Facebook is making a more active play for the small business marketplace as the firm has announced a handful of new programs aimed at that segment, particularly the subset that advertises on Facebook. However, while shunting those extra goodies at companies that advertise, Facebook also maintains that they are a value provider even for firms who don’t buy ads.
And if Facebook’s internal numbers are right, small business owners agree, as the number of active small business pages keeps growing. As of right now, it’s up to 40 million, according to FB – this represents a 10 million company pick-up to the 30 million that were measured last June. And yet, of that 40 million, only 2 million (5 percent) are active advertisers on the platform.
“Creating a presence on Facebook … is a powerful asset in its own right,” said Jonathan Czaja, Facebook’s director of small business for North America, when explaining to TechCrunch why a FB page represents more than just a chance for a firm to push posts on their customers.
For those firms that do advertise, Facebook will be holding more events for small businesses around the country. FB is also adding chat support for advertisers.
“We’ve got hundreds of reps worldwide providing both email and chat support,” Czaja said. “We intend to grow that dramatically in the coming years.”
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