Measuring Facebook Applications

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By: Matt Clark

After yesterday’s post about marketers utilizing Facebook search and our example of branded Facebook content traveling virally, I thought it would be good to examine Facebook apps further.

The most popular application on Facebook is called “Causes.” They have about 7,655,225 users. 306,209 are daily active users - that’s 4% of total Facebook users. The application with the most activity is called “The Brain Game,” 69% of their users are daily active users (36,661 of 53,131). The application with the most active users is “FunWall.” They have 2,237,394 active users (only 15% of their users) out of 14,915,960 users. Now these apps are obviously successful, but what about the lesser known applications - the newer ones that companies build to attract consumer to their product?

These applications typically have a high activity rate, but this is usually because they have low numbers of users who are already connected to the brand. They also are usually not on the Facebook App radar in terms of actual users. This does not mean that these apps are not working. There are four ways to analyze the application’s market value:

1. What is the cost per user? Take the cost of the application (time spent, development, etc…) and divide it by the amount of application users. Then you will find the cost per user. The lower the number the better. Only the executive team can decide what is a reasonable cost for each user.
2. What’s the click-through-rate of users enabling the application and actually signing up for your product or page? The higher the click-through-rate, the better. You can then go further and take the cost of the application and divide it by the number of users that signed up for your product or page through the application.
3. What percentage of application users are part of your target audience? Go through all the profiles of the application users and see who fits into your target audience. Take that number and divide it by the total number of application users.
4. What percentage of your target audience utilizes application? Find the total number of Facebook members who are part of your target audience (this can not be everyone - that’s just bad marketing) and find out how many of them have your application. Take that number and divide it by the total number previously found. You can go further here and see how many of these users are now consumers of your brand.

For a few of these you will need web log information. There are a host of services available that these services - many are basic software that just need to be installed on the server. Websites like OneStat.com also offers site traffic analysis software that will give you detailed reports. Every Web site should use a service like this, even if it’s not for Facebook Applications.

All companies need to find ways to make their applications viral that go beyond Mini-Feeds and unwilling invites. Successful marketing campaigns on social networking Web sites offer participation and personalization through entertaining content that travels well.

One thought is to choose the correct application categories on Facebook. Just because you are interested in a video-interest audience doesn’t mean that’s the best place to put the app. Another thought is to mobilize your current community. Your application has to start with the existing brand usesr. Get the word out to current consumers about your application. Enclose a link in the email for them to sign in to their Facebook page and immediately put the app on their page - you can utilize an email tracker, such as Sales Genius, to track click-though-rates. Facebook members who don’t have any brand association with your company or product are not going to sign up for your application without reason. Marketers need to ignite current brand enthusiasts who are Facebook members around the Facebook application, to send it to their friends.

These are just suggestions that may help improve your Facebook Application’s reach. The main point of concern is finding a way to make all branded apps and content more viral than it is already. Otherwise, why spend the money to create it?