Facebook to help businesses target ‘valuable’ users
Facebook (FB) launched App Event Optimisation, a product designed to enable developers to target install ads at users likely to take specific actions.
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The social networking giant said it is able to uniquely determine if a user is likely to take a particular action based on historical data and other users with similar characteristics.
The firm pointed out that while 90 per cent of time spent on mobiles and 58 per cent of mobile purchases made in the US are attributable to apps, only six per cent of customers are still using an app 30 days after it is installed.
This is why “not all app installs are equal”, it said.
Developers can choose from 14 standard app events, such as achieved level, added to cart, purchased and rated. So developers looking for customers likely to make purchases would optimise for the relevant event.
Developer PennyPop claims to have seen an 80 per cent decrease in cost per event leading to five times the growth in lifetime value as a result of using the product.
Facebook also plans to make Dynamic ads and Canvas available to businesses to drive installs and engagements.
Dynamic ads works by sending users who show interest in a particular product an app install ad that features that product. When they install the app they will automatically be directed to a page to purchase the item, increasing the likelihood of them completing the transaction.
Meanwhile Canvas helps enterprises “bring their apps to life” in ads by showing more of what the app can do and giving consumers a sneak peek into what they can expect.
App Event Optimisation is now available globally. Dynamic ads and Canvas will roll out over the next few weeks.
FB Messenger reaches 1bn user milestone
Meannwhile, more than one billion people use Facebook Messenger every month, the firm announced, reaching the milestone just three months after hitting 900 million monthly active users.
“We know that every message is important to you… and our team is committed to building experiences you love and to making all the interactions in your life easier no matter who you are communicating with,” the tech giant said in a blog post.
Messenger is now at par with WhatsApp, also owned by Facebook, which reached the 1 billion user mark in February. WhatsApp also announced last month it handles more than 100 million voice calls every day.
Both are among the top ten all-time most-downloaded apps on the iOS App Store and Google’s Play Store, according to App Annie.
It is worth noting that Facebook removed the messaging feature in its core app to encourage users to download Messenger.
Last week, Facebook said it is testing “one-to-one secret conversations” for Messenger, which will be end-to-end encrypted and can only be read on one device.
In April it announced a host of new features for the app, becoming the latest high-profile convert to the bots cause.
Earlier last week, Absa unveiled ‘ChatBanking for Facebook Messenger’ in South Africa, which it claims is the first time customers can access their banking services using the service.