Exporting continues to grow across Oman, according to recent government figures with local firms exporting $8.2bn worth of non-oil commodities in 2017.

Creative Nerds were invited to present at Oman Export Week, a week long event organised by government body Ithraa.

The aim of the event was to raise awareness of the great opportunities out there for would-be Omani exporters and the support that is easily accessible.

It also allowed existing exporters to showcase their work and discover ways in which digital can help them achieve a global audience.

There are 4.73 million people living in Oman, 3.31 million of which are internet users and 2.60 million are active social media users, however the need for social media consultancy has never been greater.

Our job was to indoctrinate Omani exporters in using social media the correct way, so that they can elevate and optimise results for their businesses online.

Our workshop was structured around showcasing the basics of each social media platform and how that would benefit different businesses for more than just their personal social networks. Many participants had never utilised LinkedIn, or thought of setting up a business page on Facebook.

As a developing country, the influence of western design and web standards is still being absorbed in Oman, there is a lack of good quality design standards. We felt this was a major downfall that hindered the growth of brands online — to help business owners create stronger content that was visually appealing we showed the basics of Canva.

As opposed to spending hundreds on the Adobe Suite — Canva is a drag and drop platform online that gives users the ability to select from a range of pre-made templates and customise these to various platform size specifications giving a beginner quick, quality and up to date assets.

In just 30 minutes, we saw some amazing assets being created for a whole range of different businesses – which just goes to show, anyone is able to make great social assets!

We wanted to inspire our workshop and give them an understanding of what is ‘good social’ and how you can use that to entice, engage and excite users. Furthermore, we highlighted the importance of knowing who and where your target audiences are and how you can reach them using a number of different techniques.

Social never sleeps, and this is why automation has become a huge part of the social media ecosystem.

By showcasing  tools such as Buffer & Sprout, we were able to emphasise the importance of creating time for yourself so that business owners don’t neglect other aspects of social media such as asset creation, community management and advertising.

Social never sleeps, and this is why automation has become a huge part of the social media ecosystem. By showcasing  tools such as Buffer & Sprout, we were able to emphasise the importance of creating time for yourself so that business owners don’t neglect other aspects of social media such as asset creation, community management and advertising.

It was a privilege to have been invited to Oman and we hope our workshop provided a deeper understanding of social communication, sales and content generation and the importance of evaluating results through paid.

We hope the attendees left the session with a 360 understanding of how they can use social media to the best of their ability, to optimise results for their own businesses.