The Facebook Platform Team recently added our comprehensive blog post on the Facebook interaction and integration touch points to their much read Offsite Tools and Tutorials.  Matt Trainer writes:

Great post, [metablocks].
We’ve added this to our Offsite Tools and Tutorials post.
Thanks for sharing.

Matt Trainer

Thanks for the add! Much appreciate!

According to comScore (June 2008), 62% of the worldwide Internet audience has viewed a widget, Canadians being the heaviest users (80% penetration) and Asia being among the lowest.

The report also shows Gigya and ClearSpring worldwide penetration as being almost equal (13.1% vs 13.7%).  It has a lot of other interesting widget (and social media) facts. For example, in April 2008, Facebook application usage had reached 9% of the worldwide internet population (I am sure that has grown since).

The report goes as far as to profile heavy vs light widget viewers. The report and presentation (at the Web Widget Expo) are definitely worth checking out!

Widget Web Expo June 17 2008 V2 3 – Presentation Transcript
1. MEASURING THE DIGITAL WORLD Tracking Widgets in the Wild (Worldwide) Linda Abraham EVP, Product Management comScore Inc. June 17, 2008
2. What We Do…. ¦ comScore measures the continuous online activity of 2 million people enabling us to measure their p p g online and offline consumer behavior ¦ The consumer panel is a representative cross section of the US Population and worldwide regions and countries p g ¦ Permission to survey panelists; Permission to match to 3rd party databases; Addition of other offline data through partnerships g ¦ Portfolio of products and services that include syndicated audience measurement, tracking studies, ad-hoc analysis and custom panels Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 2
3. 950 + Blue Chip Customers Internet Agencies Telecom Financial Retail Travel CPG Pharma Technology Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 3
4. Report 32 Countries Separately… Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 4
5. …But data collected from 171 countries Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 5
6. About The Worldwide Widget Report from comScore ¦ comScore’s Widget Metrix report measures: – Total unique viewers and reach of widgets on a worldwide basis – Reports on demos for widget viewers within the US ¦ Publishers requested 3rd party measurement standardization and verification to help legitimize the value of the market. – Help attract advertisers investors and partners into this growing market advertisers, investors, market. ¦ comScore defines a web widget as an independent object that can be embedded or downloaded onto another site and can be used as a tool, has automatic updates changing the content or is interactive. content, interacti e ¦ Because of the lack of implementation standards, we require tagging to be included in our report ¦ Widget usage is both strong and wide: – Over 62% of Worldwide Internet audience has viewed a widget. – I the US M k this b ll In h Market, hi balloons to over 77% of the market % f h k – Canadians are the heaviest users, with widgets reaching over 80% of the internet population comScore Widget Metrix, April 2008 Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 6
7. Worldwide Widget Reach ¦ North America leads in widget penetration and usage ¦ Widget reach in Asia is among the lowest but with a very large base lowest, base, translates to significant numbers of widget users Usage Days per Unique Visitors (MM) U i Vi it %R Reach h User Asia Pacific 53.6% 6.9 North America 77.6% 8.5 Western Europe 60.0% 6.0 Latin America 70.4% 6.6 Eastern Europe 51.9% 5.6 Middle E t d Middl East and 68.3% 6.0 Africa comScore Widget Metrix, April 2008 Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 7
8. Worldwide Widget Reach ¦ Within regions, there is a wide variance in the penetration of widgets by country Widgets % Reach % Reach Canada 80.6 Singapore 79.7 Puerto Rico 79.5 Malaysia 78.4 Portugal 78.4 Austria 49.0 Switzerland 48.7 Sweden 46.9 Russian Federation 32.3 Japan 29.1 comScore Widget Metrix, April 2008 Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 8
9. Social Networks Are Enjoying Strong Worldwide Growth With Room to Go ¦ Social Networks are growing worldwide ¦ In the Asia Pacific region, these sites are growing at a rate that is almost 6 times the category’s growth in North America category s ¦ The Americas still have the highest penetration rates Social Networking Growth % Reach 70.0 60.0 50.0 Y/Y Unique Visitor 40.0 Growth Rates Worldwide: 58% 30.0 Asia-Pacific :119% North America:19% 20.0 Europe: 75% Latin America: 72% 10.0 MidEast-Africa: 145% 0.0 Jan-07 Feb-07 Mar-07 Apr-07 May-07 Jun-07 Jul-07 Aug-07 Sep-07 Oct-07 Nov-07 Dec-07 Jan-08 North America Asia Pacific Europe Latin America Middle East Africa Source: comScore World Metrix, January 2007-January 2008 Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 9
10. Worldwide, Facebook Drove the Category’s Growth in 2007, overtaking MySpace this month ¦ Worldwide, Facebook is the Social Network with the traction, overtaking MySpace on a worldwide basis this month Social Networking Sites: Worldwide Source: comScore World Metrix, April 2007 – April 2008 Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 10
