OABC Opportunities in Marketing & Advertising

Here are some ways you can use the OABC membership to promote your services free of charge:

1.) OABC Weekly Newsletter: Contribute editorial articles, company news, upcoming events, or recorded webinars of benefit to OABC members. 

2.) WhatsApp promotions: Share super exclusive, value-added benefit, 30% + discount to OABC Members, or pass on an important, useful business resource. 

3.) Email Blast: (similar to WhatsApp): Promote an outlet or special offer, provided the raffle, value-added benefit or discount is worth 30% off or more for members. These promotions should be significant and exclusively members-only to rationalize sending an email to all members.

4.) OABC Mobile App and Member Benefit Program: Share any benefit for members (regardless of % discount) — this is your opportunity to experiment with a variety of offers and encourage members to learn more about your company or brand. 

5.) Email introductions to share a product or service: Reach out to specific members via one-on-one personal introductions from the OABC team. 

6.) Seasonal promotion of advertisements on social media pages: Promote Ramadan, National day, Christmas, and other special seasonal events or programming with members: These are posted in albums on Facebook, added to Instagram stories as a compilation of all member offers during specific high-traffic times of the year.

The OABC Newsletter, also called the Weekly Round-up, is delivered electronically on a weekly basis to members of the OABC on Wednesdays. This mailer currently reaches more than 400 businesspeople and associates of the OABC.  Advertising opportunity is open to OABC members only.

While many other publications and e-newsletters charge high rates for advertorials and similar content, this is a special benefit you receive at low-cost or even free of charge with your membership, and we encourage all members to take advantage of it.

The purpose of the OABC Newsletter is to provide relevant, up-to-date information on Oman business news, upcoming events, OABC’s updates, and highlights or news about member companies.  It features stories, information, resources, and advertising from members.

There are three primary ways to contribute to the OABC Newsletter: editorial articles, company news, and advertisements.

Copy Requirements:

1. Editorial Articles or Insights:

Copy is limited to around 80 words and should include a summary of the article to encourage members to read further, including a link to a news article, website or registration page. The OABC team reserves the right to correct spelling and grammatical errors as required.

2. Company News:

Copy is limited to 80 words, and should include a brief summary of the news being shared, for example, a new CEO announcement, winning an award, celebrating 15 years, or a CSR initiative, including an image, a link may be shared as desired. The OABC team reserves the right to correct spelling and grammatical errors as required.

3. Advertisements:

Copy is limited to 80 words, 1 high-quality image, a link to the member’s website, and a contact person and number for bookings. The OABC team reserves the right to correct spelling and grammatical errors as required.

4. Deadline:

The deadline is rolling and depends on the next OABC Newsletter release date (every Wednesday).  Priority is assigned on a “first in” basis with up to 5 ads per newsletter.

5. Procedures:

Email leanne.george@oabc.org to request advertising space.

6. Suitability:

The OABC reserves the right to refuse to advertise if it does not comply with our policies or we deem it unsuitable for our readership.  Please note that we will not publish ads that contain, promote, or in any way allude to the following:

• Discrimination and violence
• Illegal products and services
• Politics or religion
• Sexual content, or adult products
• Solicitation of funds
• Tobacco and cigarettes or tobacco-related products
• Weapons
• Gambling
• Alcoholic beverages as the main focus

Free advertising is limited to 20% of the newsletter and is contained in a section entitled “Member News” and is published on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Advertising in the OABC Newsletter is available to current OABC members whose membership fees are paid and is subject to the terms and conditions outlined in this document.

OABC has a presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Whatsapp.  We are pleased to post member-only offers on these pages.  We will also post editorial content written for the newsletter and can retweet or post company news if you send it our way.

We are open to contests, creative ideas, and other unique ways to reach out to the membership to co-create value for your own brand and the members.  Event, dinner, or weekend stay vouchers given for prizes make posts much more visible and engaging, and we are happy to work with you on this — there is no charge to advertise in this way when promoting an exclusive benefit for OABC members, a thought leadership/professional news article, or significant company news.

