Zainab Salah — Content & Creative Strategist: content direction and campaign systems across Egypt and the UAE

Zainab Salah · Portfolio · 2026
Zainab Salah, Content & Creative Strategist

Who's behind it

I'm Zainab Salah.

I started writing captions. Now I set what a brand says before the first word is written.

Across eleven brands and seven industries in Egypt and the Gulf, I turn business problems into positioning, campaigns and content systems that can keep moving without repeating themselves. I set the direction in Egyptian Arabic, Gulf Arabic and English — the hook that lands in Cairo is not the hook that lands in Dubai.

I have worked all three sides of the brief: agency, in-house and founder. Zedé Glow is mine. I wrote the content, built the shop and bought the traffic — so I know what a piece of content costs before I ask anyone to make it.

  • Agency & in-house
  • Egypt & UAE
  • 11 brands
  • 7 industries
  • 4 years

AI tools

  • ChatGPT
  • Gemini
  • Claude
  • Z AI

Platforms

Software

  • Ps
  • Ai
  • Canva
  • Word
  • Excel
  • PowerPoint

Where the work happened

THREE SEATS.One brief.

Agency, in-house, and a brand I own. Each seat answers a different question: who writes the brief, who executes it, and who carries the cost when it is wrong. I have worked from all three.

Eleven brands · seven industries · Egypt & the UAE

Market 01 of 02

United Arab Emirates

Seven brands · agency side at Reels Marketing · 01—07

Gulf market, Gulf Arabic, and clients who measure in bookings. I receive the brief and execute it — across real estate, automotive, medical, tracking and logistics.

SFI Properties Content direction Reels Marketing Agency 01 / 11

01 / The Proof

SFI
Properties

Real estate · Dubai · Reels Marketing Agency

My role

Content direction · Format testing · Scripting · Tone of voice

This was never a content problem.It was a decision problem.

SFI Properties

The Situation

The feed only sold projects: property, price, call. At 1,100 followers, it gave people no reason to stay unless they were ready to buy.

The Decision

People don't follow inventory.
They follow people.

I moved founder Ahmed Assi to the front, speaking from experience rather than inventory. Hooks, formats and CTAs were then tested around that voice.

Selling stayed. It stopped being the only reason to watch.

On this account, useful founder-led content earned attention that inventory posts did not — and that gap became the strategy.

The Result

506,206
Organic views
in 30 days
248,477
Accounts
reached
73.6%
From people who
didn't follow the account
0%
From paid
distribution

Followers went from 1,100 to 2,000 — and the ones who arrived came for the person, not the listing.

Verified Instagram Insights · May 1–30, 2026
Instagram Insights showing 506,206 organic views, 73.6 percent from non-followers, and 248,477 accounts reached Instagram Insights May 2026 account summary
Next — 02 of 11Engine CourtAutomotive · Sharjah · Reels Marketing All brands
Engine CourtContent + product02 / 11

Designed & built by Zainab Salah

Content needs
a system.

I built Engine Court’s content workflow platform to bring the plan, the post and the approval into one place.

Explore the platform 42-second walkthrough · the platform running
ENGINE COURT / WORKSPACE
Engine Court monthly content plans and status overview
Content Workflow PlatformPlan → Create → Design → Review
THE CONTENT BEHIND THE PLATFORMStrategy, Arabic copy & social formatsView content case ↗

Reels · Engine Court

Four reels from the content track — a question drivers actually ask, answered before anything is sold.

Next — 03 of 11Cady RoyalMedical centre · UAE · Reels Marketing All brands
Cady Royal Medical centre · UAE · Reels Marketing 03 / 11

03 · Reels Marketing

Cady Royal

Medical centre · UAE

A medical centre with branches in Dibba, Fujairah and Al Ain. The account has to turn a scroll into a booked appointment, in a category where people would rather not ask the question out loud.

