There is a reason some Facebook apps generate hundreds of thousands of fans while others just flop. Generally, success comes down to a few key things… Simplicity, Shareability and Insight.

Most apps should be seriously simple, 3-4 steps, clear instructions, engaging graphics, big punchy buttons and great copy. Then they need to have the right Shareability, and the key to that is utilizing Facebook’s range of standard features in wall posts, wall-to-wall posts, tagging, events, invites .etc but trust me, you need the right combination here, your app depends on it. Then you have the insight, you need to work out what a fan might actually use, what gets them excited, why would they get behind, what they would comment on, why they would share it, what they get out of it.

Take this Lacta Chocolate Facebook App from Greece for example. It was built around a simple insight where people would compare their loved ones with chocolate. So, they created an app that let people customise a Lacta chocolate wrapper in their loved ones name, comparing it to a particular Lacta flavour before using the wall to wall post feature to get the message across.

In just over a month, it generated over 150,000+ fans with thousands using personalised chocolate wrappers as profile pics. A great campaign from OgilvyOne Athens. (thanks Panos)

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