Check-in Leaderboard Launches for Facebook Places

Linc Wonham — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:35:00 GMT

Three weeks after the launch of Facebook Places comes the first of what should be many products that will enable merchants to reward their most loyal customers that use the social network's location-based check-in service.

Social marketing firm Context Optional has announced its customizable Facebook Places Check-In Leaderboard, with which visitors to retail stores, restaurants and other commercial establishments can claim ownership of those locations based on their number of visits. Consumers can climb the Leaderboard via specially designated categories such as High Roller and Shop-a-holic, and participating brands and retailers can reward them with discounts and other promotional offers based on their standings.

Context Optional is the first to offer such a product directly tied to Facebook Places, but with the popularity of location-based check-in services among consumers, combined with Facebook's half a billion active users, the benefits of this type of technology for merchants is significant. Marketers interested in creating a personalized ranking system for their Facebook Places pages can see how the new Check-In Leaderboard works or go directly to Context Optional for more information.

Advertisers Set to Spend $1.8 Billion on Location

Linc Wonham — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 14:41:00 GMT

The rapidly growing field of location-based services is causing most businesses to make room for location-based advertising in their immediate and long-term mobile marketing budgets. According to one research firm, it will be to the tune of $1.8 billion spent on location-based campaigns alone in 2015.

Last week’s launch of Facebook Places has so far raised awareness of start-up check-in services such as Foursquare, Gowalla and Loopt. Other location-based start-ups gaining a lot of attention include Shopkick, an iPhone app in which consumers are rewarded for visiting specific store locations. Even Google has just announced that its mobile advertisers can now use multiple addresses with location extensions, a new feature of Google Maps to ensure that customers on Android devices can get the proper addresses for businesses with more than one location.

Location is where it’s at, and an ABI Research study forecasts that advertisers will be spending nearly $2 billion trying to capture it in five years. The free ABI report examines the current dynamics of the location-based market and presents Web marketers and retailers the keys to building a strategy for geo-targeted ad campaigns. Included among those strategies are the three sets of technologies that enable location-based ads, with a combination of GPS, Wi-Fi and Cell-ID usually proving to be the most successful.

'Net Features : location-based services

Check-in Leaderboard Launches for Facebook Places

Advertisers Set to Spend $1.8 Billion on Location