By: Tlalane Tibisi
Maseru
Small businesses normally stumble with the challenges of attracting customers. But they often overlook the solution that is right before their eyes- Facebook. With Facebook being the leading social media platform in terms of users’ engagement, businesses seem to augment enormously on it.
It is said to be used by 30.8 percent of the Basotho population as of January 2025.
On Facebook, with almost every user having over one thousand friends, advertising has been no brainer. Furthermore, Facebook itself has a marketplace where business owners can display their products for their target market to see and it is even easier because Facebook does not have age restrictions except for its users should be over eighteen years, so, reaching target market is easy because anyone can see it. For if you sell men products, you know that there are plenty of men who will see your post.
On one hand, Facebook’s detailed profiles together with algorithm makes it easy for adverts to reach relevant audience. Moreover, the availability of the share button doubles or triples the engagement that it would have received at first instance creating a snowball effect.
‘Mats’ele Lephosa of Eden Foods Health shop who started advertising on Facebook in 2014, said Facebook has had an incredible impact on her business because she frequently gets clients who have known about her through it. She continued to say through Facebook, she has learnt what the majority likes hearing, she then writes stories that indirectly advertises her business because it is what her audience want to hear.
Furthermore, she shared that sometimes just when she thought people had not seen what she posted, then people would just pop up at her shop demanding something that she posted about a month ago. “People always see, and Facebook is the best for marketing my business.” Said Lephosa.
Also, Lephosa emphasised that even though she has been having quite a nice experience advertising on Facebook, she sometimes ends up sharing too much information with strangers which could pose threats to her and her business.
“Facebook is the elite of all social media platforms when it comes to advertising, it helped this business grow in a mesmerising way, I don’t even have enough words to explain how it has helped my business.” She concluded.
Facebook is a powerful communication platform that enables businesses to connect directly with their target audience, fostering brand awareness and loyalty.