Saudi Arabia’s digital advertising market is growing at the fastest pace in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, but advertisers may not be translating that spending into equivalent business results, according to a new study released by Snap Inc. and Kearney MEA.
The report, which introduces the Saudi Digital Ad Maturity Framework, found that digital advertising expenditure in the Kingdom grew by 23.5 per cent year-on-year in 2024, the highest growth rate across MENA. However, e-commerce growth lagged advertising growth by eight percentage points, highlighting what researchers describe as a widening gap between investment and outcomes.
The findings suggest that while brands are spending more on digital channels, many are yet to develop the capabilities required to convert those investments into measurable business growth.
“Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies, and brands today need more than increased media investment to capture that opportunity,” said Julie Caironi, Head of Marketing, Snap Inc. MENA & APAC.
“They need fit-for-market strategies grounded in local audiences, behaviours, and platforms. Through our partnership with Kearney MEA, we are helping marketers — global, regional and local, large and small — assess and strengthen their digital capabilities, improve campaign effectiveness, and deliver stronger business outcomes, while supporting the continued evolution of the Kingdom’s marketing landscape,” she added.
Relevance and maturity
The study found that more than 30 per cent of Saudi consumers believe advertising from local brands lacks cultural relevance, underscoring the need for deeper localisation and a stronger understanding of audience preferences.
Researchers said the framework was developed to help organisations address a growing challenge: converting rising digital advertising investments into sustainable business growth. Designed for large local enterprises, multinational companies, and government and semi-government entities, the framework evaluates marketing effectiveness across four pillars — Strategy & Organisation, Creative & Localisation, Experience & Activation, and Data, Technology & Measurement.
The report also found that nearly 70 per cent of platform-driven impact is linked to cross-channel synergies, suggesting that advertisers achieve better outcomes when digital platforms are integrated into broader marketing strategies rather than used in isolation.
According to Hadi Hammoud, Partner at Kearney, Saudi Arabia’s digital advertising sector is entering a critical new stage of development.
“Digital advertising in Saudi Arabia is entering a new phase. While investment continues to grow rapidly, many organisations are still working to translate that growth into proportional business impact — what we describe as the ‘Saudi performance tension’,” Hammoud said.
“The challenge is not one of opportunity or spend, but of maturity. Organisations that consistently outperform have developed stronger capabilities across four critical areas of marketing effectiveness,” he said.
Hammoud added that the framework was created to provide advertisers with a practical roadmap for improvement.
“Together with Snap, we developed this framework to help advertisers identify the gaps limiting performance, prioritise where to focus, and define a clear path toward stronger and more sustainable results,” he said.
Snap said the framework is available through a whitepaper and assessment tool that allows organisations to evaluate their current marketing capabilities, identify areas for improvement and build more effective long-term growth strategies. The initiative forms part of the company’s broader efforts to support Saudi Arabia’s expanding digital economy and help advertisers strengthen marketing effectiveness as competition intensifies in the Kingdom.