11. Widget Reach vs. Video Reach ¦ Widgets Reach more persons in the US than Video % Reach Widgets % Reach Video Difference All Persons 77.2% 70.5% 6.7 Persons: 2-17 72.7% 68.9% 3.8 Persons: 18-24 82.0% 73.6% 8.4 Persons: 25-34 82.9% 73.4% 9.5 Persons: 35 44 P 35-44 79 8% 79.8% 72 8% 72.8% 70 7.0 Persons: 45-54 77.1% 70.1% 7.0 Persons: 55+ 70.5% 65.0% 5.5 All Males 77.5% 72.1% 5.5 Male: 2-17 2 17 73 8% 73.8% 72 0% 72.0% 18 1.8 Male: 18-24 81.3% 76.8% 4.5 Males: 25-34 83.6% 74.4% 9.2 Males: 35-44 80.0% 73.6% 6.4 Male: 45-54 77.6% 70.8% 6.8 Male: 55+ 71.1% 66.2% 4.8 All Females 76.9% 69.0% 7.9 Female: 2-17 71.5% 65.5% 6.0 Female: 18-24 82.7% 70.5% 12.2 Females: 25-34 82.2% 72.6% 9.7 F Females: 35 44 l 35-44 79.6% 79 6% 72.0% 72 0% 7.6 76 Female: 45-54 76.7% 69.5% 7.3 Female: 55+ 70.0% 63.7% 6.2 comScore Widget Metrix and Video Metrix, April 2008 Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 11
12. Platform Reach by Country is well established Clearspring Penetration Gigya Penetration Top 20 Countries Top 20 Countries Country % Reach Country % Reach World 13.1% 13 1% World 13.7% 13 7% Ireland 33.8% Portugal 41.3% Portugal 33.4% Puerto Rico 31.6% New Zealand 29.8% Singapore 25.8% Singapore 26.8% Malaysia 24.9% United Kingdom 26.4% Mexico 24.9% United States 26.1% United States 24.9% Puerto Rico 24.6% Colombia 21.8% Malaysia 18.9% Australia 17.4% Canada 18 0% 18.0% Italy 15 4% 15.4% Australia 17.0% United Kingdom 14.7% Brazil 16.6% Canada 14.0% Mexico 16.4% Chile 13.4% Colombia 13.6% Argentina 12.3% India 7.3% Austria 11.9% Norway 7.1% Brazil 11.2% Austria 6.9% Norway 10.5% Netherlands 6.6% Spain 10.1% Italy 5 8% 5.8% Israel 8.7% 8 7% Switzerland 5.6% Switzerland 8.4% Sweden 5.2% Germany 7.6% comScore Widget Metrix , April 2008 Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 12
13. Facebook Applications ¦ Applications on Facebook reach 9% of Worldwide internet population – The Top 5 Facebook Applications have continued to maintain significant presence Worldwide Reach of Facebook Applications 9.0% FACEBOOK.COM – Applications Super Wall FunWall Top Friends Bumper Sticker Movies 8.0% 7.0% 6.0% 5.0% % Reach 4.0% 3.0% 3 0% 2.0% 1.0% 0.0% Aug-07 Sep-07 Oct-07 Nov-07 Dec-07 Jan-08 Feb-08 Mar-08 Apr-08 comScore Widget Metrix, April 2008 Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 13
14. Facebook Applications ¦ Both Men & Women use the more popular applications… applications Application Usage Composition Index Application Males Females FunWall 104 96 Top Friends 101 99 Movies o es 100 100 00 Super Wall 98 102 comScore Widget Metrix, April 2008 (US Only) Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 14
15. Facebook Applications ¦ …but there are wide differences in usage of other applications but Application Usage Composition Index Application Males Females FunWall 104 96 Top Friends 101 99 Movies o es 100 100 00 Super Wall 98 102 What’s Your Stripper 47 153 Happy H ! H Hour! 57 143 Hugs 71 129 HOT or NOT 114 86 Armyfight 158 43 comScore Widget Metrix, April 2008 (US Only) Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 15
16. Where are Widget Viewers spending time? ¦ Heavy Widget Viewers have very different browsing preferences than Light Widget Viewers Duration Index by Site Category Heavy Widget Viewers Light Widget Viewers Conversational Media 281 20 Corporate Presence 260 50 Entertainment 214 50 Search/Navigation g 183 70 Retail 162 73 e-mail 160 64 Online Trading g 99 132 Genealogy 63 132 Home Furnishings 88 125 Lotto/Sweepstakes 91 119 Travel – Information 86 115 Financial Information/Advice 95 105 comScore Widget Metrix and Media Metrix, April 2008 Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 16
17. Widgets & E-Commerce ¦ Heavy Widget Viewers have specific online spending habits Buying Buying E-Commerce Category Power E-Commerce Category Power Index Index VIDEO GAME CONSOLES & ACCESSORIES 250 OTHER HOME & LIVING ITEMS 80 GIFT CERTIFICATES & COUPONS 185 JEWELRY & WATCHES 79 TRAVEL PACKAGES 161 ARTS, CRAFTS & PARTY SUPPLIES 73 GREETINGS 151 OTHER TOY & GAME ITEMS 71 ONLINE CONTENT SALES 137 TOBACCO PRODUCTS 68 PET SUPPLIES 133 ACCESSORIES 52 ONLINE SERVICES 129 OTHER APPAREL ITEMS 32 comScore Widget Metrix and comScore E-Commerce, April 2008 (US Only) Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 17
18. Tracking Widgets in the Wild ¦ Multiple standards in widget development and deployment led to an individualized approach to tracking the various implementations ¦ Publishers vs. Platforms vs. Networks ¦ SWF Objects ¦ Javascript Objects ¦ Open Social ¦ comScore moving to a new standard to track widgets and other distributed di t ib t d content t t Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 18
19. Tracking Widgets in the Wild ¦ N New standard i collection of di t ib t d content t d d in ll ti f distributed t t – Tagging based collection based on unique ID’s • Append tag to any existing http call – C ll ti i d Collection is development standard and d li l t t d d d delivery mechanism agnostic h i ti – Reported through comScore’s Media Metrix interface • Currency for over 600 clients including agencies, media planners and publishers http://www.site.com/widget.swf?CXNID=0031001.0123456789NXC Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 19
20. Widgets can deliver… ¦ C Coveted d t d demographic t hi targets t ¦ Targets that are valuable to advertisers ¦ Worldwide audiences ¦ People at the time of engagement—might be more predisposed to advertising ¦ But…They get stale easily Freshness, engagement, and a global view F h t d l b l i Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 20

