Participating at the STEP Conference, the Middle East's largest interactive event for Tech, Digital and Entertainment, Facebook met a diverse mix of entrepreneurial talent successfully growing their business on the platform. Led by Ciaran Quilty, EMEA Director SMB, Facebook who presented a keynote on 'Brand Building in a Mobile World', the team from Facebook met small businesses and partners to talk - and, most importantly, listen and learn how to do more to help them build their businesses online. Facebook highlighted several features that make it easier than ever to manage communication with customers. Earlier this year, Facebook announced that over 50 million small businesses around the world actively use Facebook Pages because they're free, easy to use, and they work well on mobile. People are also communicating with Pages more than ever, with 2.5 billion comments on Pages every month. "The MENA region is a thriving ecosystem of entrepreneurs, who are adopting the latest in technology to not only achieve their entrepreneurial ambitions, but contribute to the future of the region's growth. In the United Arab Emirates, more than 5.7M people are on Facebook and 51% of them are connected to a Small or Medium Business. With more than 120 million people accessing Facebook across MENA, it's crucial that small businesses have an online presence. And we believe Facebook and Instagram are the best platforms for businesses large and small." said Ciaran Quilty, EMEA Director SMB, Facebook Video consumption on mobile Facebook users around the world are choosing to engage with video on mobile, with 75% of video views by users around the world on mobile. The availability of larger screen mobile devices is creating a more immersive and compelling canvas for visual content. Today, 97% of people online in the UAE watch video at least monthly (vs 88% for EMEA) and 62% of Facebook users in the UAE posted or shared video content on Facebook (vs 48% for EMEA). Advertising on Facebook Small businesses are also advertising on Facebook because it drives sales and measurable results. While other forms of advertising - print, TV, radio - can be expensive and hard to measure, Facebook ads reach the exact customers small businesses want to reach - for less money and great returns. With over 120 million people in the MENA region using Facebook every month, including 110 million on mobile devices, for brands and consumers, Facebook is a destination where small & Medium sized businesses can connect with their customers and grow their businesses.
