From Facebook to Meta – the social media firm has come a long way with a clutch of brands including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The company’s total income in India grew 16% year-on-year to about Rs 1,485 crore in FY21. In an email interview with BrandWagon Online, Ajit Mohan, managing director and vice president, Facebook (Meta) India talks about how going forward, it wants to focus more on product development, short form video, creators, and metaverse in 2022. (Edited excerpts)
How has 2021 fared for various products of Meta including Facebook, Instagram in India?
India was already at the cusp of a massive digital transformation when the pandemic hit. The last 18 months have accelerated the shift to digital. People are using digital platforms like ours to stay connected with each other, businesses rely on us to get connected to their customers, governments are using platforms like WhatsApp and Alerts on Facebook to connect with the citizens on healthcare services. The country’s entrepreneurial zeal combined with the tectonic shifts of the last one year are fuelling new business models out of India that have the potential to be scaled and replicated elsewhere in the world. Ed-tech and gaming are examples of two sectors that grew tremendously on the back of digital.
We know that the pandemic has adversely affected business operations, especially in the early part of 2020, but it’s also true that the digital forces unleashed over the last two years have made the economy more resilient, created new opportunities for business growth, and are now paving the way for economic recovery and growth of India.
What are the noticeable trends in terms of consumption of content?
Video and short-form content in particular are clear trends that will continue to grow in the next year. With 70-80% of all data in the country being video, India is a video-first market. Given the predominant role of video in driving online consumption and social experiences in India, the video will be a priority for Meta.
We will continue to lean into short-form content with Reels. As per a recent report, in India, the short-form videos (SFV) market has exploded over the past two years, growing 3.5 times in user base and 12 times in total time spent by all users on SFV platforms. By 2025, three in four Internet users, or 600 million to 650 million Indians, will consume SFV, and on a average spend up to 55 to 60 minutes per day on SFV platforms.
We’ve also seen huge growth in the online gaming sector here . Over the last year, viewership of live gaming video in India has grown by over 530% on Facebook, and our investment in gaming in the country is growing as we look to how it will take shape in the metaverse.
AR is democratising expression by acting as a trigger for content creation, and for unleashing creativity. Spark AR is already the largest mobile AR platform in the world and we recently also ran a pilot, where we paired six emerging and aspiring creators, known for their talent, with top Indian AR developers, to showcase the ease of AR creation and highlight the way it can unleash creative expression and trigger trends.
How brands have utilised new features on the platforms, to what extent have the features helped in gaining eyeballs?
The power of discovery that Facebook and Instagram enable for businesses is unparalleled. Everyday people discover new brands and products on our apps. A Meta-commissioned survey by GFK showed that 96% of the surveyed people said that they discover brands and products online. Of these, 83%, said they typically discover them on a Meta platform, and 96% of weekly users who discover apparel, beauty, furniture or consumer electronics on our apps ultimately make a purchase. This indicates the massive economic opportunities that our apps are able to unlock for businesses everyday.
We’ve also seen an explosive growth in how businesses are using immersive technologies. A YouGov study for Meta showed that more than 50% of the shoppers are increasingly influenced by virtual demos in their purchase decisions for several categories such as apparel, health and beauty, cars, and mobile phones. Brands such as Lakme enabled AR-try-ons on Instagram and saw strong results with nearly 18,000 try-ons in two months using the Augmented Reality tool. This is just one of the many examples of businesses using our innovative tools to grow.
There are also 15 million WhatsApp for business users in India. From large businesses such as SBI, ICICI and Kotak to small businesses, WhatsApp is making it seamless for businesses to connect with their customers, and we believe that the integration with JioMart will help make it even easier for customers to shop from within the app.
How have MSMEs benefited from Instagram? How have you been able to provide an integrated experience across your platforms for brands to monetise?
From using in-stream ads on Watch to Click-to-WhatsApp ads on Facebook, branded content on Instagram, and WhatsApp for Business to connect directly with customers – each one of our apps is able to add unique value to businesses, and most businesses leverage the strength of our apps together to unlock reach and growth for themselves.
