Facebook sees surge in content and engagement around festive season

As per Facebook internal data, Jan 2014 - Jan 2015, Data Science Researchers at Facebook have conducted a study in India that highlights the engagement trends, user insights, Facebook chatter, travel trends etc. around festive times with special emphasis on Diwali season. As per the study, online and offline shopping spreads across October to January as people prepare for and celebrate Diwali, as well as gear-up for the New Year, investing in both themselves as well as friends and family. As people connect with one another more than ever on Facebook, businesses have the opportunity to engage audiences that matter to them and drive brand awareness and business objectives.

Celebrations around Diwali today is as much an online one as it is offline, with more people active online around the Diwali season. As India gets ready for another bumper festive season the brands are getting ready to invest budgets in advertising and content. Facebook has recorded a 20% year-on-year growth in monthly active users on the platform and the number in India stands to more than 132 million monthly active users today. 90% users from India are on mobile. The study highlights that 1.12x increase is seen in content creation and 1.07x year-on-year increase in Diwali* conversation.

Key trends covered in the report include:

·         1.07x youths (18-24), 1.09x millennials (18-34), 1.05x parents and 1.13x non-parents login to share content spanning across video, photo and posts    

·         1.44X more photos are uploaded on Facebook around Diwali

·         2.76X more video content uploaded on Facebook during Diwali than comparable surrounding days

·         Mobile uploads take centerstage as 3.48X more posts, photos and videos are uploaded from mobiles as compared to desktops

·         More engagement on mobile during Diwali; 3.48x more posts, photos and videos uploaded on Mobile than Desktop during Diwali

·         Diwali is also seen as a travel time with people heading out to visit family and friends. Chatter around travel increases from the week leading up to Diwali, and during the festival

Top brands such as Dabur seem to indicate that brand reach peaks during the festive season. Adding to this Mr. Sanjay Singal, Head of Marketing – Foods, Dabur India Limited said, “With Real Greetings, we have built a strong proposition for Diwali Gifting for those who want to give a Healthy lifestyle to their loved ones. With all our consumers being on mobile all the time, Facebook offers a great option for us to reach all of them at scale using sharp geographic targeting and timing the campaign around purchase moments. We are excited to partner with Facebook this Diwali."