When I began using Facebook a little over five years ago, it was a very different website. Creating a Facebook was the “cool” thing to do, Facebook had just expanded to high school networks and you had to be “invited” by another kid from your network to sign up. People barely checked their facebooks once or twice a day and the coolest thing you could do was “poke” someone. Today everything has changed people access Facebook from everywhere including work, home or even from their mobile phone. It’s also not just teens and college kids anymore, now every including adults and senior citizens are online. With people spending so much time on Facebook, its not surprising that Facebook has involved and become a prime space for advertising.
According to this article in the Wall St Journal Facebook Inc. as taken it a step further. Before mobile Facebook users, could use the website in similar ways to they could on a computer however now, users can check in to locations and be rewarded. There is currently an application called foursquare that allows user to “check in” using their facebook account. The difference with the new service from Facebook, is merchants will offer incentives to “check in”, such as a discount. A person using the Facebook places app on their mobile phone can look up nearby business and it will show if they are offering any promotions for checking in. This application allows consumers to use their Facebook account as loyalty cards as well as allowing merchants advertising opportunities to attract business. I think this is a great tool for businesses to use. Examples listed in the article, included discounts such as half off a cup of coffee, or a free appetizer. I think that these deals will help bring customers in because they don’t have to do anything. There are no coupons or signing up for emails, they are already “enrolled” by having a Facebook.
GAP Inc is going to be one of the first partners and will be offering a free pair of jeans to the first 10,000 people to check into their store. Other companies that plan to participate include Starbucks, McDonald’s, Macy and Harrah’s. While Facebook is not charging users to take part in this application, they can still make money off on advertisement on their site, and many companies using this app will want to advertise it with Facebook. From the standpoint of Facebook I think this was a smart idea, because many other companies such as Google have created a location application and Facebook needs to stay ahead in its market. From the business stand point of other companies that would be using this application, I also think it will be very effective. This application allows businesses to access millions of Facebook users very easily and affordably, which would otherwise not be possible with this application. They can also reach a bigger audience all at once. Businesses save money on printing coupons and having to distribute them by using Facebook places. They can offer the same incentives to more people with less money, which will give them higher profits. This should be a business goal for any business. Another good thing about this application is companies in the service industry such as Harrah’s can use it, or retail businesses like Gap. I think the possibilities could be endless if a company utilizes the new Facebook places application.
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