Of course all of this functionality could be easily incorporated into a website. It is has been fascinating to witness the excitement people exhibited when they were given the freedom to leave closed networks like AOL, and enjoy the freedom the WWW provided. Two decades later we are now scurrying back to another closed network that offers us far less flexibility, privacy, and the ability generate revenue than a website can.

Presumably, all this effort devoted to augmenting one's Facebook platform is to drive more traffic to ones website. But the reality is, these efforts generally lead to enhancing the experience on Facebook, which actually reduces the likelihood people will actually leave Facebook to visit one's website.

Increasingly, resource strapped businesses are simply using Facebook as their only web presence. Which essentially excludes these businesses from a growing group of potential visitors who are not users of Facebook.

It is an interesting time. I'm looking forward to the pendulum swinging back to when people begin to embrace the web again; where true creativity actually flourishes.

Yes, it's definitely a balancing act between enhancing the Facebook experience and getting people to your website. Ultimately getting them to your website is the primary goal but if you can get them on your e-mail list or get more connection with your Fans, then that's a good thing too! Thanks for your thoughts!

Mr. Johnson, while I see your perspective; there are many ways you can use this list of apps to "think outside the box."

If you consider all of the ways you could use the apps to collect information on your customers, and/or increase the number of leads received - this could be incredible.

Example: use the live video app for live webinars, find new clients, etc.

Hi Suzanne I'm sure all the aps Andrea Vahl mentioned are quite good; I was not disputing that. My comments had to do with the fact that the extra effort required to manage a Facebook presence, no matter how well it is done, requires additional resources.

Of course, the allocation of these additional resources were not required prior to Facebook's rise. More importantly none of these aps add any additional value that any run-of-the-mill website could have implemented a decade ago.

Further, the there is no addition business generated in the Facebook era, relative to the prior one. Indeed, many content providers are losing business in the social media age. Typically the individuals who suggest this are in the business of promoting social media, or simply don't know any better.

One might argue well, we are in the Facebook era, so this is simply the cost of doing business. But I'd disagree and say using Facebook is a choice not a requirement.

Of course the folks who use Facebook, and take advantage of these aps, will fair better than those who don't (the point of the article). But again, my point is that the notion that Facebook is actually helping us, collectively, is not true.

If you are interested in increasing your Facebook engagement as a function of minimizing effort exerted; simply pay to boost your posts.

Exactly.

@Suzanne again I don't doubt the effectiveness of these applications. My point is that as we invest more and more time in improving our presence on social media we have less to allocate to our primary web presence--in effect cannibalizing it. Further, net-net, the returns on the additional effort is less than what we got in the past, before social.

Again, I realize we are in a social media world and we have to deal with it, but we have gotten to a point where many businesses are choosing Facebook as their PRIMARY platform, because they don't have the resources to manage both a website and a Facebook page. If this trend continues it will disastrous for the web.

Thankfully we live in a free country where you can choose to not use any of the apps. We don't need to be lectured. Not true?? Don't use Facebook. Simple! Done.

Since when does engaging in the exchange of ideas become a "lecture?"

Clearly, you're a fan and very defensive of Facebook-so enjoy it. But as the net becomes increasingly dominated by a handful of companies, that freedom who talk about, may be more elusive than you think.

Why admonish someone for telling you the truth.

Mr. Johnson is right, & this is a welcome reminder.

Control your message from your website, or pay facebook to control your message from theirs, with the power to turn you off at a whim. The latter is akin to hiring the government to censor you as they please. Social Media is best when used as a many spoked funnel to your website, the hub of your online presence.

You won't become the next facebook by paying them to act as prison warden to your efforts to communicate, regardless of how enticing their bait becomes.

Never been censored by facebook?

Give me a break. That's their business model.

I should add, I'm very impressed by the tools that Social Media Examiner has surfaced here.

The point being made here is, If you use them, use them to direct people to your website rather than allowing them to lull you to sleep in the comfortable den of a clever snake.

Troy, you can utilize IFTTT to send your website posts to most of the social media sites on the internet along with whatever indicators you can think of pointing them directly back to your website. All automated, so that you post once to your site, & IFTTT threads everything for you, instantly.

Thanks for your comment. And that's why we live in a Free country! We also have the opportunity to express our opinions.

I like your analogies jtobiasl and will check out IFTTT

Thanks for mentioning Agorapulse Andrea! We also have a Youtube app by the way (or more a video app as you can also add Vimeo channels). On our side though, we see less and less "static content" apps being installed as tabs, much more contest and promotions.

Thanks for sharing your insights about static content, Emeric!

