12 Ways to Promote Your Facebook App on a Shoestring Budget

You’ve just created an app for your business’s Facebook Page. Now What? How do you effectively

promote it so you meet the goals you’ve set for the app? And how do you get users to visit your app

and share it with their Facebook friends? Here are tips for doing just that – on a budget.

presented by

SHORTSTACK

12 Ways to Promote Your Facebook App on a Shoestring Budget

Enable App Sharing Features

Include a “share” button with your app.

Enabling sharing allows users to share

their app activity on their Timeline for

their Facebook friends to see. For voting

contest apps, this is a great way for users

to promote their own contest entries and

get their friends to help them win.

Post Multiple Status Updates

Don’t be afraid to remind your fans

about your app. Post multiple Facebook

announcements during different times

of the day and throughout the week. For

example, if you just launched a contest

app, post an update that includes the

announcement plus a link to enter. A

few days later, write a post reminding

your users to tell their friends about the

contest. A few days after that, let them

know that it’s the last day to enter. Finally,

announce the winner and say something

like, “Missed this contest? We’ll have

another one soon.”

Incentivize Users to Share

Create an incentive for users to share

your app with their friends using a

referral feature (in ShortStack, we call

it “Refer-a-Friend). When a user shares

your app or their contest entry with their

friends, they get extra votes or points. It’s

a win-win: your app gets promoted to a

broader group of people and it increases

the chances of winning for the users who

share it.

Alert Your Email List

Whether your list includes 50 or 50,000

subscribers, send an email to your list

asking them to check out your new

Facebook app. If you’ve created an app

for a giveaway, make sure to let everyone

on your email list know to check it out

for a chance to win! Sending out an email

notifies fans who, because of Edgerank,

might not have seen your content on

Facebook.

1

2

4

3

12 Ways to Promote Your Facebook App on a Shoestring Budget

Use Twitter for Personal Outreach

Rather than tweeting out generic updates

like, “Check out our new app for a chance

to win!” tweet individuals who you think

would most likely share news about your

app with their communities. You can

also test using a specific hashtag in the

tweets in which you’re promoting your

app — this will help you keep track of what

users are saying.

Design and Arrange App Thumbnails

Design your app thumbnails to coordinate

with the look of your app and include

text that includes a call to action such

as, “Enter Now!” And arrange your app

thumbnails so that your most important

apps are featured on your Timeline.

Update Your Facebook Cover Photo

Calls to action are allowed in the copy and

design of Facebook cover photos – they

used to be prohibited, but those days are

long gone! Draw attention to your apps

by using arrows or other illustrations that

point to your Timeline’s apps.

Make an Announcement on

Your Website

Update your website to promote your

app. You can do something simple, like

change the design of your website header

to promote your app, or even install a

notification bar at the top that links to

your app.

5

6

7

8

12 Ways to Promote Your Facebook App on a Shoestring Budget

Blog About It

If you have a company blog, use it as

a platform to talk about your newly

launched custom app. Within the blog

post, be sure to link back to your app. This

will increase awareness for your app and

drive traffic back to your app.

Make In-Store Announcements

If you own a brick-and-mortar business,

create signs and add a line to receipts

reminding customers to visit your

Facebook Page to check out your new

app.

Issue a Press Release

When your business launches an awesome

new app, it’s news -- so write a press

release about it. Most apps, especially

contest and promotion apps, anchor a

company’s overarching campaign. Use the

press release to talk about the campaign,

then provide a call to action and a link to

your app.

Ask Employees to Spread

the Word

Ask every employee to Like your Page and

share your company’s Facebook app with

their community of friends. A simple, “I’d

love if you’d help get the word out about

this” can go a long way.

9

10

11

12

presented by

SHORTSTACK

To download the full eBook for free, click here or copy this link

into your URL:

https://shortstack.iljmp.com/1/shortadbook13

These tips are from Chapter 1 of ShortStack and Jon Loomer’s eBook, “How the

Pros Use Facebook Advertising: The Most Up-to-Date Comprehensive Guide.”