Facebook has been growing at a blazing speed and has become THE platform for any social media marketer. Facebook added around 1.9Mn users in past 30 days to reach a total of 28.5Mn users. This is approximately equal to 2.4% of India’s population and 35% of total online population of India. India stands at number 5 in terms total userbase for Facebook, after US, Indonesia, UK and Turkey. With the current growth rate India, would be at #3 within the next 3-4 weeks. (Source)
The demography of Indian Facebook users is pretty much a reflection of web users overall. About 29% of the users are female. 47% users are between 18-24 yrs of age and another 30% between 25-34yrs.
Facebook India Key Statistics:
- 28.5 Mn Users. Growing at 7% monthly.
- Reaches 35% of online population
- 47% users between 18-24yrs.
- MTV India has largest fanbase followed by Tata Docomo.
- Ad rates – $.25CPM and $0.59CPC
MTV India is the leading media brand fanpage in India with 2.7Mn fans (10% of Indian Facebook population) and is adding about 5000 Fans daily. MTV India is closely followed by Tata Docomo with 2.6Mn fans but the growth of Docomo is about 4x that of MTV India.
Advertising Rates on Facebook India
Although Facebook has been a popular destination for advertisers looking to run ‘social media’ campaigns but the cost of advertising on Facebook has always been questioned. The avg. Cost per click (CPC) on Facebook for Indian traffic comes out to be around $0.60 (Rs.27) and cost per thousand impressions (CPM) comes out be around $0.25(Rs.12).
When compared to other online properties the CPC is significantly high whereas the CPM is very low. This computes a very low CTR of around 0.04%. Although compared to contextual and search advertising, which is driven by need, this would always be low, what it also shows is the weak targeting of the ads. Also, given the ad position in Facebook are non-intrusive, they might be getting lower attention. (Recommended Read: Get Paid To Be A Facebook Fan)
What are your thoughts on Social media in India? Will Facebook see competition any time soon in India? Will the advertisers end their honeymoon with Facebook?
[Naman is a startup enthusiast and has worked with couple of Indian startups as Product Manager. He is the founder of FindYogi]
