Turkey can turn its advertising boycott of U.S. outlets into an opportunity by creating home-grown social media and digital ad services, according to Said Ercan, the chairman of Turkey’s International Social Media Association (USMED).
"Turkey has an area of influence where a billion people live, including the Balkans, Middle East, and [central Asian] Turkic republics," Ercan told Anadolu Agency.
He added that creating instant messaging services, social media platforms, search engines, and digital media agencies in Turkey will attract foreign currency to the country.
"Turkish companies make payments to U.S.-based social media platforms for digital adverting. Turkey's exports to the U.S. last year totaled $8.7 billion, [but] we sent back half of our exports' value to U.S. companies," he noted.
He also said Turkish firms’ social media ad budgets will reach around $50 billion within five years, creating a potential for local social media and digital ad agencies.
International digital ad agencies, social media platforms, search engines, and instant messaging services such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Google do not pay tax in Turkey, he said, adding:
"Digital advertising and information technologies specialists can be invited to Turkey to build a huge platform."
He underlined: "Ads are placed by Turkish companies targeting Turkish people but someone else earns money. This need to be changed."
Campaign supported
The "No ads in U.S." campaign was started on social media platforms this week following U.S. sanctions on Turkey doubling tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
The two countries are facing rocky relations following Washington’s imposition of sanctions on two government ministers for not releasing American Pastor Andrew Brunson, who faces terrorism-related charges in Turkey.
The #NoAdsinUS (#ABDyeReklamVerme) campaign is being supported by major Turkish companies such as the flag carrier Turkish Airlines and telecommunications giant Turk Telekom.
Paul Doany, Turk Telekom’s CEO, said of the effort: “Everyone must do their own part to fight the economic sanctions on Turkey."
Over 50 million Turkish social media users
As of this January, over half of the world’s 7.5 billion world population -- 4 billion -- have Internet access, 3.2 billion people use social media, and there are 5.1 billion cellphones, according to research by Hootsuite and We Are Social.
Turkish people use the Internet over seven hours a day on average, while they spend nearly three hours on social media platforms. This figure puts Turkey at 13th worldwide in terms of social media usage.
In Turkey, 54 million people have Internet access and 51 million social media accounts.
