Case studies / Makkah Halal Forum
Makkah Halal Forum · B2B exhibition · Saudi Arabia · MHF 2023 & 2024
How the Makkah Halal Forum reached exhibitors in seven countries and 10,000+ leads
A global halal-industry exhibition with strong institutional backing and low awareness outside Saudi Arabia. We built a multi-market, multi-platform lead engine in four languages across Meta, Google, YouTube, LinkedIn and search.
Engagement closed after MHF 2024 · figures as reported at the time
10,000+LeadsTwo editions, seven target countries
1,000+Exhibitor form submissionsLong-form, qualified
50M+ImpressionsAcross seven countries
The case in 30 seconds
The challenge
Credible event, unknown outside Saudi Arabia, two audiences (exhibitors and visitors) with different value, and multi-language content needed fast.
What we changed
Split the funnel by audience, give every platform a role, localise creative into four languages and report leads by market.
The result
10,000+ leads, 1,000+ exhibitor submissions and a global event brand ahead of 2025.
Our diagnosis
Two audiences, seven markets, one funnel would not do.
We mapped who had to be reached, where, and what each platform could do.
- Institutional credibilityIslamic Chamber of Commerce backing
- Low awareness outside KSASoutheast Asia and Africa had never heard of it
- Two distinct audiencesExhibitors need long-form; visitors need short-form
- Language and cost gapsFour languages, different CPM benchmarks per country
- B2B targetingIndustry-level messaging, not consumer reach
The opportunity
Audience-split funnelsPlatform rolesLocalised creativeMarket-level reporting
→A global lead engineBefore → After
What actually changed
BeforeAfter
BeforeOne campaign for everyone
AfterExhibitor and visitor funnels with different forms and messages
BeforeArabic only
AfterFour languages with per-market landing pages
BeforeReach as the metric
AfterQualified leads and exhibitor submissions by market
BeforeOne platform
AfterMeta, Google Search, YouTube, LinkedIn and SEO, each with a job
BeforeStatic announcements
After100+ visuals, split-tested static vs video vs testimonial
Growth strategy
One growth system. Four connected levers.
01 — Media
Meta for country-level targeting and lookalikes; Google Search for booth intent; YouTube for trust; LinkedIn for exhibitor industries.
Exhibitors: long-form→Visitors: awareness + short-form→Remarketing
SEO landing pages captured 'halal expo' demand growing 21% YoY in Southeast Asia.
02 — Creative
100+ visuals in four languages, tested static vs video vs testimonial.
Clarity, incentive ('Book your booth') and urgency.
03 — Markets
Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan delivered the strongest cost efficiency.
Budget moved to markets by cost per qualified lead.
04 — Measurement
Leads reported by market and by type, then handed to the CRM segmented.
Long-form exhibitor submissions counted separately from visitor leads.
Creative strategy
The creative system
The pieces that did the work, not the whole gallery.
- Format
- Localised video · TOF
Why it workedRegional promo videos in Arabic, English, Urdu and Bahasa built trust where the forum was unknown.
- Format
- Booth booking static · BOF
Why it worked'Book your booth' with a deadline, per market and language, aimed at exhibitors who had visited the page.
- Format
- Testimonial · MOF
Why it workedPast exhibitors on camera did the trust work in markets where the forum was unknown.
What we learned
01
Split the audience before you split the budget.
Exhibitors and visitors wanted different things; one funnel would have optimised for the cheaper of the two.
02
Cheap markets are not the same as good markets.
Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan were efficient on cost and rich in the right leads. Both had to be true.
03
Language is targeting.
Bahasa and Urdu creative outperformed English in their markets by more than any audience tweak.
Proof
Documented in the tools
Business impact
The business impact
As reported at the close of the engagement.
10,000+LeadsMHF 2023 + 2024
1,000+Exhibitor submissionsLong-form
50M+Impressions7 countries
4Languages of creativeArabic, English, Urdu, Bahasa
Client spend and revenue are confidential; figures are as reported in the campaign's own reporting for the period stated, with sensitive values in the screenshots redacted.
Taking an event or B2B offer to new markets?
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