The document discusses the importance of integrating social features into mobile applications, indicating that 80% of top apps incorporate social dynamics. It outlines strategies for effective social integration, stressing the need for valuable user interaction without being intrusive, and highlights successful examples like Candy Crush and Spotify. Ultimately, the document cautions that not every app requires a social component and warns against poorly implemented social features that could hinder app performance.

1. ways to
shake up social
in your app6

2. There is a lot of talk about mobile going social, but come
on guys - it already has. In fact, not having a well socially
integrated app could be a deal breaker if you want to rank
at the top of the app store lists. In a 2012 report by Nielson,
80% of the top 15 apps had some sort of a social or local
dynamic. On the other hand, a social addition to your mobile
application could be a total bust. Although there is a large
percentage of top apps that are social, numbers from
Apple and Google show that on average only 3-5 apps are
downloaded a month. On top of that, according to Localytics,
only about 25% of those apps continue to be used. So, why
are so few apps successful? Bottom line - most suck.
In order for a mobile app to have a widely used social
component, the implementation must be well thought out.
Many social components in apps are added as a mechanism
to spread the word of the application. This doesn’t always fly
too well with the users as the social additions are regarded as
shameless promotion. However, there are social additions that
have boosted apps enormously by providing convenience,
interaction, or expression. It all boils down to creating value for
the users; there always has to be something in it for them.
So, how do you do that?
1. Complement the user journey with relevant information
2. Encourage social interaction with a clear purpose
3. Provide an outlet for users to express themselves
4. Use social to motivate and encourage
5. Give users a sense of involvement
6. Don’t make it too intrusive
Apps all across the board are now social, with dominators like
Candy Crush Saga and Instagram leading the way; everyone
wants their app to be the hot new thing with users and their
friends. Making your app social could be a major improvement
and make a huge benefit to your business, whether your goal
is to get a word out or build stronger customer relationships.
Introduction
80% of the top 15 apps had some sort of a
social or local dynamic.

3. 6 ways to shake up social in your app 2013
3
One of the main benefits of social integration is providing users
with valuable social information, like that review on Yelp that
saved you from a bad restaurant. What seems like a small-
scale improvement of convenience can improve daily life on a
large scale.
Sunrise, a design-oriented calendar app, does a good job of
this and has 4+ stars on the app store to prove it. Sunrise
lets users RSVP to Facebook and Google calendar events
through one app. The newest update also integrates with
Foursquare, CrunchBase, and Google maps, allowing users
to see information on who they are meeting, how to get where
they are going, and where they have been.
Waze, a real-time road-travel information app that boasts 50
million users, has also included a Facebook integration to let
users “drive with their friends”. People can regularly see their
friends driving locations, departure times and estimated arrival
times - making it easier to meet up and coordinate carpools.
These features also work together with Facebook events;
road-travel, directions, and individual locations are organized
when the event time rolls around. This is helpful not only
because it improves communication, but also because it
allows users to let their friends know where they are without
having to text or call whilst driving.
In the end it’s all about making the information useable.
Instead of sharing a movie from a cinema service app, allow
the users to ask their friends to vote for which movie they
want to see. This is real social interaction that builds valuable
information right into the user journey.
1. Compliment the user journey with
relevant information
The social integration into mobile apps allows
users to let their friends know where they are
without having to text or call whilst driving.
Yelp! Sunrise Waze

