Many small business owners are increasingly getting on Facebook these days for various reasons, including marketing, customer support & Brand building. The number of start-ups in India is on such a rise that Facebook claims to now have over two million Indian small and medium businesses (SMBs) on its platform.
The social media giant is now looking to help these small businesses, and in an initiative to do so, it has set up a SME Council to help small ventures from various industries share feedback and discuss ideas around leveraging technology to grow their enterprise.
To connect with consumers, Facebook is one of the easiest ways now. In terms of accessibility and number of users, it is reaching new heights. Total number of small businesses globally that use Facebook as a means to connect to their consumers has crossed 45 million. “Small businesses are the backbone of India’s economy. From kirana stores to restaurants and online clothing sites, these businesses drive economic growth, create new jobs and enrich the lives of people across the country,” Facebook India Managing Director Kirthiga Reddy told PTI.
This is a generous way to have people connect on the platform more efficiently, and not just that, but also helping the businesses to grow with all the needed assistance. This push up will be a major booster for the Indian economy, one of the most important in the world front now. The plus here is that Facebook has planned things well to span this initiative across various industries. The company has identified a group of leaders from various industries forming a council.
The Council will have members like Amruta Walvekar (Wrapistry), Anaka Narayanan (Brass Tacks), Anitha Nayak (Floured), Gautam Ivatury (MeraDoctor), Maya Chandrasekaran (Babajob.com), R Balakrishnan (GIO Adventures) and Vivek Iyer (English Dost), among others.
“babajob.com, a job site in India which uses Internet.org’s Free Basic Services app has had 60,000 people visit the site and over 10 per cent of them apply for jobs online. This means that 6,000 people who were once unconnected now have an opportunity to apply for a job,’ said Facebook’s chief operating officer (COO) Sheryl Sandberg in her post.
Meetings and brainstorming sessions between the new council will pave a way for new thoughts and ideas, which would help the ones with small businesses to get better advertising solutions. India has the second-largest base of Facebook users globally which is the major plus in its booty and also probably a reason why Facebook holds India at its helm.
[Image: Shutterstock.com]