Instagram specifically is playing a powerful role in helping businesses to go direct-to-customer and provide reach not just across the country but also internationally. More than half-a-million Indian small businesses on Instagram list WhatsApp, phone number, or email in their bio, or encourage potential customers to contact them directly via direct messenger (DM). More than 45,000 small businesses in India are using Instagram to reach out to international customers by announcing worldwide shipping in their bios. Instagram is also the place where people connect with brands and products they are most passionate about. 90% of people on Instagram follow a business and over the past few months, people in India have created more than 1.2 million posts and comments on Instagram to show their support for small businesses.
What has been the growth of Facebook Watch as video becomes more mainstream? You have been running shorter ads too, have you seen an increase in ad revenue?
India has become a video first Internet market. 70-80% of all data in the country is on video. Given the predominant role of video in driving online consumption and social experiences, video is a huge priority for Facebook. Our apps have diverse audiences and our services offer timely and culturally relevant videos spanning a wide range of topics and interests that our users care about. Our products are built to this end, having features for long form and short form content creation. While we had Facebook Watch and Instagram Video, we’re also now innovating with ‘India-first’ offerings such as Reels and Live Rooms.
Facebook Watch brings the core tenets of a social network — conversation and connections — to video. So when you watch a show, music video or a sports broadcast on Facebook Watch, you have the ability to actively engage with it and the broader community of people watching with you. The ‘Watch’ experience is personalised and organised around what people, their friends, and communities are watching.Today, more than 1.25 billion people visit Watch every month to discover and share videos from millions of creators and publishers and India is one of the leading markets for Watch globally.
We have invested in Movies, Music and Cricket to drive engagement and give our community what they want. Facebook Watch provides culturally relevant, of-the-moment videos across sports, entertainment, news and lifestyle through our partnerships with ICC, FilmFare Awards and IIFA Awards and also vernacular content.
As Meta has unveiled new tools, features, programmes for creators, how has the company benefited from creators? How do you see the creator economy growing in India?
More than ever, creators are shaping culture today. We’re seeing young people pursue and share their passions, showcase their talent, and build a community for themselves. This is not just true of the big cities, but of small cities and towns, and those who’re communicating in regional languages too.
We’re focused on providing value for creators across the spectrum. We’ve launched features like Reels and remix to democratise creativity, and provide instream ads and Facebook Stars, for those who want to monetise. We’ve launched a creator education program to support youth aspirations and are constantly working on making the platforms safe. The focus for the next year is also the same, so we’re helping unleash expression and creativity on our platforms.
What are the new areas Meta would like to focus on in 2022?
We continue to put disproportionate energy in India and are deeply inspired by the rapid transformation that is taking place in the country on the back of digital. India continues to be one of the most important countries for us and we will look at ways to create a big generational impact. We can translate this into a few big focus areas:
Continued massive centricity in product development – we will continue to build products and solutions that are inspired by India and will have universal appeal. Reels on Instagram and Facebook and Payments on WhatsApp are two such products. We will continue to see what opportunities we can unlock in 2022.
Our big bets in India around creators will continue – largely powered by Reels we will continue to enable Indians to find expression on our platforms. Video will continue to be an important part of our strategy, given the predominant role of the medium in driving online consumption and social experiences across Facebook and Instagram.
Small businesses and their recovery will be another important focus area for us in 2022. They are critical to the post pandemic economic recovery, and we will continue to double down in our support for them. Linked to that, we will also continue to play an enabling role in making the shift from offline to online for direct-to-consumer companies.
Lastly, building for the metaverse will be a focus, as it’ll provide economic opportunities and help grow significant sectors in India. It will benefit a huge number of creators, developers and businesses, along with the communities in which they operate. India’s talent pool of engineers, developers and creators — and its vibrant startup ecosystem will play a huge role in shaping the future.
Read Also: Why CPG brands need to invest in martech solutions for effective full-funnel marketing