Why Are Check Ins Important?
There is no denying that Facebook check ins are an amazing way to promote your business online. When a customer checks in on Facebook at your business, it is predominately displayed to most if not all that user’s friends. The average adult Facebook user has an average of 338 friends. This makes one user’s “check in” an extremely powerful stimulant for many organic social media impressions. This is in contrast to the Facebook “like”, which, although important, is fairly static. You can only get “one” like from a customer, but you can get many “check ins”. The question remains, how do we get more people to check into our business?
1. Remind Your Customers
According to Pew Research Center, 64% of Americans own a smart phone. This means the majority of your customers are already armed with the tool they need to check in to your physical location. What they may lack though is motivation. A simple sign or poster with a reminder may encourage some users to pull out their smart phone, find your location on Facebook, and then click the check in button. However, unless the user is already an avid user of “checking in” or your business is novel enough that the user wants to share it with their friends, there is little incentive for average user to go through the effort.
2. Reward Your Customers
Good behavior should be rewarded and nothing talks like money or the feeling of saving money. Facebook has banned rewarding users for “likes”, however “check ins” are still fair game, so take advantage of it! Reward your customers with a discount or a freebie for checking in! A handful of simple clicks to save money is definitely an attractive offer for both the average and the frugal consumer alike. The difficult portion of this option falls on the business to ensure is it not being taken advantage of. We all want to trust our customers but without checking the check in we may be writing a blank check to our customers. Verifying the customer has actually checked in without sounding like an interrogating officer may be a difficult task, so be careful about your tone and approach.
3. Remind Your Employees
Your employees are your customers’ shepherds. They play an important role in your customers journey though your business. They help them find the product they are looking for. They suggest the perfect entree. They also inform them of ongoing promotions and how to get the most bang for their buck at your establishment. Remind your employees to remind your customers to check in! It may help, and feel a bit more organic, if there is a direct benefit to the customer for doing so as suggested before.
Example without incentive:
“If you enjoyed your experience, could you please like us or check in on Facebook? It really helps us!”
Example with incentive:
“If you check in on Facebook, you will receive 10% off today’s purchase!”
The first example has a lot of benefit for the business, but not much, if any, for the customer. The second directly benefits the user and sounds more like your employee is advocating for the customers benefit as oppose to the business’s.
4. Track Your Progress
Facebook lets you review your check ins under the “Notifications” tabs in the the “Activity” section. This area is a gold mine in determining your engagement with your customers. If you encourage your employees to remind your customers to check in, consider arming them with a tally counter. At the end of the day, or week, you can use this information to compare the number of reminders versus the number of actual check ins. If your customers are not responding to the gentle nudge, consider increasing the reward, within reason, until they do.
About Us
Sunflower WIFI, LLC has developed a system incorporating this reward system to help guide your customers right to your rewards by simply connecting to your WIFI network. Check out our live demo!
Reference
- http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/01/us-smartphone-use-in-2015/
- http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/02/03/6-new-facts-about-facebook/