Facebook Launches Analytics For Apps Tool

Facebook has announced the launch of its new Analytics for Apps tool, providing further evidence of the company’s plans to move beyond its position as a social network by continuing to expand into a variety of communications tools and services.

The new tool illustrates the importance of native mobile apps as a marketing channel and a driver of revenue for brands. With the release of Facebook Analytics for Apps, the company is putting itself directly in the analytics market to compete with Google, especially among SMBs. While Facebook data has previously been kept within the company’s platform, which provided insights for marketers through its own dashboards and tracking of behaviors, the new offering extends basic analytics outside of the Facebook “walled garden.” This is a clear signal that the social media giant is expanding its reach further into the digital marketing landscape.

“Today we’re releasing Facebook Analytics for Apps, a free tool that brings the power of Facebook demographics to cross-device analysis and measurement,” the company wrote in its announcement. “It’s designed to help developers and marketers understand their app’s audience, measure how people use their app, and grow their businesses by running better ads.”

Considering the fact that Facebook has over 1 billion users, this new analytics tool will be of great interest based on the extraordinary value of the data generated by the social network’s massive user base. Facebook explains that the new tool will help both marketers and developers in tracking visitors across mobile apps and websites. For example, a retailer can use the tool to track consumers as they visit Web properties and browse across native mobile apps. Additionally, marketers will be able to analyze funnel activity, segment consumer groups based on varying characteristics, or analyze cohorts of people who act in specific ways in the app, using data including purchase behaviors. Marketers can then review specific metrics for that group, such as what percentage of them launched the app, completed a registration, or made a purchase. The new analytics tool is also intended to assist marketers and developers in measuring the lifetime value of Facebook ads, thereby allowing them to determine the most effective remarketing strategies to re-engage consumers who drop off. Overall, Facebook Analytics for Apps provides a powerful new method for marketers to better understand the cross-device behavior of their visitors to improve their performance.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this announcement is that Facebook data has now been extended beyond the Facebook platform for analysis with mobile app performance. Now that the social media giant has moved in this direction, the digital marketing industry is left to wonder if the company will be taking further steps to integrate into the broader marketing ecosystem in the near future.