Yesterday Facebook Places finally went live in Ireland.  Now we await the launch of Facebook Deals.  This will allow you to make deals & discounts available to people who are using Facebook Places. It is very simple, click the check in button on your Facebook mobile app and a list of local businesses will appear (only ones that have set up a Places page).  If they have a deal available there will be an icon to show this and it will help drive people to your door.  You mange the deals, there are 4 types:

• Individual deals
• Loyalty deals
• Friend deals
• Charity deals

I am an avid user of Foursquare so I wonder if Facebook Places & Deals (when/if launched in Ireland) can convince me to change loyalty.  We will have to wait and see, for now if you want more information on Facebook deals visit http://ads.ak.facebook.com/ads/FacebookAds/Deals_businesses_US.pdf

Here’s hoping that Facebook don’t wait another few months before launching Deals in Ireland, how can businesses in Ireland compete online when these new tools are not made available until months later than everyone else.