Facebook has done what many people thought it would: The company is making an even greater leap into the mobile space with a new platform, called “Home.”
The Facebook Home platform is basically a suite of mobile applications that will integrate the social network’s functions into Android with the goal of creating a more engaging experience for users. In other words, Facebook Home is an important new initiative for Facebook to build out its mobile presence.
But why did Facebook decide to make its mobile push? More importantly, why did the company decide that Facebook Home was the way to go?
Certainly everyone knows how important the mobile space is. But it’s still very unclear whether Facebook is crafting a successful strategy that will allow it to keep users loyal, reach out to more people around the world, perhaps most importantly to Facebook, greatly increase its revenue from mobile advertising.
Read on to find out answers to those questions, and why Facebook is so tied to success in the mobile market.
1. It’s all about the ads
To Facebook, advertising is everything. The more the company can make on mobile advertisements, the better. These days, doing so requires innovative mobile marketing ideas. Facebook Home and the company’s recent push to build more mobile applications help the company keep Facebook users engaged and help the company monetize some of the time they spend on the platform.
2. Zuckerberg is sticking his neck out
For Mark Zuckerberg, success in mobile is really a make-or-break event. If the company is successful in its mobile efforts, he’ll look like a hero and stick with the company he founded for years to come. If the mobile efforts are unsuccessful, though, there’s no telling what comes next. It will likely signal that Facebook’s growth prospects are limited. Zuckerberg is sticking his neck out with his mobile efforts and you can bet he wants them to succeed.
3. The market is moving that way
Why wouldn’t Facebook’s success depend on its ability to attract mobile consumers? Let’s face it; computer users are more mobile than ever. They are as likely to access Facebook from a tablet or smartphone as they are any other computer. Companies that don’t capitalize on that trend are doomed to failure and Facebook knows it.
4. It’s an Android world
So, why is Facebook essentially offering a forked operating system on Android? It’s very simple. Android is the most important mobile platform in the world. It’s also open-source. Those factors will help Facebook attract the largest number of its users to its mobile platform. And that’s essential if its mobile efforts are to succeed.
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5. More of its users are going mobile
According to Facebook, hundreds of millions of its users are only accessing their timelines and other information about friends through mobile devices. That marks a dramatic shift in the marketplace, and it’s something that the company can’t simply overlook. A mobile push now is simply responding to the market dynamics, and that response will determine its future.
6. Pictures and texting are everything to its demographic
Facebook’s target demographic might have widened over the years, but its core user bases are people between the ages of 18 and 35 that are using their mobile devices each day to send pictures and text messages. By creating a platform like Home, Facebook hopes to make those activities seamless with its own platform. It might just succeed at that.
7. Just ask shareholders
Shareholders are trading Facebook stock based solely on the company’s ability to generate more cash through mobile. The company’s shares plummeted after its initial public offering because a mobile strategy wasn’t in place, and things are going well again because Facebook seems to be addressing that. Facebook’s share price will be directly affected by the company’s ability to appeal to mobile users.
8. Competitors are coming on hot and heavy in mobile
Although Facebook might not look like it has competitors, the truth is, it does. The company needs to compete with Twitter, Pinterest and just about every other site on the Internet for the user’s time. The more time it can keep them on Facebook and not on other sites is a victory. Competitors are coming on especially strong in the mobile space. So Facebook has to respond or face falling behind.
9. It’s now a multi-screen model
The way users interact with the Internet is fascinating. Whereas once it was only a single computer monitor in front of them that provided a lens into the World Wide Web, now, consumers expect a multi-screen user experience from Web companies; they want special experiences on the PC, on smartphones and on tablets. Facebook is trying to deliver that.
10. Developers will benefit
Developers might find a way to benefit from Facebook Home. In fact, developers can integrate Facebook notifications, information feeds and other important features that the social network says will improve the overall experience of using Facebook. Whether that will be true remains to be seen. But getting developers to buy into the concept and build add-on apps for Facebook Home is central to the company’s efforts to succeed in mobile.