After moving from its old location in East Cairo to the Egypt International Exhibition Center in New Cairo in 2019, the Cairo International Book Fair has recorded a new and different presence on social media platforms in 2024, making it the most prominent cultural event in the Arab world at the beginning of the year and helping attract nearly four million visitors.
Amira Mustafa, 41, who has been visiting the fair since childhood, said, "While I was wandering between the publishing houses, I noticed some young people holding book covers and filming short videos about some newly released works, encouraging their followers on Instagram and TikTok to visit the pavilion or purchase specific works." She added, "In the past, I would see audiences from different age groups eager to take photos with authors and celebrities attending the fair, but this is the first time I see young people, perhaps not older than 20, using their mobile phones to promote books and publishers on their personal Instagram and TikTok pages."
A young man working as a seller at an Arab publishing house during the fair mentioned that a girl offered to film and post a 30-second video on her Instagram account for 1,000 Egyptian pounds (about $32), showcasing her follower count of over 20,000; however, the publishing house officials rejected the offer.
Art critic and digital journalism specialist Mohamed Abdel Rahman differentiates between two types of individuals now referred to as "influencers" on social media platforms. The first type has no relation to culture and books but treats the fair purely from a marketing perspective based on their follower count, while the second type comprises influencers specializing in culture, who engage in this activity throughout the year, giving them confidence to monetize their pages to promote individuals and publishers in exchange for payment.
He explained that the increasing number of authors year after year has led to a greater need for promoting published works in order to stand out among the massive volume of releases, especially from those outside the cultural field seeking attention without any real impact; these are the ones most inclined to utilize social media services.
However, publisher Mohamed Albali, director of Safsafa Publishing House, believes that the followers of these young influencers on social media are not the target audience for publishing houses, which initially have their own official accounts on social media and maintain extended relationships with readers who come to the fair specifically for their preferred types of books, making it hard to attract them through this fast-paced advertising style. He noted that the official accounts of the publishing house he manages do occasionally receive such offers, but he prefers to resort to social media for book promotions through trusted figures in the cultural field such as critics and authors who read the work and discuss its content without payment.
**Institutional Interest**
The new trend towards promoting books and literary works through social media was not only noticeable to fair visitors but also caught the attention of participating Arab cultural institutions and centers, including the Abu Dhabi Center for the Arabic Language, which is based in the UAE. They organized a workshop titled "Using Social Media to Promote Books" on the sidelines of the fair, presented by two specialists in the field of advertising.
Sherif El-Shafei, the co-founder of Influencers Digital Marketing, stated in this session that Arab publishing houses, a few years ago, allocated only a very small percentage of their budget for digital advertising through social media; whereas now this percentage sometimes reaches 30% due to the variety of platforms and the increasing number of their followers.
He added that selecting influential figures to participate in promoting and advertising books depends on several factors including the choice of the publishing house itself, recommendations from the advertising agency responsible for promotional campaigns, and the nature and content of the book itself. Ultimately, these campaigns undoubtedly need widely recognized and well-distributed personalities with good content, which does not apply to attempts by some amateurs trying to make some money through accounts followed by only hundreds or thousands.
A total of 1,200 publishers from 70 countries are participating in the 55th edition of the Cairo International Book Fair, which started on January 25 and will continue until the middle of this week.
