Facebook reaches a landmark 100-million users in Africa through mobile

There’s explosive growth and incredible momentum across Africa. (Image: Simon Davis, UK Department for International Development, via Wikimedia Commons)

"We now have 100-million people coming to Facebook every month across the African continent with more than 80% using mobile devices," says Nicola Mendelsohn, Facebook vice president for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Mobile is the way to go

It's no surprise that in regions such as Africa, where bandwidth is trailing behind the rest of the world, that mobile is the way to go. "People in high-growth countries want to be connected to the world around them. In countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, Turkey, and elsewhere, mobile devices are increasingly becoming the way in which people find new information, and share their experiences in the world. How people experience the world is also unique, especially in high-growth regions," she says.

Therefore it's obvious that brand and advertising strategies have to be tailored to meet the expectations of that particular audience. "A one-size-fits-all approach doesn't necessarily work when it comes to building products and solutions that address diverse local needs, which is why Facebook is committed to crafting solutions specifically for high-growth markets. We are partnering with clients and agencies to test these mobile-first solutions and work together to deliver rich brand messages at lower data costs through solutions such as bandwidth targeting or new products," says Mendelsohn.

Beating high costs

In India, voice call costs are high so consumers drop calls before they are answered to convey their messages. (Image: Biswarup Ganguly, via Wikimedia Commons)

For example in India, the cost related to voice calls is high so consumers drop calls before they are answered to convey a message such as "I'm waiting outside". Taking this phenomenon into consideration, Facebook developed 'click to missed call' where consumers can send a missed call to advertisers when they wish to engage further with them. The situation isn't that dissimilar in Africa, where the practice lead to the development of the 'please call me' mobile service, thereby indicating that 'click to missed call' is an option for advertisers in this market.

"In Africa, we are seeing explosive growth and incredible momentum across the region. At the same time, when you look at the staggering cost of connectivity in many countries, mobile services need to deliver maximum utility on the biggest range of devices and consume the smallest amount of data, which is exactly what Facebook provides," explains Rob Norman, Chief Digital Officer of international digital agency, Group M.

From testing new ad units based on how people connect with each other, to enabling advertisers to customise campaigns depending on devices and connection speeds through bandwidth targeting, Facebook is learning, testing, and optimising to provide the best experience for the next 100-million customers.