Making your mobile app more popular through social isn’t as easy as adding a Facebook share or like button. When designing around a social dynamic, you must understand the user - what, when, and how they want to share.

1. 6
WAYS TO
SHAKE UP SOCIAL
IN YOUR APP
6 Ways to Shake Up Social In Your App · 1

2. INTRODUCTION
Mobile apps have gone social and the trend continues.
In a 2012 report by Nielsen, 80 percent of the top 15
apps had some sort of a social or local element. With
numbers from Apple and Google showing average
users downloading only three to five apps per month,
it’s clear that doing a great job of social integration is
essential to ranking at the top of the app store lists.
enormously by providing convenience, interaction, or
expression. It all boils down to creating value. There
always has to be something in it for the user. So, how
do you do that?
80% OF THE TOP 15 APPS OF
2012 HAD SOME SORT OF A
SOCIAL OR LOCAL ELEMENT.
3. Provide an outlet for users to express themselves
For the social features of an app to be widely used,
they’ve got to be well implemented. Many social
components are added as mechanisms to spread word
of the application. But this forced approach doesn’t
always go over well with users. Many regard this
attempt at social integration as shameless promotion.
But there are social additions that have boosted apps
1. Complement the user journey with relevant
information
2. Encourage social interaction with a clear purpose
4. Use social to motivate and encourage
5. Give users a sense of involvement
6. Don’t make it too intrusive
Apps across the board are social. With dominators
like Candy Crush Saga and Instagram leading the way,
everyone wants their app to be the hot new thing
among users and their friends. Making your app social
could be a major improvement and be a huge benefit
to your business, whether your goal is to get the word
out or build stronger customer relationships.
6 Ways to Shake Up Social In Your App · 2

3. Sunrise
ONE: COMPLIMENT THE
USER JOURNEY WITH
RELEVANT INFORMATION
One of the main benefits of social
integration is providing users with
valuable information. Like that Yelp review
that saved you from a bad restaurant.
What may seem like a small convenience
has the potential to improve daily life on
a large scale.
Sunrise, a design-oriented calendar app,
does a good job of this and has a 4+
star ratting in the app store to prove it.
Sunrise lets users RSVP to Facebook and
Google calendar events through one app.
Waze, a real-time road-travel information
app that boasts 50 million users, also
included Facebook integration to let users
“drive with their friends.” People can see
their friends driving locations, departure
times and estimated arrival times - making
it easier to meet and coordinate carpools.
TWO: ENCOURAGE SOCIAL
INTERACTION WITH A
CLEAR PURPOSE
There needs to be a good reason for
people to use your app’s social features.
This can be achieved by creating friendly
competition, bragging rights, or mutual
benefits through socializing. Many
gaming apps such as Words with Friends,
Run with Friends and Draw Something
are quite good at this. These Zynga
apps provide an easy way for friends to
keep in touch by implementing direct
competition. With today’s busy lifestyle,
users value this fun way to interact
with people they might otherwise not
hear from.
THESE GAMES DON’T REQUIRE
REAL-TIME SOCIALIZING; THEY
LET PEOPLE KEEP IN TOUCH AND
PLAY ON THEIR OWN TIME.
These features work together with
Facebook events, road-travel, directions,
and individuals’ locations are organized
and displayed when the event nears.
This helps improve communication and
allows users to let their friends know
where they are without having to text or
call while driving.
In the end it’s all about making the
information useable. Instead of sharing a
movie from a cinema service app, allow
the users to ask their friends to vote for
which movie they want to see. This is real
social interaction that builds valuable
information right into the user’s journey.
Waze newest update also integrates with
Foursquare, CrunchBase, and Google maps.
This allows users to see information on who
they are meeting, how to get where they are
going and where they have been.
THE SOCIAL INTEGRATION INTO MOBILE APPS ALLOWS USERS TO LET THEIR
FRIENDS KNOW WHERE THEY ARE WITHOUT HAVING TO TEXT OR CALL
WHILE DRIVING.
A good example of bragging rights is
the game Dots. Aside from being an
addicting mini-game on its own, many like
to share their high scores on Facebook to
compare with their friends. Then there’s
Candy Crush Saga, which gets 500 million
plays a day. Candy Crush is having so
much success right now that one out of
seven people in Hong Kong play.
The ever popular bejeweled-style game
has created a massive social movement in
part because the Facebook activity with
friends is critical for boosts, extra lives
and higher scores. Farmville followed a
similar pattern and was widely successful.
Players of these games were willing to
share their game activity on Facebook
because doing so helped their game play.
Keep in mind these games don’t require
real-time socializing; they let people
choose their pace and keep in touch on
their own time. Social integration with a
clear purpose creates value and reason
for users to keep coming back for more.
Dots
Candy Crush Saga
6 Ways to Shake Up Social In Your App · 3

