Getting love from the Facebook Platform
http://apps.facebook.com/facebook_success
THE F8 STORYhttp://apps.facebook.com/treys_f8_story
The F8 Invite
• Random invite must have been an accident
• Allowing individuals to develop applications before you launch is a good idea (hint hint, impending platform launches).
The F8 Event
• Somewhat predictable, but still awesome
• From a developer’s POV, this is a great way to rapidly gain a user base
• From the user’s POV…
The F8 User “Possibilities”
• From the user’s POV…
The F8 User Possibilities
• Access to cool, unheard-of web applications from outside of Facebook
• Additions to Facebook itself that the company never implemented
The F8 Idea
• Really the first time we’ve seen such third-party integration to a major site
• Pretty successful• Other companies
attempting to emulate its success
• Individual platforms are the future?
The F8 Apps
• All alone• Coded hardcore for a
few hours• Went on family vacation• Had to work from dial-
up = tragic• Sold to SideStep• Fun summer in Silicon
Valley
The F8 Lesson
• Listen to your fellow developers. Maybe they’ve got a good idea.
• Love Facebook.
CREATING A KILLER APPhttp://apps.facebook.com/creating_a_killer_app
General tips: start now
• Get in early– App fatigue– Flooded directory– No more good URLs
• Concentrate on your idea– Make it unique– The longer you wait, the
more likely it’ll be done
General tips: start now
• Don’t spend too much time developing before launching– User feedback will guide
you (if it’s successful)– Prepare to respond to it
while your app is still somewhat small
• Make the app sticky
Facebook approach
• How to use requests• How to use notifications– Zombies initially blocked
for misuse
• Don’t take things so seriously– It’s all experimental– Monetization? Ehh…
Different types of apps• Utilities and games
– Useful inside and outside of Facebook
– Well developed because they’re feature-filled
– Facebook <3s utilities and games• New metrics• Preventing abuse• Games are gaining• FBFund
• Facebook extensions• Fads and seasonal
applications
Define “success”
• Total users?• Active users?• Niche users?• Users in a specific
demographic?• What happens next?– Sell the app– Take it out of Facebook– Try to maintain it
independently
Demographics
• Changing fast on Facebook
• Most are not students anymore
• Most are at least 25• More females• Is your app targeting all
the people it could be?• Mostly English speaking
users, for now…
Execution
• Prepare to scale– You host the most– Facebook app =
Facebook traffic– Tyler’s “Coping with
success”
• Keep up that growth– Deceleration = bad news
• Prepare for Tuesday night pushes. Seriously.
Metrics
• Think about it before you launch
• Google analytics/urchin has its own FBML tag
• You’ll be able to tell from the beginning what works and what doesn’t
• Maybe we’ll have more advanced analytics soon, but still…
Growth• #1 tip: make it social• Organic growth
– Verified by latest stats– News feed
• Use images• Call to action = cheesy• Now templatized!
– Directory• Icon, Name, Screenshot
• Abuse (aka spam)– Don’t use notifications in
the beginning• Advertising
Example App
• “The Wall, Lah”– Translates wall posts to Singlish– “omg haven’t talked to you in a while” might turn
into “alamak! long time no talk lah!”
• Who does this target?• Will it catch on? Is it sticky?• How does it spread?• Can it monetize?
Next up• I’ve talked about:– The idea– Planning– Executing
• So what’s left?– World domination– Monetization– (cue next speech)
• The best applications, the ones that drive Facebook, are supposed to come from developers, so get to work tonight