Facebook Analytics for Apps Offers New Functionality for Developers

Facebook has released new product improvements and features for its Facebook Analytics for Apps.

Facebook Analytics for Apps is an analytics platform that helps developers understand how people are using an app through insights such as: How people use an app across different devices; Aggregate demographics about the people using an app or website;

how different groups of people are interacting with an app by separating them into funnels, cohorts and segments

The platform differs from Facebook Ads Manager which is more directly designed to create, manage and measure Facebook ads. Facebook Analytics for Apps also shows some data differently than Facebook Ads Manager does such as:

- Installs: Facebook Ads Manager shows paid installs of an app. Facebook Analytics for Apps shows all installs of an app, including non-paid installs. 

- Click-through v. Conversion: Facebook Ads Manager has a default setting of 1 day view-through, 28 day click-through and is based on time of impression. Facebook Analytics for Apps is based on 28 day click-through and time of conversion.

For logging app events to analyze app activity, build funnels, and measure ad performance, Facebook has increased the event limit from 300 unique events to 1,000. Also developers can now rename existing events and parameters and deactivate any that are no longer needed.

To provide relevant ads to segmented groups, Facebook Analytics for Apps now provides the opportunity to create custom audiences directly from new segments to run targeted campaigns. Segments can include device OS, gender, location, top users, and more.

With the new lookalikes feature, developers can use the engagement of existing custom audience types to create lookalikes and connect to people on Facebook similar to existing audiences. This provides the opportunity to reach new consumers who are likely to be interested in products/services and have a high likelihood to convert.

To help track performance and key metrics, Facebook has created a new Analytics for Apps Report, an ongoing summary of high-level insights emailed directly to developers. The report provides the ability to review an app's current usage trends and stay updated on recent activity. The report will also suggest actions to take in the Analytics for Apps dashboard and highlight new features as they arrive.