Have you tried facebook deals yet? As a consumer, or as a brand marketer?
Firstly, as a consumer:
- open facebook on your smart phone and click on check in
- it will list local places e.g. if you are in a high street, it wil list shops, bars and businesses where you are
- if any of these places listed has a yellow square next to them, then click on it
- that will display whatever deals are available from that company
Deals could be simple discounts, or free gifts (free coffee when you check in....), or it could be a charity donation (I have just donated £1 to a teenage cancer charity, by simply checking in at Argos), or it could be an added value experience e.g. check in and you could meet a player after the game (as a US basketball team is doing). Give it a try....
But what about brands -n how can it help you?
- The average person has 130 friends on facebook, so every time one of your customers "checks in" then they are endorsing you to 130 of their friends. What's more, you can reward them for their advocacy or use it to trial new products e.g. check in and get a free sample. It really is that simple. Brands like Argos, Debenhams, Starbucks and many more have launched on day 1 in UK and it has been a great success in the USA since being launched in the Autumn (Fall, for my American friends).
It is a serious threat to search engines, if people are spending more time on Facebook than Google and if your brand has more Facebook follwers than web hits (or wants to get to that situation), then this could well be for you. Again, why not try it?
Wouldn't you want your customers endorsing your brand, as I have just done for Argos, see the picture below to demonstrate what I mean.
