Marketing Companies in Makkah and Madinah: How to Choose the Right One for Your Business

If you are looking for marketing companies in Makkah or marketing companies in Madinah, start with one question: does the company understand that your customers change with the seasons? Businesses in both cities serve residents all year round, and also millions of pilgrims, Umrah performers and visitors of different nationalities and languages, in seasons when demand rises and time is short. So choose a company that builds your plan on the seasonal calendar, writes for your audience in more than one language, masters local search and maps, complies with the regulations on advertising, influencers and signage, and provides a written scope of work that keeps the accounts and files in your company’s name.

This guide focuses on what matters to hospitality, retail and service businesses in Makkah and Madinah. For the general criteria that apply to any city, see our guide to choosing marketing companies in Saudi Arabia.

What sets marketing in Makkah and Madinah apart?

1. Demand is seasonal and large

The total number of pilgrims in the 1447H Hajj season was 1,707,301, of whom 1,546,655 came from outside the Kingdom and 160,646 from inside, according to the General Authority for Statistics. And Umrah is not limited to one season: in the second quarter of 2025 alone, the number of Umrah performers was 5,443,393, of whom 1,324,418 came from abroad, and the number of visitors to Madinah was about 3.77 million in the same quarter, according to the Umrah statistics for Q2 2025. For the marketer this means demand peaks recur through the year (Ramadan, the Hajj season, holidays), and each peak needs preparation in advance, not a last-minute campaign.

2. A multilingual, multinational audience

The 1447H Hajj statistics bulletin states that pilgrims coming from abroad belong to 165 nationalities. And when the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah launched the Nusuk Umrah service for direct booking from outside the Kingdom, it made it support seven languages. If foreign visitors are among your customers, ask the company for a clear language plan: which languages you actually need, who writes or reviews them, and how they appear on the website, the business profile on maps and the ads.

3. The decision is often made before arrival

Many visitors choose the hotel, transport and some services before travelling, through direct booking or agents and platforms, then search for restaurants, shops and services on their phone while in the city. Your business therefore needs a presence that works at both stages: content that persuades before the trip, and strong local visibility during it in search and maps. See our guide to Google Business Profile for multiple locations if you have more than one branch.

4. Local search is smaller but its intent is clearer

Searches for “marketing companies in Makkah” and “marketing companies in Madinah” run between 10 and 100 searches a month each according to Google’s keyword planner (November 2026), lower than Riyadh and Jeddah. Someone searching with these terms is often a decision-maker who knows what they want; so judge the company by what it understands about your market, not by the volume of its ads.

What you need by type of business

How to choose a marketing company in Makkah or Madinah

Ask about the seasonal calendar

Ask the company to show how it will distribute the work across the year: what is prepared before Ramadan and before the Hajj season, what is published during it, and how results are reviewed afterwards. A company that proposes a fixed monthly schedule that does not change with the seasons has not understood your market yet. To start with an annual plan, see our marketing plan and consulting page.

Ask about languages and who writes them

Machine translation of hospitality content read by a visitor from another country can do more harm than good. Ask: who writes or reviews each language? Is the message adapted for each market or transferred literally?

Ask about local search and maps

In a city where visitors search while walking, the business profile, reviews, photos and opening hours become a core part of marketing. Make sure the company manages them within the scope, not as a forgotten extra service.

Ask about on-site work at peak times

Photography and covering openings during crowded periods need advance planning. Ask: who will attend? When? Is the coverage within the price or a separate item? How does the company handle photography in crowded places while respecting people’s privacy? And check any permits photography needs from the relevant authority before the date.

Ask about compliance

• Influencers and content creators: the General Authority for Media Regulation grants the “Mawthooq” licence to individuals who provide advertising content on social media platforms, and states that it lasts three years and that advertising is done through an account registered with the Authority and linked to the licence (as of November 2026). Verify the licence before paying; for detail see our guide to the Mawthooq licence and advertising with celebrities.
• Billboards and advertising signs: through the Balady platform, the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing offers the service “Issuing an operating licence for an advertising billboard or sign”, whose listed requirements include a valid commercial registration, a valid commercial licence and an investment contract (as of November 2026). Confirm with the municipality the requirements that apply to your site before designing and producing the sign.
• Seasonal offers and discounts: review the Ministry of Commerce’s requirements for offers and discounts before announcing them, and do not rely on the company handling this unless it is written in the contract.

A model season plan: before, during and after

Questions to ask the company in the first meeting

The first meeting reveals a lot. A company that understands the Makkah and Madinah market will ask you questions before presenting its packages. If it does not, put these questions to it and listen to how it answers, not how fast:

1. Who do you think my customers are: residents, visitors, or both? How does the message differ for each?
2. What exactly will you do before Ramadan and before the Hajj season, and when does preparation start?
3. Which languages do you suggest for my business, and why these particular languages? Who writes them?
4. How will you manage the business profile on maps and the reviews at peak times?
5. What counts as success in our contract, and how will we measure it weekly during the season?
6. Who verifies influencer, signage and offer licences before publication?
7. Do you have live work I can verify in hospitality, retail or a related sector?
8. Who is the team that will actually work on my account, and how do I reach them on peak days?

How to compare two proposals

Do not compare by the total price alone. Put the two proposals in one table with the same items: number of languages, number of posts and videos, management of maps and reviews, ads management and who owns the ad account, on-site coverage, response hours and reports. Then separate management fees from the ad budget; a proposal that merges the two into one figure makes it harder to know what you are paying for the work itself. And beware of proposals that promise guaranteed results in the season; nobody can guarantee demand, and what matters is that the plan and measurement are clear. If the season is close, ask the company what can realistically be done in the time left, and what is postponed to the next season.

In Madinah in particular, where visitor demand extends through the year, a continuous monthly engagement may suit better than intermittent campaigns. For businesses whose demand is concentrated in specific seasons, a light base contract all year with planned intensification before the peak may be more suitable. Ask the company to explain why it proposed this format for your business specifically.

Checklist before contracting

• The business name on the contract and invoice matches the commercial registration details.
• A written scope: channels, languages, volumes, revision rounds, response hours in the seasons, reporting dates.
• A clear definition of success: an enquiry, a booking, a quotation request, a branch visit, and how it is measured.
• The accounts, the ad account, the domain and editable design files in your company’s name.
• Who covers photography and events at peak times, and whether it is included in the price.
• Who verifies influencer, signage and offer licences, written in the contract.
• The contract term, termination conditions and what you receive when it ends.

Common mistakes among Makkah and Madinah businesses

• Starting the season campaign late: many visitors decide well before travelling, and advertising in peak week alone misses this stage.
• Single-language content for a multilingual audience: or a machine translation the visitor cannot understand.
• Neglecting maps and reviews: old photos or opening hours not updated in the seasons lose you a visitor standing at your door.
• Advertising with an influencer without verifying their licence: responsibility does not rest on the influencer alone.
• Choosing the cheapest proposal with no scope: the lowest proposal without detail usually means less work at the time you need it most.

Do you need a company based in Makkah or Madinah?

Not necessarily. Most strategy, content, ads and website work is run remotely through video meetings and written approvals. What needs an on-site presence is repeated photography and covering openings and events, so ask about it specifically and write it into the scope. Agree photography dates well before the season, because peak times are themselves the hardest for travel and organisation, and the earlier the materials are prepared, the easier and faster publishing is during the season. At RX Designer we work remotely with businesses outside Jeddah from our office in Jeddah.