Increasing revenue is agenda item one, two, and three at Facebook HQ these days.
As part of that goal of the recently public company, Facebook will no longer allow merchants to publish offers (coupon posts) without purchasing at least $5 worth of advertising to accompany the offer.
Previously, Facebook pages that were defined as local places or brands and had greater than 400 fans could create offers. Earlier this week Facebook began to open up offers to all Facebook pages with more than 400 fans.
The above image shows how new pages will be introduced to Facebook offers. As the image says, the first offer a page chooses to post is free. And then the $5 advertising minimum is reached.
Facebook plans to improve offers in other ways.
“The new features will help people find the most relevant Offers, such as in their local area, and help businesses better measure the success of their Offers,” said a Facebook representative earlier this week.
Facebook launched offers earlier this year, allowing Facebook pages to promote deals in the newsfeed of their followers. Add the ability to promote these offers to both existing fans and friends of fans with Facebook’s promoted posts, and offers become a powerful tool for businesses small and large.
3 Big Benefits of Paid Offers for Facebook
The $5 advertising minimum for Facebook offers will serve three purposes for Facebook.
1. Revenue
It will create a new revenue channel around a very useful tool for businesses.
2. Filter
It will also create a small but important barrier for business to create offers. Coupons and deals can be a powerful tool for Facebook pages of course, but if too many businesses flood their Timeline with offers all the time, consumers may be turned off.
3. Education
The biggest benefit to Facebook will be the fact that all Facebook pages have an easier path to use Facebook ads. Coupons are something every business understands on some level, large and small. So when they see a new tool that is free and then only $5 to try, to get coupons in front of their digital community, there is all of a sudden a very compelling reason to test out Facebook ads.
Facebook has previously described offers as “very popular” amongst merchants and this new rollout and feature additions will only improve the adoption.
Has your page used Facebook Offers yet?