Facebook Focuses on Growing Its Mobile Business in 10 Different Ways

By Don Reisinger

If not for ads, Facebook wouldn’t be nearly as successful in the mobile space. The company has generated several billion dollars in mobile advertising over the past year, thanks to its ability to attract companies to its mobile apps. At last count, at the end of the second quarter, Facebook had more than 1 million active advertisers.

Mobile gaming is a huge revenue and growth opportunity for Facebook. Perhaps that’s why the company recently announced that it’s now a game publisher, allowing small developers to work with the social network to promote their titles. Facebook will take a cut of the advertising revenue generated from those mobile games.

Facebook has been making great strides in its efforts to generate revenue on digital goods. In fact, the company lets users send products, gift cards and other goods to friends from their mobile handsets. The result is greater participation by companies providing goods and services, meaning more revenue for Facebook.

Facebook Home hasn’t necessarily generated much revenue for the social network, but it could be an important piece of the mobile puzzle. Facebook Home is essentially a skin that runs atop Android and provides access to all kinds of social features. If Facebook has its way, Home will drive its Android efforts.

After Facebook acquired Instagram for around $1 billion, the company was questioned on why it would invest so much. However, Instagram has become an important piece of Facebook’s mobile push, driving photo and video sharing across the network. Instagram is just another way Facebook is keeping its users engaged. Now Facebook has to find ways to make Instagram pay off big time.

Facebook offers its mobile services on just about any mobile device a customer might have. That’s important. Whether it’s in the browser or via mobile apps, Facebook is available on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry and every other major platform. Facebook isn’t leaving anyone out on mobile. And the company’s mobile efforts are only improving because of it.

Facebook announced recently that its feature phone efforts are also paying off. In fact, more than 100 million people around the globe are now using the company’s “Facebook for Every Phone.” The application brings Facebook features and functionality to regular flip phones and feature phones. And it has heavily improved engagement among users internationally.

Since Facebook is also a digital platform, the company has invested heavily in allowing its users to buy digital goods and other products through its Credits service. Facebook users buy products via mobile connections as well as through the browser on other platforms, and developers generate revenue off that. Facebook then takes 30 percent of the revenue. Digital-goods sales have been strong contributors to Facebook’s bottom line.

Facebook has made it a point to open its “graph” to more sites around the Web. That has allowed the company to integrate its features into Websites and have those folks on those pages share information with their friends via the Web or mobile. That integration has increased the overall engagement with Facebook’s mobile platform and increased its revenue. It has worked out quite well.

Facebook’s power as a prominent force in social media has meant everything to its mobile efforts. The company’s success online has easily translated to success in mobile. And perhaps most importantly, it has kept competitors at bay. Facebook’s sheer size and growing appeal in mobile have nearly guaranteed one thing: The social network will be around and successful in mobile for years to come.