Facebook Deals: Can it sway social media consumers?
Facebook is looking at various routes to involve retailers in a bid to commercialise its free service. The launch of Facebook Deals was one such service. David Prior, head of digital marketing for Delineo looks at the thinking behind it.
In the light of the Facebook Deals launch, is location-based incentivisation nearing some kind of tipping point? If brands can be smart enough, the answer would have to be a resounding yes.
Up until now, Foursquare and Gowalla have acted as the main channels for brands to offer special deals for users who check in at their locations. The trouble for Foursquare and Gowalla is that they're still unknown to the majority of punters on the street, and in truth unlikely to break through to the mainstream any time soon.
You'd suspect that Facebook Deals won't suffer from a similar problem, and consequently the potential for brands is hugely exciting.
Let's visualise an example a year from now, when the initial list of Deals partners will inevitably have broadened to encompass most of the high street.
You're a consumer out in the city. You want a coffee. You check in and see that of the four main high-street chains, three are offering Facebook Deals. Of those three, Costa is offering by far the best deal - let's say a free muffin with your regular latte. Does that extra muffin override your usual loyalty to Starbucks? Do you mind that it's an extra five minutes' walk away?
Over the next few months we will undoubtedly see a barrage of innovative special offers emerging through Facebook Deals, and it will be fascinating to see which offers make the difference for consumers - enough to disrupt their usual habits, or convince them to walk that extra quarter of a mile.
Whether they're after a coffee, supermarket or gym, will more consumers soon be floating voters, available for bidding at the highest price?
The unique difference that Deals provides is that users are all salesmen now, promoting a brand's offer to their friends via their news feed. This is a step-change that makes them far more valuable to that brand than a Foursquare user has ever been.
We should also expect Deals to provide a real shot in the arm for Facebook advertising. For the first time, brands will be able to tie targeted ads to local deals, a much tighter proposition for brands than Facebook ads have represented up until now.
It'll be fascinating to see how Deals develops. Just as interesting will be whether Foursquare and Gowalla are still with us in a year's time.