Facebook Apps - Guest Blog by Mike Smedley

"These days, the Internet is in the age of social networking. The top 10 most visited sites in the world include Twitter, YouTube and, of course, Facebook (source – Alexa).

The ability for users to easily share photos, videos, create events and tell each other where they are means that the world is much more accessible than the days when the chat room was king.

With this new social web thought, the benefits can also extend to businesses.  Do you need to gauge feedback on a new product or service? If so ask the question on your wall. If you need a quick, intimate means of customer support? Why not set up a Twitter account and engage with your customers directly. Gone are the days when customers had to fill out a form and wait for your response, now customers can interact with suppliers in real time. According to Sociablelabs, 51% of fans are more likely to purchase from brands they ‘like’ on Facebook.

With the release of Facebook apps centre, and the success of the app store on the Apple and Google mobile platforms, a whole new level of social interaction has been opened up. Companies like Zynga and PopCap have made their fortunes with some of the most popular online games, but, thanks to the power of HTML5 and JavaScript, there are much easier ways to take advantage of Facebook apps to help engage your customer base.

You can help incentivise your customers by arranging some simple but effective competitions.  If you have launched a product, why not create a competition asking users to show off your product in weird and wonderful places? If you want to increase your like count, offer users a prize for simply choosing to like your page.