Facebook effectively solved one of the biggest stumbling blocks for mobile apps – the account signup. More than a few users have been lost in the process of filling out field after field of personal information, and not just because it’s time consuming, but because they’re hesitant about what an app is going to do once they have that information. Facebook Connect’s Single Sign On is a free and easy system for apps that can speed up viral distribution and open up a wealth of marketing knowledge.
And yet so many apps are doing it wrong.
Facebook Connect was something Mutual Mobile approached excitedly. We wanted to know how other companies were plumbing the depths of what it has to offer, but were surprised to find that they weren’t. Of the marketers and mobile product owners we spoke to, few had any idea that they could get a user’s email address via Facebook Connect, others didn’t realize that they were forcing users through a horrible user experience simply because they had forgotten to ask for the right permission in the Connect approval process.
All things considered, Facebook Connect is not complicated to integrate, so these aren’t problems born from difficulty. We believe that these misunderstandings stem from two reasons:
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Facebook moves fast, and if you want to use it, you have to move fast too.
Mark Zuckerberg makes no bones about the fact that Facebook isn’t perfect. They are constantly improving services, fixing bugs and changing policies. This means that if you’re going to use Facebook Connect you need to use the time it’s saving you in user support to do some research on the latest developments or, worst case scenario, face getting a 48 hour shut down notice like some developers recently did.
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The technical knowledge of Facebook Connect lies with developers, and marketers don’t know what’s possible.
It’s not news for me to tell you that these two people speak very different languages and have very different priorities, but if a marketer expects to have their best interests integrated into the app they need to be versed in what’s possible.
A good example is a media company we recently spoke with. Their top-ranked social app was one of the first to integrate Single Sign On and they were proud to offer the one-touch ability. However, their digital media director was puzzled by the fact that users were having to re-login every time they wanted to interact with the app – voiding much of Facebook SSO’s benefits. When he asked his developer, the developer blamed the problem on Facebook, and because he didn’t know better he deferred. The end solution wasn’t a complicated one, it was simply that the app’s approval token was expiring and without offline access permission, the experience would always be a bad one. The developer had made the decision to not ask for the permission featuring it would put off users, but it was a decision with painful consequences, especially considering how many major apps do request offline access and how accepting of it users have become.
Facebook Connect is a powerful tool to wield, but marketers have to know how to use it and this means it’s time to expand their cross-disciplinary knowledge in just one more direction. It’s also important to remember that Facebook Connect also isn’t JUST for marketers. At the release of Single Sign-On Zuckerberg projected a future where every mobile app will find a way social could enhance the user experience, whether it be for business, utility or health.
Our Bridging the Gaps in Facebook Connect white paper is designed to be a marketers crib notes for the best practices of this powerful new system.
