Facebook Developers Are Not Seeing The Ad Dollars

Lack of Proven Results Is Leaving Many A Potential Advertiser Gun-Shy

For most companies, marketing and advertising budgets are the last to come and the first to go. Marketing officers have to fight for every dollar they see. With the new set of tools and analytical data made possible by the Internet, things like ROI and “Results” are no longer avoidable; they are just too easy to get. It does not surprise me then, when I see quotes from Facebook developers that go like this:

“I have tried all the Facebook advertising networks and found that none earned much money. Now I am using Google AdSense to put text advertising links on the Scrabulous canvas page, and I am barely recouping my swelling bandwidth costs.”

For those of you at home not following along, those are the words of Scrabulous creator Rajat Agarwalla. Scrabulous has over 840,000 users, making it one of the most popular applications on Facebook. If the popular applications can not bring in enough advertising dollars to turn a hefty profit, what does that say about the hopes of the other 4,500  small to medium sized Facebook applications striking it rich?

At this moment, I am not yet sure that the lack of advertising dollars flowing towards Facebook applications can be attributed to any one factor. I think it is a combination of three basic factors:

1. Untested Medium - Most advertisers prefer a “sure-thing”.
2. Lack of Self Serve Advertising Platform - There is not yet a Google Adsense system for Facebook applications that can capture the “long tail” of advertisers (the folks who will spend $1 - $500 per month on advertising). Figuring out how to advertise on an application is near impossible for an outsider.
3. Developers and Programmers Are Not Always Good Marketers - Programmers and developers are great technologists. Very rarely one comes along that is also a savvy marketer with sales capabilities (Those that do are rich and famous). Facebook developers need to seek out or partner with folks that can assist on the sales and marketing end.

With the valuation of Facebook applications stuck in what seems to be the twilight zone, generating real, sustainable revenues is something that Facebook developers will need to deliver if they hope to hold on to the notion that one day their passion will become a full fledged business or a target for a multi-million dollar buy-out. If you are a Facebook application developer in need of some help on the sales and marketing front, drop me a line - I might be able to help.

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