Facebook Places launches in Australia, SMEs told to jump on board with location marketing

Businesses should experiment with Facebook Places, lodge their business names and start using the service to act as an entry point into location-based marketing, SEO experts say.

The comments come as Facebook announced yesterday its new Places feature has launched in Australia, with users now able to use the site’s iPhone app to “check in” to a location and see where their other friends are located.

The service is a response to the growth of location-based social network Foursquare in the United States, and experts say the new service is part of a growing trend towards location-based marketing.

Jim Stewart of Stewart Media says businesses should definitely start making profiles for themselves and see how much activity they can achieve through some simple updates.

“The way we look at it is that businesses are going to have to jump in on it. People are going to be looking at it and experimenting with it, so of course with the popularity of Foursquare and so on, I think it is extremely important for businesses to jump in and start experimenting.”

The service works by logging into the “Places” option on the Facebook iPhone app. Users can then “Check In” to a nearby location, or if a location is not available, make one up. A feed of activity allows the user’s friends to see where they are, and can comment under each entry.

“In the “People Here Now” section, you can see others who are checked in with you at that place,” Facebook said in a statement. This section is visible for a limited amount of time and only to people who are checked in there. That way you can meet other people who might share your interests,” Facebook says.

But the service is also being directed to businesses as a form of marketing. The company said in a statement last month that a Places profile can be like a second webpage for a business, and can act as another online hub for customers.

“Places creates a presence for your business’s physical store locations – encouraging your customers to share that they’ve visited your business by “checking in” to your Place,” it said.

“When your customer checks into your Place, these check-in stories can generate powerful, organic impressions in friends’ News Feeds, extending your brand’s reach to new customers.”

Reseo chief executive Chris Thomas says businesses should start developing their profiles as quickly as possible.

“You want to be registering your business and getting into it and seeing how much you can get out of it. The great thing is that if someone checks in, and you’re in Facebook Places, all of their friends see what they’re doing and where they are. It can create some great viral talk for your business.”

He also notes the growth in location-based marketing given the rise of Foursquare in the US. More businesses are using these types of services to offer benefits to customers and just recently, Borders offered discounts to Australian Foursquare users.

Some businesses in the US are already offering discounts to regular customers who check in through Foursquare and these experts say there is no reason why Australian businesses can’t do the same.

“When you check into a place it gives you a list of nearby businesses, and we think this is something we may be able to optimise for our clients,” Thomas says. “But I’m seriously worried about Foursquare, this is not good news for them and I think there may be some sweat breaking out around the board room table.”