Since the explosive success of Facebook applications, a number of companies have started ad networks delivered through social media applications (such as Facebook and OpenSocial applications). The idea is to help developers monitize their application traffic by display ads directly within their applications.  At the same time, these ad networks allow brands (including some of our clients) promote their Facebook applications. Here are some of the social media ad networks for those interested in advertising to social media users or simply promoting their applications on socical networks:

“Pure Play” Social Media Ad Networks
New ad networks started purely for the purpose of monitizing social media applications.

• Socialmedia Networks
  Claim to power over 5000 applications and counting.
  Blog | Visit | more..
  
• Lookery
  Recently acquired by AdKnowledge.
  Blog | Visit | more..
  
• Cubics
  Support most major social networks including Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, and Bebo. Acquired by AdKnowldge about a year ego.
  Blog | Visit | more..
  
• fbExchange
  Based on old LinkExchange model. Display ads for credits which you use to buy ads for your apps. Claim to have over 1443 developers in their network.
  Blog | Visit | more..
  

Facebook Apps Turned Ad Neworks
One day they were a popular Facebook application, the next day, they are an ad network!

• RockYou Ads
  Popular Facebook application developer (SuperWall) turned social media ad network. Charge on a per-user-acquired (CPA) basis ($0.30–$1.00 per application add). Network spans all major social networks and claims to have over 6 billion page views a month.
  Blog | Visit | more..
  
• EggNetwork (VideoEgg)
  Huge ad sales team with experience selling to big brands. Sell at above $10 CPM. 60/40 revenue split with application providers.
  Blog | Visit | more..
  