The Cady Royal Medical Center Instagram profile on a phone — profile header, bio, highlights and the top of the grid

The account

Specialism
Multi-branch medical centre — IV therapy, dermatology and laser, dentistry, cupping and pain treatment
Based
Fujairah, Dibba and Al Ain
Audience
Arabic-speaking patients, booking by phone at the branch nearest them

What I did

  • Planned the feed around three reasons to post — explain a treatment, answer a worry, or carry an offer with a real date — so it is never just a run of discounts.
  • Wrote every hook the way a patient thinks — the symptom first, the treatment second, so a post answers the worry before it names a service.
  • Ended every post on one action — the branch to call — in the same place each time.

The Work

Six pieces · selected from the feed

Next — 04 of 11GPSVehicle tracking · Syria · Reels Marketing All brands
GPS Vehicle tracking · Syria · Reels Marketing 04 / 11

04 · Reels Marketing

GPS

Vehicle tracking · Syria

Vehicle tracking for the Syrian market, sold to two very different people from one account: the man with a single car, and the company running a fleet.

The GPS Syria Instagram profile on a phone — profile header, Arabic bio and the top of the grid

The account

Specialism
Smart vehicle tracking — GPS units, live alerts and in-cab cameras, with fitting and support
Based
Homs, Syria
Audience
Arabic-speaking drivers and fleet owners, enquiring over WhatsApp

What I did

  • Split the plan into two tracks, individual driver and fleet, so every post knows which of them it is talking to.
  • Wrote each hook around a fear or a job rather than the device — the driver who takes the long road alone, the fleet moving food and medicine that cannot sit in the heat.
  • Kept the specs short and in plain Arabic; the model number is there for whoever wants it, never in the headline.

The Work

Six pieces · selected from the feed

Next — 05 of 11Gulf ExpressLogistics · UAE · Reels Marketing All brands
Gulf Express Logistics · UAE · Reels Marketing 05 / 11

05 · Reels Marketing

Gulf Express

Logistics · UAE

A Dubai freight company talking to other businesses — a hard audience to hold, because nobody follows logistics for entertainment.

The Gulf Express Logistics Instagram profile on a phone — profile header, bio and the top of the grid

The account

Specialism
Cargo and freight — shipping, transport, dry and cold storage, customs clearance
Based
Dubai, UAE
Audience
Businesses moving goods in and out of the Gulf, in Arabic and English

What I did

  • Built the plan around one worry per post — delay, cost, tracking, damage — instead of listing services.
  • Wrote headlines to be read in two seconds at a red light — one promise each, the time or the safe pair of hands, never both at once.
  • Kept the Arabic in Gulf register and the ask to a single line, the same one every time.

The Work

Four pieces · selected from the feed

Next — 06 of 11Dr. MakkiyaPlastic surgery · Dubai · Reels Marketing All brands
Dr. Makkiya Plastic surgery · Dubai · Reels Marketing 06 / 11

06 · Reels Marketing

Dr. Makkiya

Plastic surgery · Dubai

A plastic surgeon in Jumeirah, Dubai. The account has to earn trust long before it books a consultation, in a field where people research quietly and ask nothing.

The Dr. Abdul Majeed Makkiya Instagram profile — profile header, bio, highlights and the top of the grid

The account

Specialism
Plastic surgery — body contouring, liposuction and breast surgery
Based
Jumeirah, Dubai
Audience
Arabic and English speakers researching a procedure, booking over WhatsApp

What I did

  • Planned an education-first feed — pre-op and recovery advice, and the awareness days — so the account is useful before it sells.
  • Wrote the posts as answers to what people actually search — how long recovery really takes, what the first week feels like — so the question itself becomes the headline.
  • Turned each answer into numbered steps a patient can act on, and kept every claim inside what a doctor is allowed to say.

The Work

Three pieces · selected from the feed

Next — 07 of 11Reels MarketingMarketing agency · UAE All brands
Reels Marketing Marketing agency · UAE 07 / 11

07 · The agency itself

Reels Marketing

Marketing agency · UAE

The agency behind the six brands above. Alongside its clients I ran its own page — the content plan and the account management. An agency’s own feed comes after client work, and it still has to sell the agency.

Reels · Reels Marketing

Five reels from the agency’s own account — short-form ideas written and scheduled as part of one content plan.

