Facebook now has over 2 billion monthly active users! So just in case you didn’t get the memo, Facebook isn’t losing relevance and it’s too big to ignore.
The announcement shows an increase from the 1.94 billion total Facebook cited during its recent earnings report in May. Mark Zuckerberg shared the news directly on Facebook. “It’s an honour to be on this journey with you,” Zuckerberg wrote.
“Each day, more than 175 million people share a Love reaction, and on average, over 800 million people like something on Facebook,” Guillermo Spiller, product manager at Facebook said in a press release. “More than 1 billion people use Groups every month.”
Facebook reached 1 million users in 10 months of its launch in 2004 and tipped the billion user mark in 2012.
Facebook will show appreciation for its latest milestone by rolling out personalised videos that also support its new mission statement: Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.
Marketers have been using Facebook to build communities for much longer. Ever since Facebook took the world by storm and changed the face of the brand/audience relationship forever, marketers have been using social media to cultivate communities, build brand advocates and help brands build up an audience.
Facebook’s Impact on Marketing
Thanks in part to the influence of Facebook, consumer expectations have changed. Customer service has always been about connecting businesses with customers and social media has been able to facilitate these relationships in a much more natural manner. Companies with effective social media strategies are better equipped to meet the needs of their customers and provide more value and a more personalised user experience.
For digital marketing, the most impactful aspect of Facebook has been insight. Brands can now analyse target audience behaviour to develop highly targeted advertising campaigns. Never before in the history of marketing has it been possible to develop campaigns and put them in front of the exact customers you want.
This concept is most clearly seen in Facebook Ads, which have opened up new opportunities for businesses across many industries. Before the age of social media advertising, brands would have to put ads in publications and websites where they hoped their customers could be. Now, thanks to Facebook, we know they’re there, we just need to narrow our focus from 2 billion users to a business’s perfect target audience. By always being there for customers, brands become part of the social experience. This natural fit delivers much higher returns.
And how do we find the right audience? We use the data
In order to use social media, we gladly hand over our personal information and data. Gating services with cookies, requests for personal data and showing us terms and conditions we never read has become so ubiquitous that we just ignore it. The result is that every time you like a post or a page, watch a video or follow a new user, Facebook knows. In the past, advertisers would walk through fire for this amount of highly specific personal information.
This devaluing of our privacy and personal data has occurred alongside the rise of social media and the demand for faster, more convenient services. While this all sounds a bit Big Brother, there are so many benefits to sharing your preferences online. For marketers, personal data is the life-blood of highly targeted, personalised digital experiences that give users real value and pleasure.
Join the Conversation
At MRS Digital, we help brands build social strategies that reach their target audiences with personalised, relevant and engaging messaging. Whether you’re looking to build an organic social media presence or have a paid social budget, we provide social media management services that drive you brand engagement and conversions.
Our love of social media, and oodles of experience working with global brands through to local businesses, means we know exactly where to reach your target market and what messaging will get them engaging.
If you’re ready to take your social media advertising to a higher level, get in touch today.
