COMMUNITY, CONTENT, AND COMMERCE

FACEBOOK EARNED ITS CHOPS BY CONNECTING PEOPLE, SOMETHING THAT ONCE AGAIN CAME TO THE FORE DURING THE PANDEMIC. ITS NEXT BIG BETS ARE ON CONTENT CREATORS AND SMALL BUSINESSES. AIDING IT IN THIS MISSION ARE INSTAGRAM AND WHATSAPP.

- ARNIKA THAKUR AND ABHIK SEN

AJIT MOHAN STARTED following Lily Collins after watching her on Netflix’s Emily in Paris. He found on Instagram that the actor had recently invested in Beekeeper’s Naturals, a Canadian natural health product company that makes bee by-products like raw honey and bee pollen. The brand has quite a star following, from Drew Barrymore to Kourtney Kardashian. After discovering the brand on Collins’ post, Mohan, 46, is all set to order its products.

Like many users, he has bought everything from shoes to alphonso mangoes off Instagram (he didn’t like the shoes), says Mohan, who is vice president and managing director, Facebook India. Globally, influencers are convincing people to buy products they recommend, and small businesses are using Facebook platforms to reach consumers everywhere while keeping their spending in check. The trend, says Mohan, has been accelerated by Covid-19 as more people went online and shopped as they were forced to stay indoors during the pandemic.

“While recognising the disruption to life, I think it was a bit of a second coming for social media because it reminded people of its core purpose,” Mohan tells Fortune India. Meanwhile, during the pandemic, businesses discovered that the only way to survive was to find customers and sell to them online. Besides Facebook, the ecosystem has two other platforms: WhatsApp, which in India has over 15 million businesses; and Instagram, on which 90% of consumers follow brands. Globally, the ecosystem has more than 200 million businesses on it.