• SocialCash
  Created by Gratis Internet, a Washington D.C. based web advertising agency best known for their free iPhone advertisements.
  Blog | Visit | more..
  

As part of our blog marketing services we advise and assist companies in getting their blogs up and running. Usually its the CEO or the VP or Marketing tht wants to get the the blog on! The SEO benefits of having a corporate blog (especially for smaller companies) are huge. In week or even days these companies can start “owning” important business keyworks. Here are some of our own little example:

• Widget Best Practicies (#1)
• enterprise widget developer (#1)
• Yahoo TV widget developer (#3)
• political widget developer (#4)
• flash widget development (#4)
• and the list goes on and on and by just by once again incorporating these keywords into by blog post, I am getting SEO credit, how sweet!

Indeed, nice choice keyword you don’t have to pay for! Free traffic delivered (daily) to you, courtesy of your blog! A VP of marketing’s dream come true! We have software internally that keeps track of keywords you “own” and keywords you “want to own” and tell you how well you are blogging. This magic machines tells clients daily what they should blog about. But keywords are not enough, you need content to “carry” them (bummer) and many times our braze corporate blogger is short on ideas, he or she is simply “blogged out” or “blogged down”.  So we keep a primer on the types of blog posts one can write about your company. Again, you spin the magic wheel and it tells you: “Today you need to blog about corporate culture”. If you don’t like the suggestion, you spin the wheel again! You get the idea!

Here is a list of corporate blog post types..hopefully this will help some of the corporate bloggers out there keep their blogs nice and fresh and prevent that corporate staleness that sets in after the first week of “Look Ma no hands, Look Ma ain’t blogging grand!”

• Company News:
  General company new announcement
  • Example: Company announces partnership or product release
• Internal Company Story:
  Story about an internal event, policy or happening that illustrates some important aspect of the company culture, philosophy or attitudes.
  • Example: Our Search for a New VP of Engineering
• Trend Piece:
  Interest piece summarizing industry trends or market research
  • Example: SMS and Text-messaging grows at alarming rate
• Industry Piece (“Big Picture” Piece):
  Interest piece on the industry that either summarizes the competitive landscape, talks about new or important issues or developments
  • Example: How new legislature affects the real estate industry
• Customer profile, testimonial or highlight:
  Examination of how a customer is using company’s service or product to be successful. Great away to reward active customers and encourage other customers to do the same. This can also be done as a podcast.
  • Example: How GE saved millions of dollars with our new platform.
• “How To” or “Application” piece:
  Post that explains how to use a feature or service, or how a service can be used for a new application.
  • Example: How to post to Craigslist using our service.
• New Feature or Product Release:
  Summary of new features or capabilities, can be combined with a “How To” post.
  • Example: Company adds Mobile and SMS support
• Press mentions, awards or news summaries:
  Summary of recent news, press or blog mentions. Great way to tout ones own horn to customers and partners.
  • Example: Here is analysts had to say about our product launch
  • Example: News and Buzz surrounding our new product release
• Upcoming events:
  Post to announce upcoming event or release
• Interesting or humorous news piece:
  Interest piece about peculiar, humorous or interesting story relating to the company, a customer experience, service/product or industry
• User survey or poll:
  Asking readers to take a short poll or survey.
  • Example: Please rate upcoming features?
  • Example: How do you use instant messaging with our product?
• “Fishing Expedition” Post:
  Asking readers if they are interested in a new service you are offering or planning to offer
  • Example: Looking for sponsors to pilot a new service.
  • Example: Looking for beta users for new product.

Food for blog thought! And remember to incorporate that sweet “buzzword compliant” industry techno bable into your posts, otherwise you’re wasting your companies time and money. Joking..but enjoy and hopefully you won’t run out of blog post ideas!

A couple of weeks ago I did a post featuring some social media marketing examples I found being maitained by enterpreneur Peter Kim. His original post contained a great list of examples of how large consumer brands are using social media in their marketing efforts.

Some of our clients have asked for more detailed examples or examples specific to their industry so we are in the process of creating an internal database of social media marketing best practices and examples and try to marrying them with performance analytics and commentary (social media is great..but what works and what doesn’t work!)

