Late last year, Facebook launched its Deals service and began allowing select businesses to claim their Facebook Place Pages and offer customers who check in one of four possible deals.
Prior to launch, the Golden State Warriors — an NBA basketball team based near Facebook’s Bay Area headquarters — were approached by Facebook to beta test the new program as a launch partner.
The invitation from the hot company was well-received, explains Kyle Spencer, the team’s executive director of marketing. And so, the organization decided to offer a Facebook Deal for each home game for the remainder of the season .
Trial and Error
The Warriors, like any other brand offering deals, have the option of choosing one of four types of deals: Individual Deals, Loyalty Deals, Friend Deals or Charity Deals. The team is mostly using the Individual Deals to offer merchandise discounts or post-game access to players for fans who check in to individual games. But, it’s very much a trial and error approach designed to uncover the tactics that best drive people to engage with the brand on a deeper level.
The basketball team’s greatest commodity are the players themselves, which explains the higher than average checkins the Warriors see when they involve a meet-and-greet with a player in the night’s deal.
Facebook, for its part, sends out packets to participating Places with promotional stickers. The Warriors have opted instead to create their own promotional materials, including concourse fliers, stickers, table tents and a physi cal check in table where...
