Digital Marketing: Facebook Made $9 billion Last Quarter. Here’s How

Digital Marketing: Facebook Made $9 billion Last Quarter. Here’s HowFacebook has 1.3 billion daily users globally, and 46 million registered users in Thailand. While the platform is free to use for businesses and individuals, Facebook’s business model is based on charging companies for access to its lucrative database of users.Facebook AdvertisingThis database is used to create targeted advertising, which enables companies to reach their target audience directly in the News Feed. Despite the privacy concerns inherent in this model, Facebook user growth is matched only by its eye-popping profits.

Having almost doubled its advertising revenue from $8.9 billion in 2015 to $14.1 billion in 2016, Facebook is forecast to capture 16.2% of worldwide digital advertising revenue this year and is set for another record year of profits.

Another impressive statistic is that 87% of Facebook’s advertising revenue last quarter came from mobile. Clearly there’s an awful lot of social media activity taking place during the daily commute.Video MarketingQ2 also saw a 40% increase in advertising spend on video marketing compared to Q1. This dramatic rise can be partly explained by Facebook prioritizing video over words and images, and rewarding business owners with greater organic reach for video content. As a result, videos have a 1055% higher share rate than other types of content.

These numbers also align with our own Facebook video marketing experience, which we discussed in another recent post: How Businesses Can Profit from Thailand’s 46 Million Facebook Users.

As seen below, 45% of Thais watch videos online every day. All of this data reinforces the assertion that video marketing will play an even greater role in years to come.Social media marketing in ThailandThe good news for Thailand business owners is that the average cost of Facebook advertising is still relatively cheap here – compared to other countries – with an average cost per click of just $0.14, compared to $1.32 in Japan and $1.09 in the USA.

As ever, the secret to successful Facebook marketing is to add value to a user’s News Feed. For example, sharing insights via thought leadership is an excellent way for professional service firms to differentiate themselves. And pretty much any industry can benefit from incorporating blogging, explainer videos and infographics into their digital marketing strategies.Statistics from Q4 2016, c/r Nanigans-Asia-Pacific-Facebook-Advertising-Benchmark-Report

Conclusions

Reports of the death of Facebook have been greatly exaggerated. The company made $9 billion last quarter because, frankly, it’s awesome.

Speaking as an advertiser, no platform comes close to allowing the kind of precision targeting Facebook enables; and as a user, I am entertained, informed and educated on a daily basis for no charge. Perfect yin and yang.

While Snapchat, Instagram, and even LinkedIn have their place in the market, none come even close to the enormous role Facebook plays in everyday life for over a billion people around the world. Don’t be surprised if Facebook continues to post record profits for a long time to come.

Lexicon is a full-service digital marketing agency in Bangkok, offering content writing, social media marketing and graphic design services.

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