Black Friday Social Media Deals: Check-In While Checking Out

If you are a shopping fanatic, deal hunter, or just want a way to have more fun this holiday season shopping,  here are some Social Technology tools that you need to know about this holiday season. Technologies like Facebook Places, Twitter Check-ins, Foursquare, Yelp, SCVNGR and Gowalla provide the perfect wedding of the avid shopper and the progressive social media marketer.

Geo-location technology and marketing opportunities are a hot topic for businesses lately, so this article will serve a dual purpose. 1. To give you some insights on some really good deals while you are out and about shopping while learning how to use these new social location services. 2. To give you a few real life examples of how some businesses are already using this new social technology this holiday season.

If you have no idea what geo-location is and how it works check this article out first. Then visit the following sites to get signed up so you can take advantage of these deals. If you operate a business, check these sites out to get an idea of the power and creative opportunities of these new mediums for your next marketing campaign.

• Foursquare
• Yelp
• Gowalla
• SCVNGR
• Facebook Places
• and now Twitter has location check in service, which is drastically changing the game for users and businesses using this awesome site already.

Now for the deals!

Gowalla will be hiding $50 Amazon.com gift cards at various retailers across the US. Make sure you check in every you go to have a better chance of finding the gift cards.

Almost every retailer on Facebook right now are previewing their Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals on their Facebook pages. Some are even Facebook exclusive offers! Visit Target’s, Forever 21′s, and Old Navy’s Facebook pages to get the idea.

Sears Facebook page is offering special facebook deals, “like” the deal and if enough people like it the deal goes live in stores and you will receive the offer via Facebook. Simply show them the message at check out.

Complete the SCVNGR challenges for coke products and win tons of free gifts from Coke. They are giving away $300,000 in gift cards via social media.

FourSquare Deals:

Toys R Us: The first 3,000 users to check in nationwide will receive a 15% discount good on a future purchase of $150 or more. You can also earn a badge for checking in.

RadioShack: RadioShack offers escalating discounts for foursquare users: 10% just for checking in, 15% if you’re the mayor of the store or 20% if you’ve unlocked their Holiday Hero badge.

Zales/Gordon’s Jewelers: Receive $50 off a $300 purchase.
JC Penney: Check in to get $10 off a $50 purchase.

American Eagle: Check in for a 15% discount on your entire purchase.

Sports Authority: Tweet your checkin on Black Friday and you could be randomly selected to receive a $500 gift card. Listen for your name over the store’s PA system.

Ritz Camera & Image: Get 5 free 4×6 prints.

Piercing Pagoda: Check in to receive 10% off your entire purchase.

Barnes & Noble (only in larger stores): Receive $1 off a selection of 24 CDs on the specially marked foursquare rack.

FYE: Get 10% off any one CD, DVD, Blu-Ray or Video Game.

Payless ShoeSource: Take $5 off any $25 purchase on your first checkin.

Gap (added 11/23): Check in and receive 30% off any one item and Gap will donate $1 to Camp Interactive in the name of foursquare co-founders Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai.

Hollister:check in before black friday and receive 20% off next purchase on foursquare.

Hopefully this list give you some good deals to take advantage of as you are out and about this Black Friday, online shopping on Cyber Monday and helps remind you to “check-in” while in the check out line. It could save you some money! I hope this also give you a few ideas of how companies are using these geo-location services to roll out promotions and gets your wheels turning about how your business can use these new Technologies. Generating new innovative ways to use Social Media to market your business online is one thing we are passionate about here at Pro 119. From teaching you the basics of setting up and using these new Technologies, to strategizing and implementing a fully integrated social media campaign we would love to help you. Let us know if you are interested in a free consultation.

Thanks for checking in! Happy Thanksgiving!

-Spencer