NFC social check-ins come of age with RewardAble marketing platform

NFC social check-ins come of age with RewardAble marketing platform

Has the NFC social check-in just come of age with RewardAble and its NFC loyalty marketing platform? Betapond has announced today that it has built an NFC social check-in platform it likes to call RewardAble. RewardAble is a social media check-in marketing platform that enables brands and retailers to grow participation through instant rewards for consumers for who check-in on Facebook or Foursquare on their NFC smartphone. Betapond is Ireland’s only Facebook Preferred Developer. RewardAble is a stand-alone subsidiary of Betapond, which was announced at a Innovation in Entertainment Showcase event in Sony Pictures Hollywood.  The company is using a viral expansion loop marketing model that rewards participants when they check-in and share their location with friends on social networks. By using NFC at check-in places, the process of taking part in the RewardAble platform is frictionless.

“Consumers will be able to ‘check in’ on social media and pick up rewards by simply tapping their phone against a poster or scanning a QR code. This closes the loop on the essential relationship between the retailer and the consumer, which ultimately grows footfall for the retailer.”

The company says early partnerships are in place with some of the leading US entertainment and technology companies. The software will allow customers to discover new ways to get instant rewards whilst also benefiting retailers in ways only previously seen in science fiction films. The NFC authenticated check-in service also enables customers to have the highest level of privacy and protection. Location based check-ins are the truest indicator of popularity, and leveraging a true NFC social media check-in campaign can attract new consumers. Consumers simply wave their NFC phones over NFC tags, or scan QR codes to share information from a specific location or event with Foursquare or Facebook friends and users. Doing so can be rewarded and can form the basis of a loyalty program that has a viral expansion loop baked straight in.

NFC social check-in using NFC tags and a built in loyalty program is what RewardAble has to offer

Many of the marketing principals that are in play with RewardAble’s NFC approach to loyalty and social check-ins are based in word of mouth marketing, which means that you will trust the advice of your friends over any ad you may see. You will also trust information shared with you by someone you have a relationship with if you feel they are not being financially compensated for sharing that information with you. The other ingenious marketing ploy that appears to be baked straight into the RewardAble model is the humble and nearly impossible to predict viral expansion loop model.

Viral expansion loop means that without involving your friends and other people you know the system is useless. When a person you share information with decides to participate, they too have to use their own network of people to get the most out of the service. Facebook is built on this same principal. Imagine not having any friends on your Facebook profile. It wouldn’t be very interesting would it? RewardAble has this feature built straight in to make experiences more immersive for consumers and more RewardAble for businesses.

“It’s going to improve and personalize the relationship between the consumer and the retailer,” says RewardAble, CEO Declan Kennedy. “Consumers will be able to ‘check in’ on social media and pick up rewards by simply tapping their phone against a poster or scanning a QR code. This closes the loop on the essential relationship between the retailer and the consumer, which ultimately grows footfall for the retailer.”

“The reaction from the entertainment industry in the US has been overwhelmingly positive and we see this technology becoming an essential part of the marketing war chest for retailers over the next 6 months,” added Kennedy.

It is great to see NFC cutting out a new area of marketing that hasn’t been practical before. NFC marketing is maturing at a fast pace and RewardAble is a great example of how NFC can be deployed in campaigns. At the moment the RewardAble NFC social check-in and loyalty program platform is in its alpha stage, and interested parties can sign up to gain alpha entrance to the RewardAble platform – you can find a link here.