4. +
+
THREE: PROVIDE AN
OUTLET FOR USERS TO
EXPRESS THEMSELVES
Everybody has an opinion on something,
and many people like to create their own
content. If you have an app that allows
users to express their thoughts, social
media sharing may improve upon the
app’s utility. A good example is Spotify’s
use of Facebook. Spotify gives users the
option to share their listening activity
on Facebook and follow their friends’
listening activity. This functionality lets
people broadcast their taste, an opinion
FOUR: USE SOCIAL
TO MOTIVATE OR
ENCOURAGE
The surge of mobile fitness apps are
good examples of communities created
for users to encourage and motivate
each other to get fit. Nike+ Running, the
most popular running app on iTunes,
uses social interaction as motivation to
exercise, turning every like and comment
into sounds of a cheering audience.
Another exercise tracking app, Fitocracy,
makes use of a community to provide
encouragement and fitness knowledge
through numerous discussion groups in
in the form of music. The app also
allows users to discover more by getting
recommendations from their Spotify
friends and favorite musicians. These
utilities are great, but there will always
be people who won’t want to share their
content, so be sure your app’s sharing
feature is optional. Vanilla Ice may or may
not be on the playlist, the world doesn’t
need to know.
are successful photo-sharing apps where
users don’t know where their photo is
sent or who it is being seen by. There are
no “likes” or friends, just self-expression.
A social network for link-sharing called
Potluck is coming to iOS with a similar
concept. Potluck focuses on content
rather than user popularity. You can still
participate in discussions, but like Rando,
there are no “likes” and posts are not
paired with a username.
POLLS, LIKES AND RATINGS
MAKE EXPRESSION EASY FOR
INTERNET USERS OF ALL KINDS.
For every user involved in content
creation, there are many that only lurk.
This passive participation is for those that
have interest in the topic but do not want
to post their opinion. Self-expression is
a human need, and social integration
without the pressure of publicity might be
a great value add. Whether it’s through
polls, likes, ratings or sharing, make
expression as easy as possible for users of
all kinds.
Another way to allow users to express
themselves is by playing with image
motivation, i.e. using the appeal of
personal branding to encourage user
engagement. Keep in mind, people may
not always need social validation. There
different categories - connecting anyone
from body builders to yoga enthusiasts.
A new app on the scene, Cody, plays
more with behavioral economics and
focuses on social interaction to make
working out fun. It’s less of a workout
tracking app for intense health buffs and
more of a social network specifically for
casual exercisers. Users can post workout
photos, status updates and follow their
friends on Cody.
These apps’ social aspects work
because they help motivate people to
do something everyone needs to do
anyway: be active.
THE NEW MOBILE FITNESS APPS MOTIVATE PEOPLE TO DO SOMETHING
EVERYONE NEEDS TO DO ANYWAY: BE ACTIVE.
Fitocracy
Cody
6 Ways to Shake Up Social In Your App · 4

5. FIVE: GIVE USERS A SENSE
OF INVOLVEMENT
Involvement can come in many forms,
but higher user engagement can be
useful to them and you. A study by
MarketingPower.com shows that if social
elements in digital platforms provide
feelings of human interaction, users will
feel more emotionally satisfied. Thus,
social listening additions such as a
comments stream, reviews section, weekly
poll, like or rating button can let users get
involved during the apps development.
IF SOCIAL ELEMENTS IN DIGITAL
PLATFORMS PROVIDE FEELINGS
OF HUMAN INTERACTION USERS
WILL FEEL MORE EMOTIONALLY
SATISFIED.
When consumers are able to exchange
information or advice about a product
they develop a sense of community and
become more attached to the brand.
The competition was a fun way to endorse
brand lifestyle, giving the users a bit of
control over what they’re consuming, thus
strengthening brand loyalty.
This kind of user behavior is especially
prominent in the streetwear market in
forums like Hypebeast.com, a breeding
ground for brand loyalty. Fans of popular
labels like Supreme meet in such style
forums and discuss new releases, post
photos and more. Businesses can also visit
the popular forums to gauge consumers
and predict trends.
Another alternative is getting people
directly involved with the brand. In 2011
Giorgio Armani used Foursquare for a
contest to promote a new fragrance,
Armani Code Sport. A contest for the
most “epic night”, i.e. checked into the
most hotspots in one night, with the
winner receiving a free bottle of cologne.
Foursquare
SIX: DON’T MAKE IT TOO
INTRUSIVE
Examples of intrusiveness are the many
apps that force users to create a user
profile or log in with social network
details. A major retailer recently released
its own coupon app. The deals are great,
with up to 30 percent savings in addition
to other discounts. Too bad it requires
a sign- up via Facebook and literally
publishes every single purchase you make
with the app’s discounts. Because this
mandatory log in and automated posting
through Facebook is seen as irritating
promotion, consumer reviews have been
mostly negative.
An alternative is to make social media
sign-in optional. Let the users get
acquainted with your app, then count on
quality content for a positive experience
to increase the chances they will create an
account or link their account with a social
network. If you want to use Facebook
connect for tech or budget reasons, make
sure to have an option in the settings to
turn sharing off.
But it doesn’t end
there, make sure you
are transparent with
your users about
what content will be
shared, and how. It’s
extremely off-putting when users find
that all of their app activity has spammed
Facebook without
their consent. Avoid
surprises, let users
authenticate the
app’s integration with
Facebook and do not
prefill the message
field for an app
activity post.
app
LET THE USERS GET ACQUAINTED WITH YOUR APP
BEFORE MAKING AN ACCOUNT OR LINKING THEIR
ACCOUNT WITH A SOCIAL NETWORK.
6 Ways to Shake Up Social In Your App · 5

