Facebook users are on guard against marketing-heavy applications. Underscore Marketing's president offers some tips for launching an application that users will embrace, not reject.

No one blindly trusts anyone on Facebook anymore. That is, the wonderful viral effect that marketers who have launched Facebook applications have come to appreciate has been diminished somewhat. This is mostly due to the notion that many Facebook users understand that their friends may not have meant to send them a new application, and the fact that something that came from a friend doesn't necessarily mean it's safe or desirable.

Where did this come from? We're used to seeing this guarded stance in email marketing, but not on Facebook.

Perhaps it's simply experience. If you've been a Facebook user for a significant length of time, you've probably been passed an application that, despite your best intentions, managed to spam your entire friend network with copies of itself (and your implied endorsement). Many users have learned to simply ignore many of the apps sent their way, unless they're accompanied by some sort of fear-allaying message from the friend sending it.

How does this bode for the Facebook campaign you're considering? It may mean you have to think things through a bit more. Here are some pointers and discussion points:

1) Is pass-along the primary KPI?
In any discussion of success metrics for a social networking initiative, viral pass-along has to enter the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) discussion. It would be irresponsible to ignore it. But some of the applications I've seen lately have placed pass-along so far up on the list of success metrics that they've lost sight of what makes a good app. I've even seen apps that ask for permission to send to friends before the user even gets a clear idea of what the app does or what value it conveys. This is what can happen if pass-along becomes the ultimate success metric.

Allow the user plenty of time to get a feel for your application before you go seeking permission to hit up their friends. Give people the opportunity to send to friends upon install, but don't be so presumptive as to assume permission for every friend in their network, as many apps try to do with pre-checked boxes.

While pass-along should play a role in KPIs, engagement metrics should balance the equation. Trading pass-along for passivity only looks good on an Excel spreadsheet, and it won't likely bring you any closer to your business goals.

2) What is it you want the user to do?
Ambiguity concerning what value an app lends to the end user is the easiest way to get ignored. The best descriptions of apps convey the apps' value in a short sentence, and gives people who install the app a clear path to next steps. 

If your app asks users to compare their tastes with that of their friends in exchange for a chance to win prizes, you have to tell them up front that they need to click in order to get a series of questions about their tastes that they'll need to respond to. Setting expectations up front means you'll engage more people, and you'll be more confident that the engagement you do see is legitimate.

3) What's the value proposition?
Successful apps extend value and make the end user feel good that what they received from your company was worth the price they paid in attention (and in pass-along). Unsuccessful ones make people feel like they've been ripped off.

At some point early in your discussion about marketing on Facebook, you need to take an honest look at your value proposition. What are you giving the user? What are you asking in return? Will they think it's worth it in the end?

You would be surprised at the number of campaigns that died in the cradle because the marketing focus was on what the end user could give the company and not on what the company was giving the user.

There are plenty of other considerations that can contribute to the success of your Facebook app. They wouldn't all fit into this column, but you can get a good head start by asking these three questions before rushing headlong into a campaign, and keeping in mind the guarded mindset of the typical Facebook user.

Tom Hespos is the president of Underscore Marketing and blogs at Hespos.com.