The goal of the Member Benefit Program is to foster business interactivity by fostering a streamlined referral & incentives network amongst our vast community via the OABC mobile application.  We invite our members to avail complimentary entry into this program to offer ongoing, exclusive promotions and incentives to all valued members within the OABC network.

The benefits of your participation in this program are multifold, but primarily, the Member Benefit Program enables your business to cultivate brand awareness and attract loyal customer demand to your products and services through either year-long promotional campaign on OABC’s mobile application, or short-term seasonal promotions, all offers, and promotions are exclusively for members-only.

Whether you are a Premium, Corporate, or SME member, the OABC Member Benefit Program is an initiative designed to enhance your membership investment. Members can avail of all offers and discounts upon the presentation of their Membership Card. 

The representatives for each account Premium (5) and Corporate (2) will have access to the mobile application.

All participating OABC member companies will require to provide the following details:

• Company logo (500 x 500 pixels). 
• Photo of the offer: this can be a stock image or photograph of the venue, food or service. We recommend you send us an image with the correct size specified as opposed to a flyer, as this will show up nicely on the app.  
• Include a description: a value-added benefit / percentage discount etc. Also, include terms and conditions and the validity of the offer. The app can upload both year-long promotions as well as seasonal, one-time promotions. 
• Links to your social media channels and website, and a contact person and number.

The OABC team is pleased to organize a unique event in partnership with your company, include the event on the upcoming OABC events list, and offer promotional support through oabc.org, social media, press releases and email invitations to the business community.

There is a modest organizer’s fee for this service.

Event formats in collaboration with member companies have included dinners, networking evenings, coffee and networking seminars, and online webinars, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For some industries, a shorter presentation and a video makes more sense to attract a greater crowd and provide greater visibility to the presenting company.  

We will work with your team to create a high-impact event for your unique audience.

The important thing to note is that for one entire event, your company is the star and focus of the day, with minimal work from your team’s side.

For examples of successful partnerships with member companies for a variety of events, please click here:

Qatar Airways

Hormuz Grand Muscat Hotel

Grand Hyatt Muscat

Boeing 

What we need from you …

To help you achieve your event objectives, we need from you:

1. A short explanation (500~750 words) about your topic and why it will be helpful to AmCham companies’ executives and associates. We can also arrange for a meeting to discuss the same. 
2. A photo and biographic information about the speaker(s)
3. Your presentation, so that we can (a) have it prepared for you on our laptop computer and projector, all you have to do is show up during the “Registration” 30-minute period before the event; and (b) upload it to the AmCham web site AFTER the event, so that it will act as a continuing message for your product/service.

Premium Membership is the top tier level available to member companies that desire to support the vision and mission of the OABC.

With the generous support of its Premium Member companies, the OABC is able to meet its mission at a much higher level.

In addition to VIP events and other benefits, Premium Membership includes a host of benefits to increase visibility.

One all-inclusive Premium Membership annual billing simplifies businesses’ sponsorship efforts. Benefits in each Premium Members’ Package include:

• Logo on “Premium Members” banner on OABC website homepage
• Logo on “Premium Members” banner in Quarterly Newsletters
• Company profile on the “Premium Members” page on OABC website
• Corporate profile on screen during cocktail reception at Members’ Nights
• Special recognition at all business events’ backdrop/banner
• Special recognition in all email signatures

Here are some paid opportunities to promote your existing offers and services (Premium Members get two free promotions annually). 

1. Weekly Newsletter: Place your promotions or ad at the top of the newsletter (with a short text / link to your page) – OMR 50.
2. WhatsApp: Sponsored content with information on your company but without a discount for members – OMR 50. 
3. Blast email: OMR 50 to reach all members of the membership without an exclusive discount or benefit. 
4. Email blast + WhatsApp promotion: OMR 60 for both