RIYADH: Snap Inc. launched the Snap Maher Academy, a Saudi-born Arabic-first training initiative, in Riyadh to train marketers and boost the local digital marketing industry.
The academy’s main purpose is to qualify marketing professionals, nurture digital marketing skills, and help organizations in Saudi Arabia embrace comprehensive, measurable, and impactful marketing strategies.
The academy included 50 participants from leading organizations including the Saudi Tourism Authority, Riyadh Air, stc Group, Zain Group, TheChefz, Jahez, TenX, and the Ministry of Culture, reflecting their influence on the Kingdom’s marketing and digital economy.
The program offers a comprehensive four-week curriculum. It comprises 16 hours of training that culminate in certification.
The curriculum is designed to strengthen core capabilities across the ecosystem and enables advertisers to unlock more impact across both awareness and conversion.
Abdulla Al-Hammadi, managing director of Snap Inc., revealed that more than 26 million people in the Kingdom use Snapchat, opening the app more than 50 times a day.
Al-Hammadi told Arab News: “Snap Maher Academy was designed as a Saudi-first, Arabic-first program, rather than adopting a global framework to keep pace with the rapid evolution of the Kingdom’s digital economy and the major shifts in how people communicate, discover brands, and make decisions.”
He said that the company, one of the first global technology companies to invest directly in the Kingdom, was keen to build a program tailored to the local market.
Al-Hammadi added that the academy was designed to help marketers move beyond isolated campaigns towards more advanced marketing approaches that connect creativity, audience understanding, measurement, and business impact.
“The Snap Maher Academy reflects our long-term commitment to Saudi Arabia’s digital economy and the marketeers shaping it,” he said.
He added: “Today, growth doesn’t come from isolated campaigns, but (is) built through strategies that connect discovery to decision. On Snapchat, these moments happen every day. Brands need to show up in ways that are both relevant and measurable.”
The academy is delivered by Snap’s regional experts in marketing, account management, and creative strategy.
It combines practical learning with real-world application, which ensures participants gain actionable insights they can implement immediately within their organizations.
This first cohort of the Snap Maher Academy reinforces Snapchat’s role in developing regional talent and supporting the next generation of marketers.
It also contributes to a more resilient and competitive digital economy in the Kingdom and lays the foundation for scaling the program across future cohorts.
Al-Hammadi confirmed that developing local talent and practical capabilities will play an important role in supporting the growth of the Kingdom’s digital economy.
He noted that technologies such as artificial intelligence are creating entirely new ways for businesses to engage audiences.
Practical skills and strategic thinking have become more important than ever amid these transformations, he added.
Al-Hammadi said that one of the biggest shifts the industry is witnessing is the move towards more integrated marketing approaches.
“Marketeers today need to understand how awareness, engagement, creators, community, and performance work together, rather than treating them as separate activities,” he concluded.
