'App-vertisement' 101: How to make branded social applications work

* Jennifer Leggio is on vacation

Guest editorial by Michael Lazerow

While the media form may be relatively new compared to the ones we grew up with, like TV and radio, the fundamental rules of marketing are the same: know your audience and what will provide value to them, and be crystal clear about what you're trying to get out of it. The difference now is that you can directly target your audience, rather than send out a blanket message to the world and hope your audience gets it. A very powerful opportunity if you do it right.

When branded social applications or "app-vertisements" are done well, we know that they can work. They have become an incredibly successful way of extending a brand's reach past that of more traditional forms of advertising.  We've found that users spend an average of 2 minutes and 35 seconds engaged with our branded applications per visit - that's 75 times more time than they spend interacting with traditional banner ads and five times greater than the time spent watching a typical TV commercial. And 85% of our users returned for multiple interactions with our app-vertisements, with 56% of the total user base returning 9 times or more.

This may sound obvious, I know, but a critical step that is often overlooked is that the app-vertisement must give people something they actually want. Do your research. Successfully identify your audience so that your application can be shaped around the needs of the consumer. In this new media world we live in, consumers have become more informed, and thus more cynical about advertising. For example, take Nike's Ballers Network