Meta’s platforms continue to be significant business tools across the United States, according to the company’s latest economic impact report. Approximately 20.85 million U.S. businesses actively use Facebook, with 98.4% of these classified as small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with 250 or fewer employees.

Combining Meta-supported advertiser revenue estimates and its own non-advertising revenues,  the report indicates that the $548 billion in US economic activity,including 3.4 million jobs, in 2024, is linked to US supply chains relying on Meta’s platforms last year. 

“Note that, to be conservative, these economic contribution figures do not include revenues generated for businesses through Meta’s free services and apps, such as business pages. The figures presented here also do not include the economic value that our free services deliver to our users,” the report explains.

Strong Performance

This economic impact comes amid strong financial performance, with Meta recently reporting Q1 2025 revenue of $42.3 billion, up 16% year-over-year, driven largely by its advertising business.

Among businesses using Facebook, 73% of those that advertise consider digital advertising to be the most effective option for their business. The report shows that 43% of businesses have communicated directly with customers through digital tools, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Digital sales represent a large revenue channel, with 19% of Facebook-using businesses making at least 25% of their sales digitally in a given month.

Meta’s first-quarter results reflect this marketing effectiveness, with Family of Apps ad revenue reaching $41.4 billion in Q1 2025, showing a 5% increase in ad impressions served across services and a 10% increase in average price per ad. The online commerce vertical was noted as the largest contributor to year-over-year growth in ad revenue.

AI Adoption Among Small Businesses

The report highlights increasing AI integration among small businesses. An estimated 2.92 million U.S. businesses that use Facebook regularly employ AI products to streamline operations.

For businesses using AI products, the primary applications vary: 44% use AI tools primarily for advertising or marketing, 22% for customer communications, and 14% to improve employee productivity.

This aligns with Meta’s own strategic direction, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted in the company’s latest earnings call that 30% more advertisers are using AI creative tools compared to Q4 2024. The company is also testing a new ads recommendation model for Reels that has increased conversion rates by 5%.

Meta is increasing its AI investments, raising its planned 2025 capital expenditures to $64-72 billion, up from a previous outlook of $60-65 billion, primarily for AI infrastructure development.

The economic impact findings are based on an uncompensated, opt-in survey of 70,945 people nationally on the Facebook app conducted between January 13-28, 2025. Estimates are derived from responses by self-identified business owners and managers based on self-reported state location.

Meta’s calculation of economic impact uses experimental research that determined its 2024 U.S. advertising revenue of $58 billion led to $215 billion in advertiser revenue across all states.

Image source: Meta