Social Network Sees Huge Spike In Small Businesses Paying To Advertise
By Melony Roy
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Some small businesses no longer view Facebook as a free way to connect with customers. They're now paying the tech giant to help boost their bottom line.
Facebook is revealing that 50 million small businesses now have "pages" on the network. Three million of them are paid advertisers -- that's a 50 percent increase in just the past year.
Chatterblast co-founder Matthew Ray says Facebook is a game changer for small businesses.
"Facebook can equalize you and your neighbor. Your neighbor may be able to spend more than you but Facebook gives you an opportunity to reach the same people that they do," said Ray.
Facebook has been criticized for making it harder for businesses to reach their own followers unless they pay to boost their posts. That can cost anywhere from a buck to hundreds of dollars per day depending on how many people a business wants to reach.
"You can literally go to Facebook and say I want to reach every African American male in 19145 between the ages of 30-45 and Facebook will tell you how many of the people fit that and then if you give it money it will go knock on their digital door," said Ray.
In the past year, Facebook has revamped its business Pages adding "shop" and "service" features and letting businesses communicate with people through private messages.
