When (if ever) to force users to invite friends before using your Facebook application
I know a lot of App developers have designed their applications to require that users invite some number of friends to the app before all (or even any) of the features in the application will be unlocked.
This is one of those strategies that works according to the data, despite the fact that it’s clearly more antagonistic. If you’re just looking at the numbers, it seems like developers have to make a choice: ingratiate themselves to their users and retain a smaller number of loyal installs, or annoy their users and get a far more viral spread.
Alec Saunders recently threw together some rough data that supports the gut feeling you already have: forced invites aren’t liked by Facebook users.
I think the choice you make as a developer should depend largely on what type of app you want to develop. I mentioned in my earlier post that there are at least two fundamental different approaches to building facebook applications:
- Building an application as a product or service
- Building an application to promote your existing product or service
At this point, it should be obvious where I’m going. If you’re trying to build an application that needs to support itself on ads or other revenue models, and you need a large if transient audience, I’d say that forcing user invites is the way to go.
If you’re trying to build an app to promote your brand, you should take pains to make sure that the way you market the app (not just the way it works) reflects the image you want potential customers to walk away with. I think that means holding off on the forced invites.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Jason
I have to disagree. If you application provides NO discernible value just to me (as opposed to me and my network) then why bother with forced invites.
I dont want to be viewed as a spammer by my network. Its equivalent of the chain letter.
I tend to agree with Mukund here. Forced app invites are always frustrating and annoying, no matter what the app. When I come across one, I backtrack to my applications dashboard and simply remove the app. Then I click through to my profile and hide any and all stories from the app in my mini-feed.
Part of the reason I object to this is that I don’t want to suggest an application to my friends that I haven’t had the opportunity to try out yet.
I’d suggest that applications use a kind of freemium model if they want to force invites. Maybe the basic features of the app are available without them, but to make use of more advanced tools, the user needs to invite some friends.
If the app is so great that I’m motivated to try out the more advanced features, then chances are that I won’t mind telling some of my friends about it.
I agree with you both that it is annoying to the user. I’ve never added an app that requires you to do that.
Regardless, the data shows that it gives you a significant leg up in terms of “number of users.”
That has nothing to do with “relevancy of users,” “pissed-off-ness of users,” or “activeness of users.” That’s not my point.
My point is that if an app developer doesn’t care about the kind of reactions this tactic gets from you two, then the numbers say they should do it.
I don’t really recommended using forced invites, but I’m not about to sit here and say the numbers are inaccurate just because I don’t like the tactic.
You don’t have to say that the numbers are inaccurate. Perhaps you could say that given the sketchiness of the tactic, those numbers might not be the world’s greatest metric of success.
I did say that, albeit obliquely.
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