We are looking for social media marketing examples, specific to the following industries:

• Aerospace & Defense
• Pharma
• Energy & Utilities
• Retail
• Travel

If know of any, please feel free to post a comment or send us an email at: socialmedia-012@metablocks2.com!

Based on a conversation I had yesterday with a prospective client, I wanted to share some widget development best practices we at Metablocks try and incorporate into our widget development process that might help companies who are considering adding widgets to the social media marketing mix:

• Keep it Simple Stupid – No Registration, No Emails
  At Epicentric, a company I started in 1999, I used to have a saying: “All attempts to limit revenue will succeed!” – the same applies to traffic! Requiring registration or sign in, or adding any unnecessary complexity to the widget download process will only result in less distribution! The general idea should be to have as many people download (and then share) your widget as possible. Expect abandonment rate as high as 30%-50% if you plan or forcing users to register or give you their email address!
• Enable Widget Customization and Personalization
  Most widget platform (especially desktop platforms) enable some degree of personalization. Consider allowing users to “skin” your widget (customize its design) as well as save preferences such as their zip codes (example: for a weather widget) or favorate content categories.
• Support Multiple Platforms
  Until the world runs on one operating system, be sure to support as many platforms as make sense for your customer or user base. Windows Vista Sidebar widgets will take care of Windows Vista, MacOS X widgets will do the same for the Macintosh and Yahoo! Widgets on Windows Vista, Windows XP and the MacOS. Make it easy for users to download widgets by supporting multiple platform (there is no “one-size fits them all” approach when it comes to widgets) and not requiring registration or email addresses. Click here for a list of common widget platforms.
• Support Sharing and Bookmarking
  Considering using a widget distribution platform (such as Gigya and Clearspring) to add a sharing menu to your widget. Although their sharing capabilities are not perfect, widget distribution platforms are configurable so you can enable only the sharing options you know will work with your particular widget.
• Track User Activity
  Another benefit of integrating a widget distribution platform into your widget is their ability to track most aspects of user activity. Custom reporting solutions, which we have built for a number of clients, are also an option if you require custom or extensive tracking capabilities.
• Have a Compelling Value Proposition
  You must give users a compelling reason to download your widget! A simple “Tip of the Day” widget will probably not do, and the days of “Look Ma – No Hands but I have a Widget” are long gone! Ask yourself, “Why would someone download my widgets” and consider packing more functionality or utility into your widget to up the value proposition. Widgets shouldn’t simply be advertisements for your product or service!
• Provide Utility or Timely Information
  Related to my previous point, user will not long tolerate a useless or “once-a-week” widgets that take up desktop real estate without delivering timely (hopefully real time or semi-mealtime) information. Great – so you got the user to download the widget – what next.  User will not continue to stare at the “Tip of the Week” desktop widget that gets updated once a month – that’s what email is for!
• Understand Widget Security
  Widgets do not provide the most secure computing environments, so avoid using them to storing sensitive information (such as password or payment information). Because of the persistence of desktop widgets, they are usually “always on” even when a user is away from their computer. Since most widgets don’t allow you to logout, avoid deploying widgets that may compromise a user’s privacy or enable unauthorized e-commerce transactions, that’s just a lawsuit waiting to happen!
• When it Comes to Widgets – Size Matters
  Keep your widgets small! By small I am referring both to their memory footprint (this will affect download speed) and their physical size on the computer screen. Large desktop widgets take up too much space, which increases their likelihood of being deleted! Large web widgets compete with content on a user’s website and therefore have the same problem. I will dedicate a post later this week to talking about recommended widget sizes (subscribe to get a copy via email). For added flexibility, consider adhering to IAB standard sizes to maximize widget distribution.
• Don’t Forget about Download Usability and Bandwidth
  Download speed is important! 57% of a sample of 8000 users reported that download speed was a factor in returning to a site, but 67% found ease of use a first priority. Make sure you design your widget landing page so its easy to use and that you have enough bandwidth from your hosting provider or your development partner to ensure a quick and pleasant widget download experience.
• Submit, Submit, Submit
  Be sure to submit your widget to all the widget directories that make sense! Also considering creating a Widgetbox and iGoogle version of your widget just to get into their directories. Getting listed in a widget directory can result in added exposure, traffic and generally has SEO (search engine optimization) benefits.