You're welcome Cindy King! Overall, Facebook app usage is not on the rise. Facebook has also confirmed "unofficially" to many friends of mine that they don't like apps. So I assume that they will continue to release features that are not app friendly, as they've done consistently over the last 3 years... Time to invest in other Social Media management features :-)

Absolutely Emeric! And sorry I missed your video app! This post took on a life of it's own by the time I was done :) Thanks for your thoughts on the tabs too.

Hey Andrea Vahl, I'm sure this kind of post took you a loooong time to put together! Great job :-)

This is an awesome collection for facebook page promotion. it teaches each and every aspect of business via facebook. thanks a lot for the contribution

Glad you enjoyed it :)

Great list of apps here Andrea. You can actually create all 15 of these Facebook apps using ShortStack! I like all the different options you've listed here though, lots of tools for marketers to choose from!

Hi Sara - I know it became super difficult to break these categories down! ShortStack does fit into every one and I think I mention that somewhere - that there are a few of these apps that can do it all :)

wow. This article is a great resource Andrea! I will be pointing lots of people here when they ask me about Facebook apps! Sharing.

Thanks Phyllis :)

Wow! Andrea, this is a great resource for people. Thanks for taking the time to put it all together. Great resource and I'll share, share share :-)

Thanks Jenny!!

Another excellent post from Andrea Vahl. I've clipped to Evernote for future reference and will of course be sharing it around :)

Thanks Angela!!

Do you know of any apps that enable you to show store locations?

For that I would maybe suggest making a custom tab - you could do something like this: https://www.facebook.com/BA... Or you could use http://www.mapcustomizer.com or http://zeemaps.com/ and bring that into a tab. Hope that helps!

Hey Andrea, what a WHOPPER of a post! Thank you for including Heyo :)

We'll link to this as a resource to our subscriber base for everything they need to know about FB apps.

Thanks Nathan - happy to include Heyo - it can do just about everything :)

Andrea, in light of Facebook's recent announcement that pages that asked for likes or shares would be penalized by Facebook in the newsfeed, will any of the above apps (rafflecopter, shortstack, offerpop, etc.) that are built on the premise of contests, offers, likes and shares … harm page views in the newsfeed? Does Facebook treat apps differently?

Good point but the Facebook announcement was more directed towards the "Like this post if you agree" type of posts. Contest posts are a little different and most likely wouldn't be penalized. Facebook may consider a contest promotion and so it would be good to boost that post just to give it more visibility.

Thank you for the clarification. Then, I'll just need to be careful to choose images for the contests that would comply with the 20% text rule, so that we can still boost the posts. (So much to remember!)

Yo Andrea!! A real MASSIVELY useful list and appreciate the TabSite inclusions! Lots of friends on this list too. As you note, when used well for engagement and lead capture, apps add lots of value to web marketing on Facebook, web, and mobile!

Thanks Mike! Happy to include Tabsite - great app that does a lot!

I love this list and am patting myself on the back because I'm already using a couple Tabsite apps, and getting ready to add the new Pinterest one. Love that you've integrated Canva now, too! I do worry that people don't see my tabs... really hate that they are invisible on mobile, too. But I figure having them is better than NOT having them so I cheerfully install. Thanks, Andrea and Mike!

Glad to hear of your dedicated use @Downtonian! Make sure you use the provided "smart Url" and share that in news feed posts so that any view clicking can access the tab content, even mobile users! They don't see tabs on their mobile device app but they do peruse the news feed and click on posts there!

Awesome apps...

With the majority of Facebook users being on mobile, and mobile not being able to access Facebook, layered with majority of users engaging with brands on newsfeeds, and not on their actual page, why create these on Facebook instead of linking users to your owned site that you control? There's a reason why companies like Wildfire have been shut down, I just no longer see the value of these now that mobile trends are moving farther and farther away from this. Open to be convinced otherwise ;)

Many of these apps do have mobile capability so people should check that out before considering these apps. But yes, you are right, mobile needs to be a consideration!

Thank you! Haven't heard of most of these and have been looking for new ways to create excitement on my pages. Will definitely check them out.

Thanks Lauren!

Wow...lot's of tools to have a look here. I'm surprise to discover I was only using a few of them. Thank you Andrea.

Andrea - great list. Thanks. Quick question:
if you create a download page (item #2) within Facebook as your destination for a Facebook Ad, which objective would you use? It's not clear from the options they provide.

Awesome article loaded with good ideas! Where to start? I spent time today adding to and learning more about features on my mailchimp and facebook accounts that I never knew I could do! Thanks!

Thanks Andrea for the summary, I been using HootSuite, MailChimp, WooBox, Survery Monkey. Is now time to explore more : )

Thanks for the Post Planner mention, Andrea! You RULE! Looking forward to hanging out in SD in a few weeks! :)

Really great post with good Tips and options. Thanks for sharing!