As if you didn’t already have enough reason to log onto Facebook, there is now another one. Facebook is a realm all its own these days. It even has its own currency; called Facebook Credits. And Credits has gotten a big boost with this week's launch of Facebook Deals. This is a digital coupon offering, predicted to be a competitor with Groupon. So why should businesses care? First of all, it’s important to understand what Deals is, what similar services are out there, and then what Deals can offer you.

What is Deals?

Facebook application development has been growing in popularity, and Facebook Deals presents a new application of sorts. With Facebook Deals, Facebook members will get deal offers right in their news feed -- and if one is of particular interest, they can pay for it with a credit card, PayPal or Facebook Credits. Then they can share their deals with friends.

For now, Deals on Facebook has been rolled out in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco, with plans to potentially expand the test to other cities later.

Examples of deals include events, family outings, concerts, restaurants, and much more! According to poway patch.com, some of the deals available yesterday in San Diego included:

• Two-hour water sport rental at Carlsbad Lagoon ($23, a $50 value).

• Specialty and traditional sushi at Onos Café ($15, a $30 value).

• Glee Live tickets for two at Valley View Casino Center on Sunday, May 29 ($78, a $132 value).

• Two-hour electric bike rental at Ivan Stewart's Bike Center ($20, a $50 value).

• Kids art and technology classes at The Cove in Encinitas ($25, an $85 value).

• Four dance classes in Oceanside at Ariel's Dance Studio ($19, a $48 value).

• Four-hour fashion tour with Chic Fashion Tours ($37, a $75 value).

The Market

As of late, the online coupon market has been booming. There are a number of startups offering this service, including: Groupon, LivingSocial, Scoutmob, OpenTable, zozi, SCVNGR, LevelUp, viagogo, Google Offers and many others. But with so many group-discount sites already out there, is Facebook's offering anything distinctive?

How is Deals Different?

They’re offering coupons on the world's biggest social network. Groupon is the current largest service at 70 million members, while LivingSocial has 28 million, Facebook is expected to leverage its existing user base of over 500 million. Furthermore, deals are usually circulated through email, but Facebook will change that by utilizing its huge community. They are not targeting the deep discount customer. Instead, this program places emphasis on the social aspect of these coupons.

Why Should Businesses Care?

These days with so many social media outlets, and companies flocking to Facebook- a Facebook page isn’t a sufficient social media strategy. Brand Facebook Pages are a no-brainer these days, but Facebook also offers other tools worth integrating into your Facebook strategy-Deals being the newest one. There are a number of core benefits for businesses of all sizes. In simplest terms, Deals a different ad format, but rather than asking users to click or like, they can buy in-line.

According to AOL Daily Finance, for local merchants that also engage in online sales, Facebook's large network of users should be a major selling point. By building loyalty among consumers and spreading awareness throughout the 5 million members of Facebook. One of the greatest benefits to Facebook Deals is that you can build loyalty among your customers. The second major advantage of Facebook Deals is the social distribution you gain from using it. Through link sharing and status changing, members can spread the word about the deals they’re finding.

As Facebook deals rolls out into more cities, more businesses and consumers will be able to experience the world of digital coupons right on Facebook! The opportunities seem endless and exciting!

The marketing team at Amadeus Consulting considers it part of their daily tasks to stay on top of what is going on in the technology marketplace. It is important to our company culture to be technology thought leaders, but we also want to share our knowledge and insights with readers excited about the latest and greatest tech news.