Too many people are ready to dismiss Facebook as a dying form of social media with newer platforms ready to overtake it as the Next Big Thing, and that its numbers (both in users and revenue) have peaked and they can only dwindle from here on in. This view is not at all supported by the facts however. Possibly the success of Facebook makes it an easy target; when something reaches a pinnacle there can only seem to be one way for it to go, people also seem to be conditioned to attack something when it is perceived as being overly successful.
So what are the impressive figures, then? The truth is, as their Q1 figures reveal, Facebook is going from strength to strength. Contrary to how people may prefer to perceive its popularity the numbers of global users are going up all the time. Its clever business strategies and advertising model also mean that its revenue is increasing all the time, and at quite some rate. This has been down to an impressive advertising strategy that works for the customer, is an affordable model and obviously has the power to reach the many millions of users that log on to the site every day.
Here are some of the impressive stats released with their Q1 figures:
Facebook’s revenues for Q1 2014 were a whopping $2.5bn, an increase of 72% on 2013’s figures in the same quarter.
Profits stand at $642m, almost triple the amount of profit in Q1 2013.
Advertising revenues for Q1 2014 were $2.27bn, rising by 82% in a single 12 month period.
1.28 BILLION people use Facebook at least once a month throughout the world. That’s more than one in six people on the entire planet.
Of these there are 802 million active users, which means they go on the site every day. That’s one in nine people across the world, and a 21% increase on the numbers for the same time last year.
Over 1 in 12 people worldwide check Facebook on their mobile device every day, a total of 609 million active mobile users.
The daily mobile use figures are an increase of 42% on the same quarter last year, contradicting the criticism that Facebook is falling behind for mobile use.
These statistics are impressive by any business’ standards, not least of which a site which many believe to be on the wane – and the proof now is that that simply isn’t true. Facebook remains the leader in its field and with continued growth looks set to retain that domination well in to the next five years or so. Their business plan aims for continued and sustainable growth so you can be sure more of these sorts of results will be posted in the forseeable future.
