Identified Hits

Advertising Scenario: App Endorsements

Why Use App Endorsements?

to attract new users to your app (more effectively).
to showcase "valuable" actions of existing users to get new users to do the same (explain hide explanation).
An example of a valuable action would be a user donating money in Causes. By showing the user's friends that he donated money, the friends may be inspired to donate as well (especially if the call to action is right: Match Donation). A more subtle example might be to showcase that a user uploaded content-- perhaps motivating friends to particpate in a similar way.

How They Work

Nathan installs the App
Nathan opts into sending ads containing his picture, etc. (show sample hide sample)
Only Nathan's friends see the personalized ads:
The ad has credibility and shows how the friend benefited by using the app (higher click-through-rate)

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do your ads differ from the competition?

A: Other ad networks use generic ads (they are not personalized and do not reference a friend's action). See an example.

Q: How is this different from "Beacon?"

A: recall that "Beacon" did took information from outside of Facebook and broadcasted it without requiring the user's approval. Our offering is strictly opt-in; users are asked whether their information can be shared with their friends for the sake of supporting the application (most users will grant permission). For more information about privacy check out the Overview of Viewer Privacy.

Q: What percentage of people opt-in?

A: In our example above 70% responded yes versus no.

Q: Why not do this through newsfeed messages?

A: Only generic "{some friend} has installed {some app}." messages are seen by friends who are not already users of the app. Only a fraction of a users friends will actually be given this as a newsfeed message (because there are so many to choose from). Even if it is included, it will be one of 20+ such messages--- easily looked over.

Q: How is the message customized?

A: We provide a template to produce an ad similar to the above example. You can customize the body html and button text. The testimony is generated by you based on what you know of the user and his activities on your app. Personalization macros may be used anywhere to include user-specific information that makes the ad more interesting.

Q: How does the opt-in work?

A: The opt-in prompt should be displayed after the user installs the app or after he takes some action or benefits in some way. We provide you with code that you can drop into place to display the opt-in prompt (PHP/Rails/etc) much like you would an "invite" screen. You are responsible for setting a flag in your database that the user has opted in so that you don't prompt him repeatedly.