1. Facebook is the biggest social media channel

Facebook is known worldwide as the most used social media channel on the planet. It has around 2.2 billion monthly users around the world and almost 80% of them spend more than 20 minutes a day on the social media channel. This trend is also very active in Malta with around 87% that are using Facebook and that is why it is by far the most accessed online platform in Malta.

Facebook’s original purpose has grown from connecting people with old friends to also bringing people and businesses together to easily find a way to fill in the needs customers have.

2. Incredible opportunities to generate leads

Because there is so much traffic on the channel is the number of people you are able to reach with one message is immensely higher compared to traditional marketing activities like radio, paper and even word of mouth. With just one click you can easily redirect the user to your business website. It is also far more cost-effective when executed in the right way compared to other marketing tools.

This is why it is important for every business to start using this trend as an opportunity to grow their business and reach higher levels professionally. Optimizing your Facebook channel, creating content, sharing this content and communicating with potential customers could convince them to become a client to get in contact with your company and hopefully build up a lifetime relationship.

This is not only applicable in the B2C market, also the business-to-business market benefits from this opportunity. Every business client is at some point a consumer-like anyone else that uses Facebook. He wants his business to grow either which means he will not ignore a post from a company that offers the possibility of growing his business together.

3. Perfect way to communicate with your customers

Another advantage that comes along with this online channel is being able to communicate rapidly with your clients and use Facebook as a tool to optimize the service a company offers. You can interact with clients by posting specific messages you want your followers to read, start a conversation in the comments of a post and use Facebook Messenger as a private chatting room to guide your clients through their customer journey.

4. Create a customer community to improve the customer experience

With all those clients or potential clients following a company, it is possible to make them connect with each other and to communicate about your company and what the brand offers. This way you can create a community within your customer portfolio by using Facebook in an efficient way.

5. Possibility to collect high amounts of client data

Every user on Facebook has to create a personal account to link up with others on the website. This means that you are able to collect massive amounts of client data without much effort. This data can be used to create specific offers to a certain target audience that enlarges the possibility of them buying your product. Of course, there are certain rules that you have to respect when using this data for commercial purposes to secure everyone’s privacy. These privacy rules are covered in what is called the GDPR-law.

6. Two ways of using Facebook for businesses

Throughout the years, the possibilities for businesses on Facebook have grown immensely because of the rise of Facebook Ads. This means there are two ways to increase the value Facebook can offer to a company:

  • The traditional use of Facebook is where a company can optimise their account, talk to clients and post a message that every follower is able to see. This is known as the free version to use Facebook and focuses on keeping current customers interested and loyal to the brand.
  • On the other side, there are Facebook Ads where you can pay Facebook to promote a post or product throughout their website. This means for example that a potential customer who visited your website or Facebook page but didn’t buy anything will be shown an ad of what they are interested in to redirect them to your company and eventually purchase a product.

This method is used massively by companies around the world with the use of growing their business and increase their customer portfolio.

In 2017 around 87% of Facebook overall ad revenue was realised by Facebook Mobile. When we compare these numbers to our study in Malta, we concluded that 83% of internet users in Malta own a smartphone which opens up a massive market that is easily accessible for growing companies in Malta.