There are a number of obvious benefits for marketers who use Facebook apps to promote their business. One of the biggest advantages that both large companies and entrepreneurs have found is that they can promote their organization or new business online using viral marketing instead of relying on SEO (which can be much more complex to understand, especially for small businesses). newer businesses without the resources to hire an SEO consultant). Another advantage of using Facebook apps to promote a product or business through viral marketing is that you can generate a lot of traffic right away without having to wait for search engines to index the content of the site and meanwhile tedious to build links. Of course, smart marketers can find ways to ensure their app helps with SEO and provides viral marketing.

Now the bad news. Businesses trying to use Facebook apps for viral marketing will find that the chances of immediate success are not as high as they used to be. They have a number of apps to compete with, and many Facebook users are less likely to try a random app, especially if they don’t know the person who invited them to use it closely. Marketers should also be honest with themselves about how likely the app is to help promote their business. If app users aren’t motivated to visit the company’s website or call to purchase products or services, then the developers are wasting their time. The other big concern with using Facebook apps is that the traffic they generate is limited to the lifetime of the app’s usage.

Successfully using Facebook apps to promote the flashy new product or innovative new business you’ve created will actually require careful planning and hard work. There are a few simple but very important tactics Facebook app developers should use to sell their product or promote their business: Know when to use a forced app invite: The company that started the Happy Hour app required users to invite others to promote his product found that his strategy was very successful. Of course, many other companies soon followed. Unfortunately, this strategy does not work for all audiences.

Believe it or not, many users are too lazy to take the two minutes to invite some of their friends to use the app and will actually stop using it the moment they realize they have to go through the trouble. The best solution is for developers to know who the target audience is for both their app and their company and whether or not they will shut down after being forced to invite their friends. If this is the case, the company should know not to force them to invite their friends to use the app at first.

If they like the app, they’ll be happy to invite their friends to use it (and, more importantly, go to the company’s website to learn more about the company and the products it sells). Use news feeds responsibly: News feeds not only remind users to continue using the app, they also encourage their friends to use the app if these feeds appear on their wall. But if the app uses too many news feeds, users will feel like they are getting spam and may disable the app. Make sure the app encourages them to visit the company’s website or purchase its products.

Obviously the app should have the company name and logo where it seems to make sense to use them. It’s also advantageous to find ways for the app to interact with the business to facilitate future purchases. This can be done by offering coupons through the app or by asking the user to visit the company’s website to find information on how to use the app more effectively. Once again, these tactics should not be abused. Most importantly, invite lots of people and hope they enjoy your app – after all, businesses never know who might want to use the app and help increase their sales or grow their business.