Small local companies are going to be the real winners with the site's new Place Deals marketing

Businesses need to deliver on the Facebook promise [Sunday Telegraph (UK)]

(Sunday Telegraph (UK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Businesses need to deliver on the Facebook promise ; Small local companies are going to be the real winners with the site's new Place Deals marketing tool - but they must be savvy enough to get in on the act quickly THINK TANK Business delivery, advertising, management, technology This week I have visited, or "checked in", to Selfridges, my local cinema and a beauty parlour - all via Facebook Places on my mobile phone.

What do I have to show for it? Three "likes" from my friends and two lovely but forgettable comments. Interestingly, my non tech- savvy friends, increasingly armed with smartphones, are loving checking in to their locations and tagging their mates with them. But now that the consumers are on board, where are the businesses offering the rewards for such check-ins? This week, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the first phones to feature a dedicated physical Facebook button were announced by mobile maker HTC. Much-rumoured, the ChaCha and Salsa phones will allow instant access to the popular social network via the button.

Peter Chou, HTC's chief executive, said: "We wanted to create the ultimate socially connected phones with mass market appeal." Henri Moissinac, Facebook's head of mobile business, said: "We have worked closely with HTC for several years on bringing Facebook to their devices and HTC ChaCha and HTC Salsa are the next stage." That's right - mobile phones, the ultimate social gadget, have just got even more social, making it easier than ever for consumers to connect in real-time with their friends via photos, comments and locationsharing.

Telephone calls via a mobile are only one part of what these mini computers now need to offer to satisfy people's growing demands.

Last month, as first revealed by The Daily Telegraph, Facebook launched Places Deals, a service which allows users to check in to shops using their mobile phones in order to get discounts, in the UK and the rest of Europe.

Facebook's Places Deals, which launched in the US last November, aims to reward users for visits to different locations by logging their whereabouts on the site via their mobile phones. Launch partners include Starbucks, Debenhams, Argos, Alton Towers, O2 and Mazda.

"We all love a bargain, so whether you're on the lookout for a special offer at your favourite restaurant or tips from a fashionista friend about a discount on shoes in a department store, Facebook Deals will help you find it," said Joanna Shields, Facebook's EMEA vice-president, at the time of the launch.

However, since Deals went live, I have used the mobile feature to see what deals are around me in different parts of the UK, including London, Manchester and Cardiff, and the results have been disappointing so far. Standing in the centre of Manchester last week, I tapped on the "Places" button via Facebook mobile, and was surprised to find not one single "golden ticket" (these appear next to venues where deals can be recouped in exchange for a check-in) anywhere around me. I know for a fact that in Manchester there is a Yo! Sushi, Starbucks and an Argos - but nothing appeared next to these shop names on my phone.

There was a similar Facebook "deal silence" in Cardiff. And don't even get me started on Foursquare, a US check-in service, which has yet to capitalise on its burst of popularity this side of the Atlantic and offer any deals for people checking in to places.

Now, I know it's early days, and Facebook admitted when launching Deals that it had only signed contracts with major brands for the kick-off of the service, but local businesses are going to be the real winners of this new golden marketing tool and need to get in on the act quick.

Facebook Places Deals has been described by Ian Maude, head of internet at Enders Analysis, as Foursqare meets Groupon (the popular daily discount site).

People have always loved a bargain and found out about them via their friends. Now both of those worlds can come together through Facebook Places Deals - but it will be meaningful only if the businesses are savvy enough to get on board. Otherwise people will get check-in fatigue if not sufficiently rewarded.

Yes there are other check-in services - such as Gowalla, but they lack a crucial ingredient - people's friend networks. With around 600m active users, chances are Facebook will be the tool most people will want to use to share their location.

Places Deals offer smaller local businesses an opportunity to compete on an even playing field with the big boys - but they need to actually offer rewards for repeat check-ins, such as the opportunity to gain points for a free manicure, or two check-ins in a week equals a free coffee.

And then the details of how good a business's offer or product is will spread through the most honest form of advertising there is: word of mouth. But this time it will be via a digital social network that provides the business's location and contact details via someone's mobile phone.

So, what is the best thing about Places Deals for participating businesses at the moment? It's free. Facebook is not yet taking a cut of any business generated as a result of check-ins. So businesses' marketing and promotions departments need to figure out what offers they can afford and get on the phone to Facebook's Deals UK team pronto.

They also need to create awareness to those coming into their shops that if they check-in via Facebook mobile they can access certain benefits. Oldfashioned things such as "Facebook Places Deals" signs in shops to promote new marketing channels are always useful.

Also, those businesses that have never been big enough or able to afford to create a loyalty point card scheme, such as Boots' points programme, now don't need to invest in such a programme as it's already pre-made for them.

Of course, the same logical thinking needs to be applied before creating a location-based deal, as it does before any promotion - but now there is a genuinely social tool which helps to capture trade when customers are within walking distance of a business's premises - and local businesses must take advantage of it.

Emma Barnett is Telegraph Media Group's Digital Media Editor mobile phones. Launch partners include Starbucks, Debenhams, It is a genuinely social tool which captures trade when customers are within walking distance (c) 2011 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved.