Facebook facilitates mobile wheelin’ & dealin’ for business
Using social media for business just got easier, with Facebook’s announcement this morning that they have added a new function called “Deals”.
With 200 million people now using Facebook on mobile platforms, “Deals” allows business people to log in, add specials or incentives for their customers and come up on the radar of passersby, made possible by the use of “Places”.
The customer can see what’s available close to them and “claim” the deal with the press of a button (or touch screen). When they go into the local coffee shop, bar or retail outlet, they can then show that they have claimed the deal – and can redeem that 20% off their meal, their second coffee free, whatever.
The new function works with the assistance of Loopt, Yelp, Foursquare, and others, and is an exciting new part of the mobile landscape. It means now not only can customers “check in” and engage with local business, but businesses can reach out to people in their local community via Facebook in a new way.
There are different kinds of deals – those based on the individual, on a group of friends, loyalty deals, charity incentives and giveaways. Customer engagement just took a big step forward.
“Deals” will be rolled out in stages, starting with 20,000 businesses, and then stretching to include anyone with a page.
I’m excited to see how we might be able to use this functionality to provide incentives to our loyal customers, and how we also might be able to help you bring in new business, through social media.
Best quote of the announcement goes to Zuckerberg:
“You can rethink any product area, rethink it to be social.”
How could use “deals” for your business?