Sheryl Sandberg explains how Facebook got more small businesses to buy ads

Facebook realised that when it approached businesses asking if they wanted to become advertisers, it sounded like an intimidating process that would be a lot of work.

So, instead, Facebook started prompting businesses to advertise on a post-by-post basis.
When a small business posted something on Facebook, Facebook asked them whether they want to pay a small sum to “boost” their content so that more people could see it.
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The pitch for smaller businesses is simple: they often don’t have the resources to make and keep up their own websites. About 35% of US SMBs don’t even have an online presense, according to Facebook.
“For those businesses, how do you get online?” Sandberg asks. “It’s Facebook.”
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Making a business Page is much easier than making a website or app, Sandberg says. Once Facebook gets a business to use Pages — 50 million are doing so right now — it can convince them to ramp up their advertising.
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/facebook-smb-advertising-opportunity-2016-2