Facebook announces SME India Council

Facebook is committed to helping each business achieve its goals and help them grow locally and regionally across India. We are making investments and announcements to help businesses better connect with the people they care about. We are excited to announce the first SME India Council in Asia-Pacific with 12 small business owners from different geographies and with varied business objectives and goals. We are also announcing updated SME India Stats (overall Page #s and Interaction stats) in India, along with the latest MAU numbers for India.

Here's a quick overview of today's announcements:

NEW: About the SME India Council:

• The SME India Council is the first council in Asia Pacific.
• 12 small business owners from different geographies and with varied business objectives and goals. An India Client Council with global advertisers was established in 2014.
• The SME India Council will meet few times over the coming months to discuss progress on solutions, business ideas, discuss new successes and challenges and meet the Facebook teams.
• The SME India Council will meet few times over the coming months to discuss progress on solutions, business ideas, discuss new successes and challenges and meet the Facebook teams.

SME Pages In India:

• INDIA:2 million small business pages in India as of October 2015. 1.5 million small business pages were announced in August 2015.
• GLOBAL: More than 45 million small businesses actively use Facebook Pages because they’re free, easy to use, and they immediately give businesses a digital (and mobile) strategy. 

India SME Interaction Stats:

• 57% of people on Facebook in India are connected to at least one small business.
• +1.99 billion interactions generated between businesses and people in India

SME India Success Stories

Babajob.com, a job site live with us in India, recently shared that of the 60,000 people that visited the site on internet.org, more than 10% have applied for jobs. This means that 6,000 people that were once unconnected, now have access and an opportunity to apply to a job online.

• Bewakoof is an internet-first fashion brand catering to young people across India, looking for affordable and accessible fashion. Bewakoof has a strong repeat customer base- which they used FB to help retarget and bring them back to the site with the campaign goal of increasing sales, building brand loyalty and achieving a 15% lower cost per acquisition. Link: https://www.facebook.com/business/success/bewakoof
• Cilory was originally launched to allow people in India to access personal care products online, and it has since evolved into a multi-product retailer with a huge catalog of curated clothing and jewelry products. Taking advantage of the targeting capabilities Facebook offers, this brands was able to identify it's key demographic on Facebook to promote its promotes and with the Lookalike capability, expand that target base further. Link: https://www.facebook.com/business/success/cilory
• Chumbak has evolved into a quintessential Indian brand. Founded in 2010, Chumbak sells souvenirs, travel and tech accessories, jewellery and apparel, all of which are inspired by everyday Indian sights and experiences. As a small start-up, Chumbak used Facebook as a cost-effective way to get the word out about its products, build a community of people passionate about its brand and introduce products and solicit ideas for new items. Link: https://www.facebook.com/business/success/chumbak
• The Birthplace is a boutique maternity hospital that caters to well-off Indian moms-to-be and works closely with them throughout their pregnancy. The exclusive maternity hospital used Facebook to reach affluent moms-to-be in India and build a community from scratch. The strategy has been so successful that 60% of The Birthplace’s customers now come from Facebook. Link: https://www.facebook.com/business/success/the-birthplace

Introducing the SME India Council

Small businesses are the backbone of India’s economy. From Kirana stores to restaurants and online clothing sites, these businesses drive economic growth, create new jobs and enrich the lives of people across the country.

More than 1.99 billion interactions have been made between people and the 2 million small businesses with Facebook Pages in India. And of the 138 million people on Facebook in India (90% on mobile), more than half of them are connected to at least one small business in the country.

At Facebook, we are focused on helping people connect, including giving people access to the Internet, and on helping businesses grow. To help businesses better connect with the people they care about we are excited to announce the first SME India Council in Asia-Pacific. The new council is a group of small business from various industries and geographies in India. The group will meet throughout the year to share feedback, discuss new ideas and work with Facebook to build better ads solutions.

Our teams are constantly creating new ways for businesses to attract and retain customers, such as updated Pages for mobile and new tools to improve local marketing, but we want to do more. People look to Facebook Pages for relevant information about products, services and updates and they do so on mobile. 

“Mobility is the future of India. We are excited about the tremendous opportunities it creates for people and businesses and are invested for the long-term,” shares Kirthiga Reddy, Managing Director of Facebook India. “The SME India Council is an open forum for local businesses to share feedback with our teams so we can align and continue to develop impactful solutions to grow their business.”

"The SME India Council will help our teams understand specific needs and build solutions to help all Indian businesses connect with the right people and grow.”- Rahul Desai, India SME Director, Facebook.

The New SME India Council

• Amruta Walvekar – Director, Wrapistry (https://www.facebook.com/wrapistry) 
• Anaka Narayanan – Director, Brass Tacks (https://www.facebook.com/Brasstacksmadras)
• Anitha Nayak – Founder, Floured (https://www.facebook.com/FloUredBakedWithLove) 
• Gautam Ivatury – Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, MeraDoctor (https://www.facebook.com/MeraDoctor)
• Hema Balakrishnan – Founder, Color D Earth (https://www.facebook.com/Terracotta.Color.D.Earth)
• Kalpana Rajesh – Director, Pelli Poola Jada (https://www.facebook.com/PelliPoolaJada)
• Maya Chandrasekaran - Chief of Talent, Babajob.com (https://www.facebook.com/babajob) 
• Nivedha Charles – Founder, Pigtails and Ponys (https://www.facebook.com/pigtailsandponys)
• Nivedita Mummadi – Co-founder, Dirty Feet (https://www.facebook.com/Travelwithdirtyfeet)
• R Balakrishnan – Co-founder and Director, GIO Adventures (https://www.facebook.com/GreatIndianOutdoors)
• Sarvesh Agrawal – Founder and CEO, Internshala (https://www.facebook.com/Internshala)
• Vivek Iyer – Co-founder, English Dost (https://www.facebook.com/englishdost)