A survey conducted in February of 2010 by MerchantCircle found that roughly 32% of small businesses are using Facebook Places to market their businesses.
Facebook Deals (not to be confused with the feared Groupon killer) is a Facebook Places feature that allow admins to create virtual versions of coupons or loyalty programs for their businesses.
While your nonprofit might not offer a deal as a way to encourage more donations, you can partner up with local businesses to create cause marketing programs like REI did.
REI creating a deal type called “Charity Deal”. This allowed local REI stores to implement a cause marketing program that gave back to local nonprofits across the United States!
There are currently four types of Facebook Deals:
Individual Deal - This rewards a customers when they check in. The business strategy behind this kind of deal is to encourage people to simply visit your nonprofit or your partner’s place of business. The best off for this Deal is a discount or a gift with a purchase.
Friend Deal - This rewards groups of customers when they check in together. The business strategy behind this deal is to leverage word of mouth advertising to increase your business. Help spread the word about your brand more rapidly. The best use for this Deal is a deep discount or an attractive gift (not tied to a purchase).
Loyalty Deal – This rewards customers for checking in a certain number of times within a limited timeframe. The business strategy behind this deal is to encourage repeat business. The best offer for this is something that would tie together previous purchases in a way that made sense. For example, a Liquor Store could offer a free wine rack after a certain amount of check-ins.
Charity Deal – This Deal is a pledge (from you) to donate to a charity of your choice when customers check in at your business. The business strategy behind this Deal is to attract new customers (most likely supporters of the charity) and enhance the goodwill of your brand. In many cases, the check written in advance, and the pledge has a cap on it. For example, “We will donate $10 for every check-in up to $5,000.”
The great thing about Facebook Deals is that you can conduct experiments that are a couple of weeks in length:
If you’d like to learn more about creating a Facebook Deal, download Facebook’s Deals Guide.
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I added a Facebook Deal for a restaurant client of mine. Don’t know if it is beneficial yet because just did it, but I have high hopes.
Great post!
Thanks for making it easier to understand the benefits of these deals. Social Fish is a trustworthy source of info!
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