6. SOCIAL MEDIA
PITFALLS
Almost all apps have some kind of social media
element with hopes of engaging customers, building
brand awareness, driving traffic and influencing sales,
but few use it wisely. Take the guidelines above and
brainstorm about the best way to use social in your
app. A strategic approach to your implementation
is key to avoiding pitfalls. An improperly planned,
executed or managed social media strategy could do
more harm than good. Many brands and developers
have learned the hard way, enduring embarrassing and
sometimes costly mistakes. So, before you start coding,
make sure you haven’t fallen for some of the common
social integration mistakes that cause apps to fail.
6 Ways to Shake Up Social In Your App · 6

7. ONE: NOT EVERY
APP NEEDS A SOCIAL
INTEGRATION
First things first - integration must feel
natural. Many apps fail because the social
element feels forced. If your app already
exists, ask yourself if a social component
was part of the app’s mission to begin
with? If not, do users need or want a social
option now?
Overlooking this basic question can
happen to anyone. Several years ago
Apple tried to create an entire social
network around its iTunes called Ping
(yeah – we forgot about it too; R.I.P.
9/30/2012). Ping was very similar to
Facebook, right down to the color
scheme, but was not connected in any
way. Perhaps Ping could’ve been a great
social network, but it didn’t offer anything
new or unique and failed to take off. That
being said, people were not willing to
switchover, especially since their entire
network had already been built in a
different application. The leading social
apps create a new concept that many
other apps successfully branch off of, but
it works because there is differentiation.
SPOTIFY HAS 6 MILLION PAYING SUBSCRIBERS AND A TOTAL OF
24 MILLION USERS (25% OF USERS PAY). GETS OVER 1 BILLION SHARES
(INSTANCES OF APP ACTIVITY) ON FACEBOOK A DAY. THEIR 110 BILLION
SONGS, ALBUMS AND RADIO GETS 40 MILLION PLAYS EACH DAY.
“Now when I go on to check the
feed, it’s jammed with stupid
15 second video clips that slow
down the app.”
“Very poor connection, the
people can’t see me. I don’t
know if contacts are online. I
would like the older version.”
TWO: NEW FEATURES
CAN IMPACT AN APP’S
PERFORMANCE
Instagram’s new video option has slowed
content consumption and is one of the
reasons many users question whether
it was a good idea. Not everyone with
a smartphone has fabulous bandwidth,
some rely on free Wi-Fi, and integration
of social dynamic may cause slower
processing. It could potentially ruin
the user experience and thus your app.
Even Skype, the most popular free VoIP,
has many problems with lag and bugs,
generating a 2.5 star ratings in the app
store and a load of unhappy user ratings.
So yes, you should be concerned if
your app’s social features are impacting
performance or quality.
“I love instagram, I really do, but
I hate the new video feature. It
makes the feed really slow…”
“New UI is quite good. But I
really miss a button to quit the
app, for real, without background
process.”
“There have been a number of
times already, even with my LTE
iPhone 5, that I couldn’t load
videos fast enough in Instagram.”
Instagram
Skype
OVER 70% OF MOBILE APP USERS WOULD WRITE A BAD REVIEW FOR AN
APP IF IT FROZE OR CRASHED, 59% WOULD FOR SLOW RESPONSIVENESS.
6 Ways to Shake Up Social In Your App · 7

