As of recent, advertising and marketing agencies in the UAE are checking whether the influencers they use are licensed. This comes against the backdrop of Abu Dhabi stating that those who organize social media campaigns will be subjected to penalties if they had not obtained the necessary permits for doing so.
Other experts are of the opinion that this points to the maturity of the influencer marketing industry, and the transition of the market from a chaotic amateur activity into a professional form of advertising.
According to Abeer Faisal, the Marketing Specialist at Omorfia Group, the social media stars that are hired for promotion are subject to rigorous scrutiny as per their licenses.
“The influencer industry is huge and pretty often, some of the campaigns are multimillion-dollar ones,” she said.
“For such campaigns, the influencer makes more than Dh500,000 but, the license becomes extremely significant for tracking reasons bearing in mind that every permit contains the Tax Registration Number (TRN), which is decisive during billing thus It is crucial to have all licenses in place when conducting big budget shoots.”
Fines in Abu Dhabi
From July 1, the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) will be fining social media personalities and business offering advertising services up to Dh10,000 for failing to secure a license to operate. The licence fee for individuals is 1250 DHS and for companies, it is 5000 DHS.
Experts report that applications for such permits have risen steeply since this announcement.
“On a daily basis I get at least five calls daily inquiring about the license and how much it is going for,” said Firose Khan operation manager of Arabian Business Centre.
The fact that Abu Dhabi has put penalties into practice has made people adhere to regulating their social media campaigns legally. The callers mostly inquire about the cost of these permits in Abu Dhabi, they also inquire if such penalties have been put in place in Dubai yet. But for now, the clients are urged to take an e-trader license for them to conduct their influencer campaigns in the region.
Presently, it is also possible for influencers registered in other emirates to get a license to do a campaign in Abu Dhabi. ADDED call center states that they can apply for a permit per campaign for Dh50. This can be done through the Tamm website.
One such person who is not taking any chances is Indian beatboxer Ardhra Sajan. although she is a dweller of India, the influencer often travels to the UAE for campaigns.
“Ever since I became an influencer, I have frequently been requested to do advertisements for UAE-based companies and products,” she said.
“So this year when I came to Dubai, I decided to get a license to legally do campaigns. I think this license will be a main factor in distinguishing hobby influencers from full-time content creators. I want to be seen as an influencer who takes her expertise seriously and that is why I decided to have a license,” she added.
While such penalties are not present in other emirates still, there has been some rumors that the market is turning well-organized and systematic, according to some insiders in the industry.
Boom in Influencer Marketing
However, many owners of offices inside commercial buildings stated that they have been experiencing a rise of demand since January this year, as revealed by Noushad Hassan of Alhind Business Centre.
“Since the inception of influencer licenses in Dubai in the year 2018, there has always been a demand for such licenses and this year the demand has been high as per my experience say especially in the year 2024 whereby my company has issued out many influencer licenses during its operation in the jurisdiction.”
When speaking to Abeer one of the explanations that was given has been that the industry of influencer marketing has expanded.
“This market has been very active in the UAE, most big brands, including those of us in the marketing industry, turn to and depend on influences to ensure brand names gain visibility”, she said.
The traditional form of marketing is being replaced by social media marketing as people do pay a lot of attention to what their favorite brands are up to and what they use and endorse.
