilising Twitter to interact with target audiences.

Wild Peeta, a home-grown dining concept, is an example of a successful Twitter campaign. The fusion Shawarma restaurant, established by two UAE-based entrepreneurs, has not officialy opened yet, but has already attracted 764 followers – 15 per cent of the UAE Twitter community.

Mohammad Parham, managing partner of the project, said: “As a small business, we used Twitter as a cost-effective, interactive and honest tool to communicate with our audience. Although our restaurant is not yet launched, we have managed to share suggestions and ideas and we currently have more than 1,500 followers on social networks of whom more of 700 are on Twitter. It had human value to it.

“It is much easier and faster for small business to adopt Twitter among other social media as marketing tools. Social media challenges our speed to bring change to the market. While huge companies still debate how to utilise these tools, they are already late. Even agencies do not have the full comprehension of the power of Twitter and other social media.”