8. THREE: ADDING A SHARE BUTTON DOESN’T MAKE THE
CONTENT SHARE WORTHY
A share button isn’t much more than a visual cue for users. For content to be shareable
it must be entertaining, informative, controversial, or even emotional. Start with the
basics - identify the natural social and sharing behavior of the content on a mobile
device (sharing with a friend, posting photos of something fun/beautiful, etc.). Ask
yourself, does your app provide something memorable enough to be shared? Is it
notable? If not (or not yet), create your content so that people can get involved, and
make it easy to do so.
GREAT
STORY
VALUE
EXCHANGE
DISRUPTIVE
SOCIAL IDEAS
PROOF
SIMPLE
ADVOCACY
FRESH
INTEREST
CREATIVE
PARTICIPATION
6 Ways to Shake Up Social In Your App · 8

9. CONCLUSION
Making your mobile app more popular through social
isn’t as easy as adding a Facebook share or like button.
When designing around a social dynamic, you must
understand the user - what, when, and how they want
to share. Integration has to be seamless and built in—
not tacked onto the overall user journey. Rather than
pushing your app’s info out, try to pull relevant info in
to enrich the experience. Keep it fresh with an ongoing
conversation and make sure the material is updated to
stay relevant to current users. Lastly, it’s important not
to get too caught up in formulating the social path on
which your information travels, instead make sure the
content is strong enough to be spread first. With that,
we wish you the best of luck!
6 Ways to Shake Up Social In Your App · 9

10. ABOUT DMI
DMI
One Rock Spring Plaza
6550 Rock Spring Dr.
Bethesda, MD 20817
DMI Sales Team
U.S. Sales: 855.963.2099
Int’l Sales: 240.200.5848
sales@DMInc.com
DMInc.com
DMI IS THE WORLD’S LEADING PROVIDER OF ENTERPRISE
MOBILITY SERVICES AND SOLUTIONS.
We build enterprise class mobile solutions that
generate results for the world’s top brands and
businesses. Our mobile solutions combine the awardwinning user experience design that has made us one
of the top creators of consumer apps, with the deep
middleware and engineering expertise that we’ve used
to build and manage enterprise applications for the
most demanding IT departments in the world.
DMI mobility solutions improve business processes,
tap new revenue streams, build customer loyalty,
and increase employee productivity. And we offer
a full range of Managed Services to securely set up,
configure, and manage your mobile devices.
THE PROOF
We’ve built more than 400 mobile apps—in the past
12 months alone—for more than 150 leading organizations­
like Disney, Coca-Cola, Toyota, Vodafone, P&G,
The National Guard, and Universal Studios.
We offer a full range of security options that include
Federal-grade hardware-based security, two-factor
authentication, secure container, and sophisticated
encryption solutions.
We offer brilliant creative and user experience: Our mobile
app development group was named the Best Branded
App Developer at the 2012 Mobile Entertainment Awards.
With our expertise and economies of scale, we can provide
mobility management at a higher service level and on
average 20% lower cost than most companies can do on
their own.
We have 500,000 devices under management for more
that 100+ clients, including many Fortune 500 companies—
like BP, Johnson & Johnson, Sears, The Associated Press,
Allergan, and more. At BP, we’re deploying 1,000 managed
mobile devices each day.
We provide 24 x 7 x 365 mobile service support for more
than 500,000 users. DMI is the one call our customers need
to make to resolve any issue—devices, apps, infrastructure,
even carriers.
Pervasive excellence is our commitment to quality service.
DMI is one of only a handful of companies that is CMMI L3
appraised for both application development and services,
as well as ISO 9001:2008, ISO 27001:2005, and
ISO 20000-1:2011 certified. Our average D&B Open
Ratings performance score from our clients is 94/100.
6 Ways to Shake Up Social In Your App · 10

11. SOURCES
• http://mashable.com/2013/06/02/mobile-design-tips/
• http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2013/5/16/how-many-apps-do-android-and-ios-users-download
• http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TECH/mobile/03/21/app.engagement.gahran/
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/south-pole-weather-200-degrees-of-separation-fromwashington-dcsscorching-heat/2012/07/17/gJQAzq4BrW_blog.html
• http://www.marketingpower.com/ResourceLibrary/Publications/JournalofMarketing/2007/71/3/jmkg.71.3.143.pdf
• http://mashable.com/2013/06/20/video-for-instagram-poll/
• http://www.fastcocreate.com/1682946/the-principles-of-social-design-how-to-make-content-shareable#1
6 Ways to Shake Up Social In Your App · 11