Facebook marketing contributed an economic impact of $4.1 billion and created around 44,000 jobs in Australia in 2014, according to a new study by Deloitte and commissioned by the social media giant.
The study, “Facebook's global economic impact” measures how Facebook has stimulated the global economy though three effects: as a tool for marketers, a platform for app development and a catalyst for connectivity.
“Our study finds that Facebook enables significant global economic activity by helping to unlock new opportunities through connecting people and businesses, lowering barriers to marking and stimulating innovation,” Deloitte global MD technology, media and telecommunications, Jolyon Barker said.
Globally, the report found that Facebook enabled a global economic impact of $227 billion with 4.5 million global jobs supported in 2014.
For marketers specifically, this impact is about $148 billion and the support of 2.3 million jobs around the world.
The report found that Facebook contributes to marketing in three ways: pages, targeted advertising and referrals.
It said that pages provide a way for business to enhance their presence online and that target advertising – based on characteristics of Facebook's audience - allows marketers to deliver effective messages to scale. This also results in a cost-effective advantage, as messages are being delivered to a businesses “most likely” customers.
In addition, the report found businesses receive an additional kick-back from people sharing links to websites with their friends, using the example of the “ice bucket challenge” as an example of the power of referral.
“By using these marketing tools to reach their customers, businesses can increase sales locally, nationally, and globally and generate significant economic impact, no matter their size, location, industry, or technical sophistication,” the report said.
The US, as Facebook's largest market, captured nearly half of the overall global marketing impact with $81 billion and 870,000 jobs created through a mix of active ad spend and high page engagement.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.