How to Expand Your Facebook Reach with Apps

In three simple steps, get your customers singing praises

Facebook is the virtual representation of a very large party or a highly addictive game. Each user is either a player or there to have a blast. As a company, they expect you to entertain them while they are there. Every feature added to Facebook is designed to entertain and connect while giving businesses a boost in leads and sales. One such feature on the Facebook page is adding “applications”. Apps, short for applications, are extremely versatile. Depending upon your business, you can choose which kind of application to develop but read on to find out why all good apps are destined to work!

Ever heard of the self-determination theory? In the 1970s, psychologists Richard Ryan and Edward Deci explained how intrinsic and extrinsic motivators urge people to get things done. Today, in 2013, the same principles are coming in to play with online social networking. Facebook applications are a great example of their three-step model. Sounding too scientific? Let us break it down for you:

1 – Autonomy:

Facebook applications give your fans the option to make a meaningful choice. Your page is no longer a ground for brand information, but a platform where your fans can interact with you. Empowering your customers through apps is a great way of gaining their loyalty. Also, Facebook apps can be used to convert these fans into leads because applications can easily collect contact information through forms that may have been boring otherwise.

The NFL Gifting, Salute To Service application is designed in honor of the Veterans’ day to show support to the military troops placed at home or abroad. An application that Cygnis Media was honoured to work on, provided users the opportunity to gift virtual goods to their friends and earn a 10% discount on NFL products. The application gave them power to do good, combining their virtual and real worlds.

2 – Competence:

Facebook apps are a fun way of providing feedback to your fans. They are a way of showing your fans that you appreciate their opinions about your product. Through applications, companies can also give their customers virtual or tangible rewards for their efforts. Apps, if designed well, can help promote your brand’s sincerity to its fans. The more positive feedback your fans receive from you, the higher the chances will be of them referring you to their friends.

PreventObesity.net launched a campaign called “Kick The Can” whose purpose was to educate people, specially kids, about the hazards of drinking soda. A Facebook application designed by Cygnis Media urged people to ‘kick the can’ instead of drinking it. The app congratulated people on avoiding sodas and encouraged them with point systems and leaderboards.

3 – Relatedness:

Content on your social page should be directly related to your customers needs and wants. Content marketing is the “in-thing” for 2013, but more of that later. What you need to focus on is that you observe the trends and lifestyles of your customers closely and identify what makes them tick. Facebook applications are a marvellous way of presenting your brand as a human being to your customer helping him relate to your company in a more emotional way. Increased relatedness equals increased effectiveness which in turn equals increased reach.

Cadbury Flake asked people to “Capture their Passion“. They used an app developed by Cygnis Media which encouraged users to submit photos of their glorious moments, from epic travels to backyard parties. The application helped the customers emotionally associate Cadbury Flake with joyous moments.

CONCLUSION:

Facebook applications are share-able. When you engage your current customers in an app, their performance gets automatically posted on their Timelines in the “app” section and consequently appears in their friends’ News Feeds. This increases your reach and gives you a better chance of spreading the word among your prospective customers. Fans who are already engaged in your application act as brand advocates and influencers for your product which adds another plus to your marketing strategy.

In conclusion, Facebook apps can help you reach out effectively to your audience if they employ the simple steps listed above. Facebook applications can empower your customers without spending a lot of marketing budget on execution. They can give regular feedback to your customers so that they are intrinsically motivated to stay connected with your products and spread the word about it in their social circles. Furthermore, relative content can grab their attention and through Facebook applications, they can become better aware of how genuine your brand promise is. So what’s holding you back? If you want us to develop an engaging app for you, let us know here.