Here are some other great resources to look at before designing or developing your widget:

• Clearspring: Widget Best Practicies
• ClickZ: Best Practicies for Deploying Widgets
• iMediaConnection: 4 Widget Best Practicies
• StickiWidgets: 10 Things to Consider when Building Widgets
• Spephan Spencer’s: Widget Best Practicies
• Widgets Lab: Elements of a Winning Widget
• Niall Kennedy: Optimizing and Scaling Web Widget Performance

• Facebook Widgets Do’s and Don’t
• Javascript Widget Approaches
• Widget Development on Flash Platform
• How to Build a Widget
• Google Best Practicies

Warning: Please consult your widget development professional as to how this information could apply to your situation, since widget deployment results will vary.

I recently ran across an excellent list of social media marketing examples maintained by Peter Kim.  The list includes companies as diverse as Adidas, American Express, Bank of America to Exxon Mobile, IBM, SAP and Skittles!  The list touches on activity in all areas of social media including blogging, social networks, widgets, video and podcasting! Its definitely worth checking out for anyone interesting in getting their organization on the social media band wagon! Here are some examples:

Acura

• Social networks: Facebook Acura TSX Connect fan page.
• Widgets: Acura RDX Traffic on Yahoo.

Best Buy:

• Blogging:  CMO Barry Judge’s blog.
• Microblogging:  Barry Judge on Twitter.
• Online Video:  Geek Squad HQ on YouTube.
• Social networks: Created Blue Shirt Nation to allow retail employees to support each other.
• Widgets:  Desktop Planner widget and Sarah Moulton Recipe Reminder on Yahoo.

EMC

• Blogging:  Sixteen employee blogs.
• Brand monitoring:  Using Collective Intellect.
• Content aggregation:  Friendfeed account.
• Online video:  YouTube channel.
• Organization:  Dan Schwabel, Social Media Specialist.
• Photosharing: Flickr account.
• Social Networks:  EMC ONE internal network.  Documentum on Facebook.

McDonalds

• Blogging: Corporate social responsibility blog. Fake Monopoly game blogs. Mom’s Quality Correspondents blog – “real moms” blogging about McDonalds behind the scenes.
• Podcasting: Investor relations and other issues.
• Social networks:  Internal “Mindshare” community powered by Awareness Networks.  College Hoops Extra Value Picks Facebook Application.

Click Here for the complete list.

User interface changes ushered in by the new Facebook have significantly impacted Facebook application developers and users alike and has prompted numerous complaints from both camps.  Changes to the Facebook API, the application workflow and overall application functionality is forcing developers to change the way they build and deploy FB apps. Here are some of the big changes:

• Adding Facebook Applications has Become a Chore!
  The new Facebook user interface almost does away with the idea of “adding application”. In the new Facebook, you “access applications” and once inside an application you can “bookmark” it (Note: FB now also “remembers” recent applications). Unfortunately the process of bookmarking isn’t intuitive and can easily be missed. The only way to bookmark an application is to use the toolbar at the bottom of the screen and to make matters worse the toolbar only shows the last 7 bookmarked applications.
  
• Profile Boxes are More Miss than Hit
  In the original Facebook once you added an application, a profile box would by default be added to your profile, unfortunately in the new Facebook this is not the case. First of all, you must explicitly add a profile box yourself. Secondly, unless you want a super thin profile box, your box will most likely live in the Boxes tab, hidden from most visitors. The only plus in the new Facebook is the ability for developers to enable an application tab, unfortunately the API restricts the type of information the tab has access to.

  

• Forget the Application Directory
  There are just too many applications in Facebook’s application directory and the submission process is unpredictable and usually long.  Additionally, Facebook’s terms of service disallow certain types of advertising that will get many ad-driven applications kicked out.

So what do these changes mean for application developers? Here are some Facebook application development best practices you may want to consider in your next app:

• Shift the Focus from Profile Boxes to News Feeds
  With the new Facebook, profile boxes are out and news feeds are in! Application needs to be more about communication, notifications and updates than sticking “stuff” in profile boxes.  Chances are your profile box may never be seen by a visitor, so you cannot depend on visitors seeing and acting on information in a user’s profile box.  Instead, focus on creating “chatty applications” that post news on relevant user interaction to their news feeds and enabling user to user notification, email and communication. 
  