Designs · Reels Marketing

Eighteen static designs from the agency’s own content system — brand education, positioning, process and proof.

Reels Marketing design 01
01Design
Reels Marketing design 02
02Design
Reels Marketing design 03
03Design
Reels Marketing design 04
04Design
Reels Marketing design 05
05Design
Reels Marketing design 06
06Design
Reels Marketing design 07
07Design
Reels Marketing design 08
08Design
Reels Marketing design 09
09Design
Reels Marketing design 10
10Design
Reels Marketing design 11
11Design
Reels Marketing design 12
12Design
Reels Marketing design 13
13Design
Reels Marketing design 14
14Design
Reels Marketing design 15
15Design
Reels Marketing design 16
16Design
Reels Marketing design 17
17Design
Reels Marketing design 18
18Design
Next — 08 of 11Penduline BabyBaby care · Egypt · Semak All brands

Market 02 of 02

Egypt

Four brands · Egypt · 08—11

Egyptian Arabic, a category that repeats itself, and no agency across the table to hand the strategy question to. Three brands in-house at Semak — and one that is mine outright.

Penduline Baby Baby care · Egypt · Semak 08 / 11

08 / The Proof

Penduline
Baby

Baby care · Egypt · Semak (in-house)

Eighteen months of storytelling, not a posting calendar — eight campaigns, 103 posts, eight worlds, one character.
They still read as one brand.

Every month had a story before it had a post: the world it happens in, who Peno is inside it, what the mother is being told, and where the product earns its place. The calendar came last.

My role

Brand narrative · Audience strategy · Monthly narrative direction · Character strategy · Campaign concepts · Influencer & UGC scripting

The Situation

In baby care, trust comes before the product.

First-time mothers are deciding who to trust while the category repeats the same words: gentle, safe, from day one. Penduline needed a reason to matter between product announcements.

Penduline nursery campaign showing a child on the first day of preschool with no product in frame
No product in frame. The brand reassures the mother about something no cream can fix.

The Decision

Stop publishing a calendar.
Start telling a story.

  1. 01One constant

    Eight different worlds, one cue running through all of them — a post is recognised before a word is read.

  2. 02One story per month

    Posts became chapters, not a list of things to say.

  3. 03Peno becomes an actor

    The character demonstrates the product instead of decorating it.

  4. 04Replace claims with proof

    Make the mother verify the label herself.

The account

Where the work
actually lived.

3,328 posts and 179K followers. Eighteen months of that feed is what this case is drawn from.

The Penduline Baby Instagram profile: 3,328 posts, 179K followers, the bio, highlights and the top of the feed

The Work

Eight campaigns.
One recognisable brand.

What It Proves

Brand stories earned attention between launches; product stories made the claim verifiable. One character and one running story kept both recognisable.

Reels · Penduline Baby

Five reels from the Penduline feed — written in Egyptian Arabic, with Peno carrying the story and one clear ask at the end.

All reels on Instagram
Next — 09 of 11Toffee KidsKids care · Egypt · Semak All brands
Toffee Kids Kids care · Egypt · Semak 09 / 11

09 · Semak

Toffee Kids

Kids care · Egypt

An Egyptian kids’ hair and body care brand, where the mother pays and the child decides. Every post has to work on both at once.

The Toffee Kids Instagram profile on a phone — profile header, Arabic bio, highlight and the top of the grid

The account

Specialism
Kids’ hair and body care — toffee-scented, natural ingredients, at an accessible price
Based
Egypt
Audience
Mothers who buy and children who choose, in Egyptian Arabic

What I did

  • Planned the year around moments the family already has — back to school, Ramadan, the beach — so there is a reason to post that isn’t the product.
  • Wrote in kids’ Egyptian Arabic and cast the products as characters the child takes sides with, so the post is a story before it is a shelf.
  • Gave the mother her own line inside the same post — value, safety, what is in it — so one piece speaks to two people.

The Work

Twelve pieces · selected from the feed

Reels · Toffee Kids

Four reels in kids’ Egyptian Arabic — the product plays a character the child takes sides with, and the mother still gets her line.

