Strategic Communications has been entrusted by Facebook with organizing the media coverage for their first official event in Malta.

Over 250 small and medium enterprises have gathered at the Valletta Waterfront, to attend the first Boost your Business (BYB) event organized by Facebook in Malta. Forming part of the Facebook European Roadshow 2017, BYB’s objective is to teach small and medium enterprises how to best leverage Facebook’s 1.9 billion users and up to 600 million Instagram users for their benefit. BYB was developed in order to help entrepreneurs uncover the business benefits delivered by Facebook tools and advertising strategies directly and in person.

Minister Cardona in his opening address noted how social media has changed the very fabric of communication patterns within Malta over the span of a few years, with the country being the leading nation in Europe when it comes to using social networks on a daily basis to disseminate information.

“Maltese SME’s have consistently shown they are flexible and resilient over the years, and it’s time they embrace social media in their marketing and business strategy. Facebook and Instagram are tools that can not only define a business whilst strongly impacting the brand reputation, but revolutionise the way you operate. Taking a page out of our country’s history book, success is not achieved by mere size, but by determination and innovation.” said Minister Cardona.

The event continued with a talk delivered by Oliver Sewell, Facebook Senior Manager of UK & Ireland, SMB EMEA, about opportunities for SMEs on Facebook. This was followed by a discussion about the Maltese EU Presidency and the policies adopted to ensure digitalization of businesses. The main part of the agenda was a panel discussion with local companies Exclusive Interiors, Coffee Circus and Fly the Fly, which shared their own success stories about growing with Facebook.

Anton Borg, President of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry said that “the development of digital marketing in today’s economic scenario has irreversibly changed the way we conduct business.  The online world has not only provided our businesses with an array of available tools that is facilitating their operation – it has disrupted previously established practices as it is accelerating the evolution of our business models at a rate previously unseen.”

“It is clearly evident that the capability of businesses to completely absorb and ride this revolution, is increasingly determining which companies create or lose value. We are seeing new business models emerging, that would not have been at all possible ten or less years ago.  This wave is not only changing the way we communicate our messages and reach our intended audiences, but it is also changing the way we live our lives and shifting our goal posts. The Digital revolution is here and it is not going anywhere. It is in fact predicted to intensify its hold on our lives as the future of our businesses continues to change. Like we did with the other economic revolutions before it, we must look at digitalisation as an opportunity to take our businesses to the next level.” added Anton Borg.

The participants in the event also had the opportunity to take part in one-to-one consultations, workshops and training sessions focused on explaining specific topics relating to both Facebook and Instagram. SMEs interested in boosting their business potential via social media included both medium sized ventures as well as a significant number of smaller “mom & pop” enterprises. These smaller businesses especially stand to benefit from the cost-friendly but robust platforms for marketing and brand building activities delivered by Facebook and Instagram.

“There are more than 65 million small and medium businesses around the world that actively use Facebook Pages because they’re free, easy to use, and they work well on mobile. Generally business owners discover Facebook for their business because they know how to use it personally: setting up a Page is just as easy as setting up a profile. And Facebook is where their customers already are. We are happy to be here in Malta supporting local entrepreneurs in their effort to boost their business” stated Laura Bononcini, Head of Policy for Italy, Greece and Malta at Facebook.

The event was organized in cooperation with the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry and the Ministry for the Economy, Investment and Small Business.