Since Mark Zuckerberg invented Facebook in 2004, it has grown from being simply a website to bring friends together to a website which can be the platform for some serious business. Facebook has a world wide reach and is increasingly becoming more and more popular amongst the younger generations and also amongst the other age groups. Facebook is closely associated with Microsoft which has a 1.3% share in Facebook and hence most of the revenue that is generated from the banner ads are supplied by Microsoft. The bulk of Facebook’s profits are due to their Flyers application and the Credits application. Moreover Facebook provides a huge platform for independent entrepreneurship and other developers So it stands to reason that the potential of Facebook can be tapped for serious marketing.Before we go into suggestions, let’s look at some statistics about Facebook which can help one to decide.
People on Facebook: More than 400 million active users. Every user has an average of 140 friends.
Activities: Over 160 million objects such as pages, groups and events.
Global impact: Facbook is available in 70 different languages across the world.
Platform: More than 1 million developers and programmers are associated with Facebook and around 70% of users interact with platform applications.
Mobile: 100 million active users presently using Facebook through their mobile phones.
Most people must be wondering how is it possible then to market products on Facebook. Simply get associated with Microsoft’s advertisement program and you can see your company’s ads on Facebook. Recently Facebook has been nominated as the site with most amount of videos and pictures uploaded, over Flickr and even YouTube. So, with permission, a company may even launch their video ads or new image based ads on Facebook. With its large user base it will be very easy and effective for companies to market their products online.
But this is simply the tip of the iceberg. Association with Facebook would also mean that you can also tap into the mobile phone market. There are some advertisements which are targeted specifically for mobile users. With the advent of Zynga, we have all come to know the power of online games and applications. Associating with these or even launching a new online product can be achieved through collaboration with Facebook. Maintaining a company profile in Facebook is a very common thing nowadays and it helps in keeping track of business prospectives, employee tracking and even getting a heads up about upcoming competition.
For the individuals who think that their small scale business cannot be helped, here’s some good news. You can also share your blog online amongst your friends or create groups and increase the traffic into your website and thus generate more revenue. Facebook has truly become a use for all ages and purposes.