Next — 10 of 11OralOral care · Egypt · Semak All brands
Oral Oral care · Egypt · Semak 10 / 11

10 · Semak

Oral

Oral care · Egypt

Penduline’s oral care and air freshener line. It has no account of its own: it runs on the Penduline feed, which is the profile shown here.

The Penduline Baby Instagram profile with the Oral line at the top of the grid

The account

Specialism
Children’s oral care and air fresheners, part of the Penduline range
Based
Egypt, and the Gulf through Penduline
Audience
The Penduline following — the line has no feed of its own, in Egyptian Arabic

What I did

  • Wrote each piece around one moment in a child’s day — brushing before school, the smell of the classroom, fresh breath at break.
  • Framed it as a habit rather than a product — the child who starts the day right, not the tube that does it.
  • Kept one ask on every piece, and only one: order now.

The Work

Five pieces · selected from the feed

Next — 11 of 11Zedé GlowSkincare · Egypt · my own brand All brands
Zedé Glow Skincare · Egypt · my own brand 11 / 11

11 · Built by me

Zedé Glow

Skincare · Egypt

This one is mine. A skincare brand I own. Nobody briefs me and nobody signs off on me — every decision on this page is one I made and paid for.

My role

Brand owner · Positioning · Content plan · Copywriting · Design · AI-generated UGC · Paid ads · The Shopify store

Where it started

I didn’t want to learn the rest of it from a brief.
I wanted to learn it by owning it.

I had spent years deciding what brands should say. The parts I had never touched were the ones that decide whether a brand survives — the shop, the ad account, the price of one click. So I built one of my own to find out.

It started as a way to learn. It ended up as a brand that ships.

A Zedé Glow post: the bundle sold as an outcome, in Egyptian Arabic, ending on ORDER NOW and the domain
Written by me, designed by me, sold from a store I built. On the other ten brands, only the first of those three is true.

How it was built

Five moves,
in this order.

Nothing was outsourced, and nothing happened at once. This is the order it was built in.

  1. 01 The pages

    Name, look, bio, handle. The brand had to exist somewhere before it existed as a shop, so an audience was waiting when there was something to buy.

  2. 02 The content

    Every post written and designed on one rule: one concern, one product, one outcome — in the Egyptian Arabic a woman actually uses about her own skin.

  3. 03 The ads

    Writing for an audience that never asked to see you is a different craft: one second, a hook that carries the offer, and a number attached to every weak line. This is where I learned what content costs.

  4. 04 The store

    I designed the Shopify store with AI tooling instead of a developer, laid out around the content plan rather than the product list — concerns, bundles and offers in the order the feed had already taught people to want them.

  5. 05 The launch

    zedeglow.com opened on content I wrote, in a shop I built, to an audience I brought. A relaunch is in progress.

What owning it changed

Once you write the caption, buy the traffic and build the page it lands on,
you stop treating them as three jobs.

I now ask what a piece of content is supposed to cost before I ask what it is supposed to say.

The shop zedeglow.com Store relaunch in progress

The shop

  • Wrote and designed every post — the one place on this site where the layout is mine as well as the words.
  • Made the UGC videos with AI instead of a shoot, so a small brand could still show a face, a hand and a routine.
  • Designed the Shopify store and ran the offers, the bundles and the concern pages off the same content plan.

Brand owner · content · design · AI video · ads · the store

The Work

Five pieces · selected from the feed

What it proves

Ten client brands on this page show what I do when somebody hands me a brief. This one shows what I do when nobody does.

That was all 11ContactMail, phone or LinkedIn All brands

Contact

Get in
touch.

Hiring for a senior content role, or bringing a brand with a problem? Tell me the brief — I’ll come back with the angle first.

See the work again
Mail zainab.salah138@gmail.com Fastest way to reach me Phone +20 103 314 4478 Cairo time LinkedIn Connect with Zainab The full career, dated

Based in Cairo, Egypt Working across Egypt and the Gulf

Zainab Salah · Portfolio Eleven brands · Egypt & the Gulf Content & Creative Strategist