4. 6 ways to shake up social in your app 2013
4
There needs to be a good reason for people to use your
app’s social features. This can be achieved by creating friendly
competition, bragging rights, or mutual benefit for users
through socializing. Many gaming apps such as Words with
Friends, Run with Friends and Draw Something, are quite
good at this. These Zynga apps provide an easy way for
people to keep in touch by implementing direct competition
between two friends. Since keeping in touch with friends is
hard to accomplish in today’s busy lifestyle, app users really
value this fun feature.
A good example of bragging rights is the game Dots; aside
from being an addicting mini-game on its own, many like
to share their high scores on Facebook and compare with
their friends. Then there’s Candy Crush Saga, which gets
500 million plays a day. Candy Crush is having so much
success right now that even one out of seven people in Hong
Kong are playing and people in the South Pole (where the
population doesn’t reach 200 in summer months) are also
crushing candies.
The ever popular bejeweled-style game has created a
massive social movement because, in this case, the
Facebook activity isn’t just an option but a requirement.
Players need to cooperate with their Facebook friends to beg
for boosts, get extra lives and improve their overall score in the
game. Farmville also followed a similar pattern and was widely
successful. The players of these games were more willing
to share their game activity on Facebook because doing so
helped their gameplay.
Keep in mind that these games don’t require real-time
socializing; they let people keep in touch and crush their
friends in Draw Something on their own time. A social
integration with a clear purpose creates values and reason for
users to keep coming back for more.
2. Encourage social interaction with
a clear purpose
These games don’t require real-time
socializing; they let people keep in touch and
play on their own time.
Dots Words with Friends Candy Crush Saga

5. 6 ways to shake up social in your app 2013
5
Almost everybody has an opinion on something and many
people like to create their own content. If you have an app that
allows users to manifest their thoughts into existence, social
media sharing may improve upon the app’s utility; allowing users
to express themselves. A good example is Spotify’s use of
Facebook. Spotify gives users the option to share their listening
activity on Facebook and follow their friends’ listening activity.
This functionality lets people broadcast their taste, an opinion in
the form of music. For users without Facebook or for those who
opt not to set-up Facebook with Spotify the app also allows
users to follow their Spotify friends and favorite musicians to get
recommendations. All of these social features not only allow
users broadcast their taste, an opinion in the form of music, but
also discover music through their friends’ and favorite musicians’
listening activity. These utilities are great, however, there are
always going to be people that might not want to share their
content, so be sure your app’s sharing is optional so that you
don’t broadcast to the world when Vanilla Ice comes across the
playlist.
Another way to allow users to express themselves is by playing
with image motivation, i.e. using the appeal of personal branding
to encourage user engagement. However, be careful with
this approach because people may not always need social
validation, as a popular new photo-sharing app Rando proves.
Rando is a photo exchange where users don’t know where their
photo is sent nor who it is being seen by. There are no “likes”
or friends, just self-expression. A social network for link-sharing
called Potluck is coming to iOS with a similar concept. Potluck
focuses on content rather than user popularity. You can still
participate in discussions, but like Rando, there are no “likes”
and posts are not paired with a username.
For the many users that do create their own content, there
are also many that only lurk. Some just don’t care for getting
their opinion out there for everyone to see. Regardless, self-
expression is a human need and social integration without the
pressure of publicity might be a great value addition. So whether
it’s through polls, likes, ratings or sharing, make expression as
easy as possible for users of all kinds.
Make expression as easy as possible for
internet users of all kinds. This can be done
through polls, likes, and ratings.
3. Provide an outlet for users to express
themselves
+
+

6. 6 ways to shake up social in your app 2013
6
The new surge of mobile fitness apps are good examples of
communities created in which users encourage and motivate
each other to get fit. The most popular running app on
iTunes, Nike+ Running, uses social interaction as motivation
to exercise, turning every like and comment into sounds of a
cheering audience. Another exercise tracking app, Fitocracy,
makes use of a community to provide encouragement and
fitness knowledge through numerous discussion groups in
different categories - connecting anyone from body builders to
yoga enthusiasts.
There is, however, a new app on the scene, Cody, which
plays more with behavioral economics and focuses on social
interaction to make working out fun. It’s less of a workout
tracking app for intense health buffs and more of a social
network specifically for casual fitness exercisers. Users can
post workout photos, status updates, and follow their friends
on Cody.
Both the usages of these apps’ social aspects work because
they motivate people to do something everyone needs to do
anyway: be active.
4. Use social to motivate or encourage
The new mobile fitness apps motivate people
to do something everyone needs to do
anyway: be active.
Nike+Running Fitocracy Cody

