Since the social network split its applications into smaller, specific offerings, some interesting trends have developed.
When it comes to the Facebook mobile app, there are actually quite a few from which to choose, and what is interesting about the download stats is that it is the Messenger application that is proving to be the most popular, even over the main flagship offering from the company.
The two social apps have been available since 2012 and the Messenger offering is notably more popular.
In fact, from 2012 through the first six months of 2015, the Messenger mobile app from Facebook has managed to bring in over 646.6 million downloads throughout that time. This, according to the app analytics from the Sensor Tower firm. Throughout that same span of time, the flagship Facebook social media app was able to achieve an impressive but notably lower 568 million downloads.
Aside from those two Facebook mobile apps, none of the brand’s other applications even come close.
Facebook has a range of different applications available for various purposes, but aside from those top two options, none of the other options are nearly as popular. To put it in perspective, all of the other Facebook apps, combined (aside from the flagship and Messenger options) have accumulated a total of 637.5 million downloads, total. That is about 9 million downloads fewer than Messenger’s total, all on its own.
What should be noted is that a number of the Facebook applications are from the company’s Creative Labs division. The purpose of that team is not necessarily the generation of the largest number of downloads. Instead, it is to use its app offerings to better understand the overall Facebook usage experience so that the primary apps can be enhanced to fit the wants and expectations of the users.
For example, the company learned a great deal its mobile apps such as Paper, so that it would be able to better design its instant articles feature, which makes it possible for news organizations to make social network posts of their articles directly onto Facebook. In the case of Messenger, though, the application has managed to hold the first position at both the Google Play and App Store ranks for quite some time.
The social network is now bringing together its lucrative advertising with deep linking.
Facebook apps have now opened up a new world of monetization for the social network as they are now combining the highly revenue generating application install ads with deep linking in order to bring in a new specific form of in-app purchase page that will launch itself once the application has finished downloading.
The outcome is expected to be a powerful new direct mobile marketing tool for the sale of products and services.
Direct marketing is already highly popular on the standard web, as it makes it possible for users to view an advertisement for a specific product and click on it to open a new browser tab so that they can learn more and make their purchase. That said, in mobile marketing, if a sale is made through an application, the merchant first needs to encourage consumers to download the app. Then the merchant can only hope that the user will then follow through with the initial intentions and make his or her way through the steps that were outlined in the advertisement. Facebook apps could now change that process.
Facebook apps allow deep linking to manage the entire process, with the goal of boosting conversion rates.
The idea is that Facebook could let deep linking send the user directly to the right place to make the sale. This could make buying much more natural and convenient for the user, to the degree that app install ads and direct marketing could fuse together in the mobile ecosystem. These in-app shopping install ads have the potential to push the social network well beyond the massive $3.32 billion that it earned in the first quarter through ad revenues.
This form of mobile marketing doesn’t just stop at encouraging consumers to download an app. After all, application downloads aren’t all that helpful if consumers don’t do anything with them. Therefore, the ads for the apps are targeted to the people who are most likely to be a relevant market for the products or services being sold within the app. Then, once the app is downloaded, an ad is automatically launched to encourage the consumer to take the next step. This helps to make sure that the social network earns more through Facebook app marketing because it doesn’t just stop at the download, but it also earns commissions on a sale.
