Hey! Wanna play FarmVille? How about Candy Crush?
Of course, you don’t. Those Facebook apps are dumb and you’ve got a business to run. But consider this: there are actually apps on Facebook that aren’t a waste of time and can actually help your business. It’s true!
Some were developed by Facebook themselves, others are third-party apps that integrate with Facebook. Are you looking to help build engagement among current Facebook followers? There’s an app for that. Are you trying to push prospective customers along the sales cycle? There’s an app for that too.
Do a little digging and you’ll be sure to find one that fits exactly what you’re looking for, but here are a few of my favorites I really recommend you check out for yourself.
Poll for Pages
If you follow Roundpeg on More Than a Few Words, you heard Lorraine and I chat about using online polls for your social media. When you are looking for the right tool for the job, I recommend Poll on Facebook. It’s built right into Facebook, it’s easy as can be to set up and post polls and you can get a lot of mileage out of the free version. The upgraded version, however, allows for multiple polls and more in-depth analytics, so it’s well worth springing the extra cash.
How is a poll good for your Facebook business page? Polls are great for creating interest and engagement among current fans and, in doing so, reach a whole new audience. Polls are also great for internal evaluations, picking the brains of your customers.
If you want a more in-depth analysis of polls, check out Lorraine’s blog and listen to our MTFW podcast.
Pagemodo
Pagemodo helps you accomplish more on your Facebook page then just sharing business photos and updates. This Facebook app essentially allows for the creation of unique landing pages on your Facebook business page. Create contact forms, exclusive coupon pages or even just welcome visitors with a more dynamic page than the traditional Facebook set up.
Don’t get confused though. The ability to create landing pages on Facebook will never replace the need to have your own website.
With a little time and effort, you can actually create some really great landing pages. And, if you are more interested in bringing visitors to your website in order to sell or educate them about your products and service, a landing page is an excellent and fluid way to bridge the gap from Facebook to website.
Shopify
Is e-commerce your game? Don’t worry, there’s an app for that too. Shopify is a Facebook app that lets customers place orders and purchase products directly on your Facebook page. Giving customers the ability to purchase straight from Facebook is just one step in shortening your business cycle.
And, given the overwhelming number of people who access Facebook via their mobile device, Shopify is optimized for mobile access. Other benefits of Spotify are the ability to post advertisements about particular products and enabling customers to monitor their order via Messenger.
Woobox
Many of the wonderful things you can do with engagement through a poll can also be done through contests, and Woobox is a great Facebook app for setting them up. With Woobox, you can generate entries for random giveaways, coupons, photo contests and more.
Encouraging people to participate and enter not only creates engagement but as people participate, like and share, Facebook’s algorithm will help bring you to new audiences. Their participation can not only bring in new followers, but the information they submit as part of the contest gives you a new stock of emails for email newsletter campaigns and possibly even physical addresses for direct mail.
If you are looking for a way to shake up your regular Facebook activity for your business, whether it’s strictly for engagement or actually selling your product, there’s probably an app for that.