7. 6 ways to shake up social in your app 2013
7
Involvement can come in many forms, but higher user
engagement can be useful to them and you. A study by
MarketingPower.com shows that if social elements in digital
platforms provide feelings of human interaction, users will feel
more emotionally satisfied. Thus, social listening additions
such as a comments stream, reviews section, weekly poll,
like or rating button can let users get involved with the apps
development. When consumers exchange information or advice
about a product they develop a sense of “community” and start
becoming attached to brand.
This kind of user behavior is especially prominent in the
streetwear market within forums like Hypebeast.com, a breeding
ground for brand loyalty. Fans of popular labels like Supreme
consolidate in such style forums and discuss new releases,
post photos and more. Businesses can also visit the popular
forums to see what is currently beloved amongst consumers.
Another alternative is getting people directly involved with the
brand. In 2011 Giorgio Armani used Foursquare for a contest
to promote a new fragrance, Armani Code Sport. Whoever had
the most “epic night”, i.e. checked into the most hotspots in one
night, got a free bottle of cologne. The contest was also a way
of endorsing the brand lifestyle. It’s fun and lets the users have
a bit of control over what they’re consuming, thus strengthening
brand loyalty.
If social elements in digital platforms
provide feelings of human interaction users
will feel more emotionally satisfied
5. Give users a sense of involvement
Foursquare

8. 6 ways to shake up social in your app 2013
8
Examples of intrusiveness are the many apps that force users to
create a user profile or log in with social network details. Target
recently released its own coupon app called Cartwheel. The
deals you get are great, you can get up to 30% off on top of
any other offers and discounts. Too bad it requires a sign-up
via Facebook and literally publishes every single purchase you
make with the app’s discounts. Consequently, the app’s reviews
consist of consumer unrest with the sneaky promotion.
An alternative is to make social media sign-in optional.
Let the users get acquainted with your app first, then when they
realize the app is awesome, it will make more sense to them to
make an account or link their account with a social network. If
you want to use Facebook connect for tech or budget reasons,
just make sure to have an option in the settings to turn sharing
on or off.
But it doesn’t end there, make sure you are transparent with
your users about what content will be shared, and how. It’s
extremely off-putting when users find that all of their app activity
has spammed Facebook without their consent. Make sure there
are no surprises; let the user authenticate the app’s integration
with Facebook and do not prefill the message field for an app
activity post.
Let the users get acquainted with your app
before making an account or linking their
account with a social network.
6. Don’t make it too intrusive
app

9. While almost all apps have some time of social media
element with the hope of engaging customers, building brand
awareness, driving traffic and influencing sales, not all of
them are using it wisely. Take the guidelines above and start
brainstorming about the best way to use social in your app.
Take a strategic approach to your implementation because
the pitfalls of an improperly planned, executed and managed
social media strategy could easily outweigh the potential
benefits. Many brands and developers have already learned
the hard way, enduring embarrassing and sometimes costly
mistakes. So, before you start coding, make sure you haven’t
fallen for some of the common pitfalls out there that make
apps social integration fail.
Social Media Pitfalls

10. 6 ways to shake up social in your app 2013
10
1. Not every app needs a social
integration
First things first - the integration must feel natural. Many apps
fail because the social element feels forced. So what you
need to ask yourself is, if your app already exists, was social
even a mission component of the app to begin with? If not, do
users need or want a social option now?
The fact is, that overlooking this basic question can happen
to anyone. Several years ago Apple tried to create an entire
social network around its iTunes called Ping (yeah – we
forget out it too; R.I.P. 9/30/2012). Ping was very similar
to Facebook, right down to the color theme, but was not
connected in any way. Maybe Ping could’ve been a great
social network, but because it didn’t offer anything that
other apps like Spotify or Facebook didn’t already have it
failed to take off. That being said, people were not willing to
switchover, especially since their entire network had already
been built in a different application. The leading social apps
create a new concept that many other apps successfully
branch off of, but it works because there is differentiation.
Although Ping was not a success, there is talk that the new
iOS7 iTunes radio has social potential similar to Spotify – so
let’s see how Apple does it the 2nd time around, they don’t
like to fail twice.
Spotify has 6 million paying subscribers
and a total of 24 million users (25% of
users pay). Gets over 1 billion shares
(instances of app activity) on Facebook a day.
Their 110 million songs, albums and radio
gets 40 million plays each day.
Source: Spotify, 2013

