Facebook is currently testing a new feature called ‘Offers’ for ecommerce businesses which will allow companies to display coupons prominently within ads, Sponsored Stories and user’s news feeds. The development could mean big things for your resort’s social media campaign when it gets rolled out in the coming weeks.
What is Facebook Offers?
When the functionality becomes widely available, you’ll be able to create vouchers that your customers can redeem online and promote them via Facebook. This could take the form of a promotion code to use on your website, or in eTourism Online create a direct link which customers can click on for a discount on bookings. These coupons will be completely free to run, with the option of paying Facebook a fee to increase your visibility by running your deals more frequently.
Setting up offers is easy: you just click “Offer” at the top of your Timeline, enter an enticing headline, set an expiration date for the deal, lay out any necessary terms and conditions and add an image.
Why Facebook Offers Is Good News for Your Resort
To get a better idea why Facebook Offers is such an exciting development, it helps to consider an example from the brands that took part in the beta test. In April, leather handbag retailer Kate Spade ran a promo of 25% off purchases made both online and in-store. The coupon included instructions on how to redeem the offer in person (either by presenting a print-out of the coupon or a confirmation code on a mobile phone) while those who preferred to shop online had access to a promo code to use on the brand’s website.
If you want to make your offer available online only, all you need to do is adjust your website to accept the new promo code and you’re ready. It’s up to you whether you set up a unique code for each user or one generic code that can be shared among fans in order to maximise your visibility across all Facebook users. Read how to use eTourism Online to create promotions that can be tied into your Facebook offer.
There’s one more reason to get excited about Facebook Offers – it’s also a great way to generate new leads! Customers who wanted to take advantage of this offer from Kate Spade in store could provide an email address for the coupon to be sent to, while online shoppers could click a URL that appeared in the coupon to have the discount instantly applied to their shopping trolley. So although you don’t have to make an email address compulsory for your own offers, this is a fantastic new way to build your email data base using social media.
What about Cost?
Facebook Offers will be free to use, but you can pay to increase your visibility. For example, department chain Sears, another of the beta testers, paid to have its offer promoted in Sponsored Stories, so that it would be seen by the friends of customers who claimed the offer. These paid for coupons could appear either on Facebook’s side bar, or within members news feeds and you can make use of Facebook’s ad targeting for even great control over who sees your coupon.
When Facebook Offers becomes available to resorts in the near future, you can expect to see a better and more obvious correlation between your social media activities and your actual profit.
Here you will learn how to tie your Facebook offers into your eTourism Online reservations system.
Do you think Facebook Offers is a good idea for your resort?
Looking for more information? Check out Facebook Help.
