American Express is tapping into Facebook “likes” and check-ins to send card owners relevant and local discounts based on their Facebook preferences.
The coolest thing about these daily deals is that there is no need to pre-purchase any of them – the deal is activated when you swipe your AmEx credit card at the point of purchase.
To participate, Amex card users can go to AmEx’s Facebook page and link sign up for the “Link, Like, Love” program. Powered by Smart Offer APIs, the company specializes in paperless coupons and daily deals. It works like this: say you check into a particular restaurant on Facebook, you may then see a coupon for $25 for $50 of food at that or similar restaurants.
AmEx has been active in the check-in space already, announcing a partnership with Foursquare also offering deals based on geolocation.
The “Link, Like, Love” initaitive is different from AmEx’s partnership with Foursquare because it’s not only based on what’s nearby, but also what the card user “likes” on Facebook.
So far, AmEx is working with partners like the Sports Authority, H&M, Lord & Taylor, Outback Steakhouse, Lenovo, Dunkin’ Donuts, 20th Century Fox, and Celebrity Cruises.
AmEx is also reaching out to small businesses as part of its “Go Social” initiative, so they too can offer coupons and distribute deals through AmEx and other social networks.
Riding on the success of deal and group buying sites like Groupon, many companies are trying to break into the daily deal space. Most recently, the major trend in daily deals has been based on mobile geolocation so users can find deals in their immediate location.
The AmEx initiative marks two very interesting trends: coupons based on Facebook “likes” and the ability to activate the deal without a pre-purchase, by simply swiping a credit card.
No doubt both of these new developments will spark copycat programs from other credit cards and daily deal sites.
