[tweetmeme]Facebook, Facebook, Facebook. There’s just never a dull moment with this social networking tool! I noticed a few interesting things on my page today, and now, after seeing this new article from TechCrunch about Facebook Deals going live, it all makes sense!
Facebook Places for All… (Pages with Addresses)
The first change I noticed on my Facebook page was that it had changed into a Place! Evidently, a Facebook page that has a valid address now doubles as a Facebook Place that fans can check-in to. I noticed this when I was on my personal profile and happened to hover my mouse over the link “works at”. This is the image I saw:
Not only does this show the location of your business, but you can get directions to the business via Bing’s map service by clicking on the “get directions” link.
Facebook Deals for Places
Then, when I was editing my page, I noticed a new option on the left hand side of the wall called “Deals.” Turns out I now have the option of offering my fans one of four different types of deals – Individual, Friend, Loyalty and Charity.
Once you decide which deal is right for you, you need to define the deal’s terms – such as 50% off – and how to claim the deal; add the dates for how long the deal will be in force, maximum number of redemptions and whether the claim can be repeated. Here is a video that explains how the program works.
I did notice that some of the pages that I’m an admin for that don’t have a valid address also don’t have this new Deals option. Which I guess makes sense. If you’re going to offer a deal, you probably should have a physical location for people to check-in to.
This is going to be an interesting development for Facebook and its users. Whether or not Facebook Deals can rival Groupon remains to be seen. I’m sure I’ll be writing more about this development in the coming weeks as everyone tries to make sense of it.
**Editor’s note: 4/26/11 – I just read an excellent article from MarketingVox which clarifies my confusion. The deals that I’m able to offer on Facebook are called “Check-in Deals” and are free. The test market deals mentioned in the Techcrunch article are called “Social Deals.” My apologies for any confusion.
Hi,
This is a Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/SpringfieldLittleTheatre
This is a Facebook Places Page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Springfield-Little-Theatre/162835330416067
This is Facebook Community Page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Springfield-Little-Theatre/108968742466366
The Springfield Little Theatre only knows of and created the first one. Facebook created the other two.
It’s getting ridiculous… it’s impossible to figure out and Facebook keeps us intentionally in the dark. Craziness.
It can be maddening sometimes, can’t it? Facebook creates these community pages from fields you create in your profile. Here’s the link that explains why they may be useful (although it just seems confusing to me): http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/help/?search=community%20pages
Do you have any idea how to add multiple addresses to a Page? I have a business with multiple locations.
Justine,
You can only list one address per page. However, there are a couple of ways you get around this. You could list the other addresses under the “description” field on the info page. You could also create multiple tabs for each location using an app like Static HTML. Beyond that, you could just create separate pages for each location, but of course that would require a lot more time spent managing those pages.
Hope that helps!
Gloria
Thanks, Gloria. Unfortunately, listing the other addresses in the description field or listing them in a tab, won’t allow users to “check-in” on their mobile devices. I currently have a business page, plus 5 Places pages for each location. It’s ridiculous. Facebook has removed the ability to “merge” them, so there’s nothing that can be done, I guess, at this point.
Justine,
That is unfortunate! You can report the issue to Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=places_for_advertisers_feedback although I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for a reply. Then again, who knows? Sometimes Facebook does make changes for the better. If enough businesses were to complain, they would probably be responsive.