The world is driven by communication and in the world of ecommerce that means messaging. Consumers are sending billions of messages daily, and retailers need to engage on the platforms their customers are using and for many that means Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
New data released by Facebook as part of their Global State of Small Business Report reveals that 37% of UK SMEs experienced higher sales over the past six months, outperforming the global average of 28%. Six in ten are confident in their ability to stay open for at least 12 months, compared to a global average of less than half and Female-led small businesses have boasted a higher rate of sales than those owned by men in the post-pandemic recovery.
The news comes as Facebook announces new ways for people and businesses to meaningfully connect by reimagining discovery and relevance for people, creators, and businesses alike. The announcement is part of Facebook’s commitment to small business recovery in the UK, including training over 300,000 SMEs in digital skills by the end of the year.
People’s preferences for how they want to talk with companies are evolving. In this digital era, 75% of adults globally say they want to communicate with businesses via messaging, in the same way they communicate with friends and family.
Facebook are investing across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, in business messaging tools as well as omni-channel communication tools such as email. They are using their expertise in person-to-person messaging to simplify person-to-business communications. These new tools are built to drive better business results across the customer journey – from higher-quality leads, to incremental sales, to higher customer satisfaction at lower cost.
This week we’ll be looking at the new business messaging tools from Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, to discover new ways of engaging with your customers at the time they are most likely to buy from you. Here’s the schedule of what you can expect us to publish during the course of this week:
- Wednesday: New ways to hold conversations with your customers on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram
- Thursday: Lead Generation and Customer Acquisition on Facebook Apps
- Friday: New business features to manage your business on Facebook Apps
“Small businesses across the UK are a cause for optimism in our economy, with 37% experiencing higher sales than six months ago, compared to a global average of 28%. They are also increasingly confident they can sustain this growth and, having displayed remarkable resilience to the immense challenges of lockdown, are increasingly confident of their long term survival.
Now we must put our confidence in the SMEs who are putting theirs in the UK, which is why Facebook is announcing new free tools that will help people discover new products and companies from their local area and around the world, to help them grow their businesses and create more jobs.”
– Steve Hatch, VP of Northern Europe, Facebook
