A Clear Guide to Facebook DEALS vs Check-In Deals

Yes there is a difference! A pretty big one.
It took me a few days to digg into this when both services were first launched. Couldn't they have picked slightly more different names?

Since I am a huge fan of location based services, both using them personally as well as really believing that this is an amazing opportunity for companies to INCREASE Business I decided to write a short summary of what this is about.
Deals go into the users news-feed and the news-feed is what you need to win as a business. Deals can't be ignored.
Facebook now has more than 250 MILLION mobile facebook users and they are twice as active as the desktop facebook users. Ignoring these people as a marketer is dumb.

Check-In Deals was first launched late last year and like all Facebook features it was first launched in the U.S and was quickly rolled out in 6 more countries.
Canada, U.K, France, Spain, Germany and Italy.
A check-in deal is basically you as a local business creating a DEAL within your PLACE page (NOT your fan page) and offering customers one out of four types of deals.
Individual Deals which basically is a one time offer for a person checking into your store.
Loyalty Deal lets you unlock a deal through repeat visits, anytime in between 2-20 times visits which you can select as the business owner.
Friend Deal is something I personally believe very much in. This lets a person share savings with 1-8 people. Let's say you and your friends are out having a drinks and dinner and you check in and this deal offers one free appetizer when ordering 3 drinks.
Lastly is the Charity Deal wich promotes a cause. It lets a company donate money everytime a client check in.
Facebook Check In Deals is equivalent to Foursquare while Facebook DEALS is similar to Groupon.

Facebook DEALS was introduced a few months ago but it's still in the beginning phase and only available in 5 U.S cities. Facebook takes a percentage on the deals purchased, there is no upfront cost and it's mainly focused on entertainment activities.
This works like this: You as a business owner decide that for example if 5 people purchase your dishwasher they will all benefit from a 30% discount. Setting up these types of deals is done through a personal Facebook representative.


Another tip is to COMBINE your Foursquare deal with your Facebook deal!
Install a Foursquare widget on your Facebook page HERE!














Read more about Check-In deals HERE! as well as HERE!
How do you promote your deals ON and OFFline?
On your FB Page, Through FB ads, on Twitter, in an email newsletter, in a blog post, launching a promotion, in the retail store on a window sign, in the menue if you are a restaurant owner or through sites like meetup.com.

Here are some further ways to find local people (through Twitter) and maybe be able to contact them about your local offers: 5 ways to use twitter to connect with local customers

By the way LOVE this site. As a marketer this lets you investigate your Facebook market: http://www.socialbakers.comTweet