11. 6 ways to shake up social in your app 2013
11
Instagram’s new video option has slowed content
consumption and is one of the reasons many users question
whether or not it was a good idea. Not everyone with a
smartphone has fabulous bandwidth, some rely on free
Wi-Fi, and integration of social dynamic may cause slower
processing. It could potentially ruin the user experience and
thus your app. Even Skype, the most popular free VoIP, has
many problems with lag and bugs, generating 2.5 star ratings
in the app store and a load of unhappy user ratings.
So yes, you should be concerned if your app social features
are impacting app performance or quality.
2. New features can impact an app’s
performance
Over 70% of mobile app users would write a
bad review for an app if it froze or crashed,
59% would for slow responsiveness.
Source: uSamp, 2012.
“Now when I go on to check the feed,
it’s jammed with stupid 15 second video
clips that slow down the app.”
“I love instagram, I really do, but I hate
the new video feature, 1. It makes the
feed really slow…”
“There have been a number of times
already, even with my LTE iPhone 5, that
I couldn’t load videos fast enough in
Instagram.”
“New UI is quite good. But I really miss
a button to quit the app, for real, without
background process.”
“Very poor connection, the people can’t
see me. I don’t know if contacts are
online. I would like the older version.”
Instagram Skype

12. 6 ways to shake up social in your app 2013
12
A share button isn’t much more than a visual cue for users, but
for content to be shareable it must be entertaining, informative,
controversial, or even emotional. Start with the basics - identify
the natural social and sharing behavior of the content on
a mobile device (showing it to a friend, posting photos of
something fun/beautiful, etc.). So ask yourself, does your app
provide something memorable enough to be shared? Is it
notable? If not (or not yet), create your content so that people
can get involved, and make it easy to do so.
3. Adding a share button doesn’t make
the content share worthy
VALUEEXCHANGE
GREAT
STORY
FRESH
INTEREST
DISRUPTIVE
SIMPLE
CREATIVE
PROOF
IDEAS
ADVOCACY
PARTICIPATION
SOCIAL
Source: Ogilvy & Mather

13. Making your mobile app more popular through social isn’t as
easy as adding a Facebook share or like button. In designing
for social dynamic, you must understand the user, what,
when, and how they want to share. The integration has to
be seamless and built into, not tacked onto, the overall user
journey. Rather than pushing your app’s info out, try to pull
relevant info in to enrich the experience. Keep it fresh with an
ongoing conversation; make sure the material is updated and
relevant to the current users. Lastly, it’s important not to get
too caught up in formulating the social path on which your
information travels, instead make sure the content is strong
enough to be spread first. With that, we wish you the best of
luck!
Conclusion

14. • http://mashable.com/2013/06/02/mobile-design-tips/
• http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2013/5/16/how-many-apps-do-android-and-ios-users-download
• http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TECH/mobile/03/21/app.engagement.gahran/
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/south-pole-weather-200-degrees-of-separation-from
washington-dcs-scorching-heat/2012/07/17/gJQAzq4BrW_blog.html
• http://www.marketingpower.com/ResourceLibrary/Publications/JournalofMarketing/2007/71/3/jmkg.71.3.143.pdf
• http://mashable.com/2013/06/20/video-for-instagram-poll/
• http://www.fastcocreate.com/1682946/the-principles-of-social-design-how-to-make-content-shareable#1
Sources

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16. 6 ways to shake up social in your app 2013
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