Guide · 2026
How to market your company in Syria
What a Gulf or foreign company should know before advertising to Syrians: where they are online, which language and faces to use, what budget you need, and how to measure results.
By Ahmad Al-Nahas6 min read
Start with Facebook and Instagram, the clearest channel for paid ads in Syria today, then add Syrian pages and faces your audience already trusts. Write your ads in Syrian Arabic, make WhatsApp the way people reach you, and run a small two-week test before you scale.
As for cost, according to our survey of advertising prices in Syria, agencies charge from $225 a month for page management, and packages that include filming start at about $600, plus the ad budget you pay to the platform.
Six things to know before you advertise to Syrians
The Syrian market is changing fast, and audiences watch a lot but trust little. Companies that do well here don’t copy their Gulf campaign as it is. They rewrite it in the language Syrians speak, with faces Syrians know.
- Channel: Facebook and Instagram are the clearest start for paid ads. TikTok ads reached only about 46,500 adults in Syria at the end of 2025, according to DataReportal
- Trust: large Syrian pages people actually follow, and local faces your audience already trusts
- Language: Syrian Arabic for social media ads, simple Modern Standard Arabic for your website and formal texts
- Contact: make WhatsApp the final button. It is how most people contact shops and companies
- Measurement: count messages, requests and the cost of each request, not likes
- Budget: agency fees for management and production are separate from the ad budget, which you pay to the platform directly
Numbers to plan with
- 9.25 million internet users in Syria at the end of 2025, about 35.8% of the population, according to DataReportal.
- 46,500 adults were all that TikTok ads reached at the end of 2025, or 0.3% of adults, according to the same source.
- $225 a month is the lowest agency price we found for page management, and about $600 for packages that include filming, according to our survey of advertising prices in Syria.
- 260 companies from 23 countries took part in the IMAR exhibition in Damascus, according to SANA. We built its identity and campaign.
How to start, step by step
- Know your audience before you write: Who will buy, in which city, and what they follow. Damascus is not Aleppo or the coast, and the answers decide your channel, dialect and message.
- Run a small two-week test: Put a small budget behind several short videos on Facebook and Instagram, then double down on the video that brought real messages.
- Add local trust: Syrian pages with their own audience, or a placement inside a show people follow. Audiences believe a face they know more than an ad.
- Keep a steady monthly presence: Page management and at least one shooting day a month, so your brand doesn’t disappear after the first campaign ends.
Examples from the market
The IMAR exhibition
We built the full identity, four films and the campaign for IMAR, the International Exhibition for Rebuilding Syria, and designed the English deck for investors and companies outside Syria, which reached exporters’ associations in the region. See the case
Brands inside content people trust
Brands like Persil, New Park and LET’S appeared inside Dr. Sara episodes, content that reaches 18.3M+ views a month, mostly from mothers. See the case
How we wrote this guide
From campaigns produced by Mesh-Mosh, the publisher of this guide, for brands in Syria and the UAE, from the survey of advertising prices in Syria we ran in November 2026, and from DataReportal’s Digital 2026 report on Syria. We update the guide at the same address as the market changes.
Sources:
Questions people ask
Questions from companies coming to Syria
How can a foreign company market itself in Syria?
Start with Facebook and Instagram ads aimed at the cities where you sell, with short videos in Syrian Arabic. Add Syrian pages or trusted local faces, make WhatsApp your contact point, and measure messages and requests from the first week.
What social media platforms do Syrians use most?
For paid ads, Facebook and Instagram are the widest today. TikTok is growing among young people, but its ads reached only about 46,500 adults in Syria at the end of 2025, according to DataReportal. That is why we usually start with Facebook and Instagram.
How much budget does a company need to enter the Syrian market?
According to our survey of advertising prices in Syria, agencies charge from $225 a month for page management, and packages that include filming start at about $600, before the paid ad budget, which goes to the platform directly. One agency considers $150 to $300 a month an acceptable starting ad budget.
Do we need a local agency?
Not necessarily, but a local agency knows which pages people really follow, can film in Syrian cities, and writes in the right dialect. Whoever you choose, ask for an itemized quote and ask how they will measure results.
How do contracts and payments work with an agency in Syria?
We send a written quote in US dollars with every item listed separately, and we agree on the contract and the payment method with you before any work starts.
Do you work with companies outside Syria?
Yes. We have worked with UAE brands such as Riam Rice and Ukrouk Ajam, and for IMAR we designed an English deck for investors and companies outside Syria.
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