• Market it – Spread the Love via a URL
  As I mentioned, being included in the application directory isn’t what it used to be! Additionally, with the growing number of applications being submitted daily, the approval process is becoming longer and longer. As a result, we encourage clients to promote their applications directly inside and outside of Facebook. Companies are using their websites, email marketing, fan pages, social ads and other forms of advertising to promote their Facebook apps more effectively. Have your promotions link back to your FB app. Encourage users to invite friends (both inside and outside Facebook) and finally leverage your existing user base to carry your application into Facebook where it can spread and drive traffic back to your site.
• Invite Outside the System
  Facebook limit the number of friends a user can invite (currently around 20), but there is nothing that prevents you from enabling users to invite friends “outside of Facebook” (the same way social networks do). Note: Facebook recently announced they are adding this feature to their standard invitation process.

  

• Share, Share, Share
  Make it easy for users to share your content using Facebook’s share button or other similar mechanisms. There are currently no limits on the amount of content you can share, additionally visitors do not need to add or access your application in order to share your content! Also consider other forms of “sharing” content such as email and bookmarking to get the word out.

  

• Help Users do the Right Thing
  By default, we usually add extensive help within all of the Facebook applications we develop. These help pages instruct users how to bookmark applications, add boxes to their profile and add application tabs to their profiles.  We suggest developers provided both inline help and even an entire page dedicated to helping users navigate the new Facebook and properly “add their application”.

  

• Make it Socially Engaging!
  Despite the new Facebook UI changes, don’t forget to make your application social engaging! The most successful applications enable and encourage community and communication. Avoid self-promotional application that simply advertise your services or products without a community or social element! Try and understand your users and provide them with a compelling value proposition to use your application!

At Metablocks we wear both developer and marketing hats! Most of our business revolves around user interface and application design, especially social media applications, but we also have a growing consultancy business around social media marketing.

One of the new social media marketing tools that has gained popularity and momentum in recent months is Twitter and a growing number of new media marketers have become big “Twitter Marketing” fans (IgnitePR, Citizen Agency,TechnoSailor, i.e.)

What is Twitter, you ask? Twitter defines itself as a tool for “staying in touch and keeping up with friends no matter where you are or what you’re doing.” (more…) Marketers have reinterpreted that as a way for companies and brands to stay in touch with customers or prospective customers no matter where they are! For those interested, I recently added a page on our Wiki with a list of Twitter marketing related resources including articles and success stories.

Here are some practical applications of “outgoing” Twitter marketing in action:

• A TV show or music network automatically updating viewers and fans via Twitter about upcoming episodes
• A news network distributing news headlines regularly on Twitter
• A corporate blogger automatically updating their Twitter feed with links to their latest news, events or blog posts
• A local government sending weather and other alerts (such as Amber alerts) to their residents via Twitter

Here are some “incoming” Twitter marketing applications:

• A cable company using Twitter to identify customers with support needs or issues
• A technology company using Twitter for find information about competitors
• A marketing company using Twitter to gauge the “buzz” or interested around a Brand
• A reporter using Twitter to find out what the “Topic De Jour” (topic of the day) happens to be

Another interesting “application” (verb) of Twitter is to actually integrate it into desktop and web-based applications (noun) to automatically share information about a users activities or interests (with their permission of course).  Here are some examples

• Your cable set top box automatically “tweets” the TV shows you are currently watching
• Each time you sell an item on eBay, Craigslist or vFlyer, it show up on your Twitter feed
• Videos or photos you share on sites like YouTube and Flickr instantaneously get reflected in your Twitter feed
• Blog posts, news and events you create automatically show up in your Twitter feed

Too much information (TMI)? Perhaps, but a growing number of people are now living “Twitter-enhanced” lives and marketers are realizing that Twitter may indeed be that best way to reach them!

Tags: twitter, marketing

After my post on Hillcrest Labs, one or two clients mentioned that they didn’t realize we were such big Adobe Illustrator users! I am not surprise since its not common knowledge that in addition to our core business of web and social media application design and development we provide a broad range of other service to clients including infographics and other information-driven communication. Most of this work stems from our web design group who help clients better communication aspects of their technology or architecture visually. In the process we have developed a growing library of “object-art” that helps us in the story telling process.

Here are a couple of examples of some past infographic work:

• Nanosolar (Solar Paint)
• Nanosolar (Process)
• SearchForce
• Cingular GoPhone
• Concursion (Process)
• Bevocal (Storyboard)

Tags: infographics, diagrams