I’m glad John Haydon introduced me to Danny Brown, because he’s given me a great idea on how to extend my retail point-of-sale programs to Facebook where I can get “likes” for my nonprofit and my retail partners.

Danny’s starting point is getting offline retail coupons online to Facebook.

Grab the artwork from your existing flyer (or make one unique to Facebook) and then transfer that to a tab on your page’s navigation menu. Currently this is created using the FBML application (and some HTML coding), though soon you’ll have to change to iFrame.

Call your tab something simple like Coupons or Discounts to grab attention. Then, to encourage folks to Like your page, only make the coupon or discount available to people after they like you. If you’re unsure how to do this, my friend John Haydon has a great guide on using Facebook HTML as well as hiding offers until people click your Like button.

This got me thinking on the coupons we use in most of our pinup programs and how they may have value beyond a simple redemption. For example:

• Instead of a coupon like the ones you see here, partners could encourage consumers to visit their Facebook page for the coupon in exchange for a “like.” Unlike an offline coupon or a web page, the retailer gains a new subscriber to their page. Yes, they have to work to keep that new fan, but the connection is a valuable one.
• If a retailer was feeling generous they could encourage shoppers to visit the cause’s page to get the discount and the nonprofit would get the like. The cause could have a coupon tab with all the discounts from their partners–deals you could only get after you like the page!
• Getting people from an offline coupon to a Facebook page needn’t be difficult. A QR code takes them there instantly and delivers the coupon! The QR code in my next pinup program would do the trick.

John Haydon told me that he plans to post on Danny’s post as well. I’ll be sure to update this page with a link if he does. John will certainly have some great info on how nonprofits can create and leverage a Facebook discount tab.

It seems lately the more I talk to nonprofits about cause marketing the more I talk about social media and how the two are inseparable. Unfortunately, many aren’t quite sold that these two belong together.

Here’s my case for why social media and cause marketing go hand in hand.

Social media teaches you cause marketing. Social media is the only tool I use to follow trends in cause marketing.

• I read the key blogs in my industry (Cone, Scotty Henderson, Mike Swenson, Paul Jones, Olivia Khalili & Cause Marketing Forum) via links on Twitter and my Google Reader.
• I follow several dozen people on Twitter who work in the profession.
• I’m a member of Cause Marketing Forum’s Linkedin group.

Social media is a prospecting tool. Linkedin is the platform everyone thinks of for prospecting. But what of Twitter, Facebook, even Foursquare? I’ve already made connections through Twitter. Facebook has been a great place to gather background information on prospects. (Not everyone’s profile is closed to outsiders. Mine is open to Facebook users within the “Boston Network.”) While Foursquare is the new social media player on the block, I’m already watching who’s using it and where they are checking-in. You never know when I might be there too!

Social media can build stronger partnerships. Social media is all about the conversation. The relationships I have with partners that use social media are almost always stronger than the ones that don’t. (Of course, I may not be the norm as I favor what Malcolm Gladwell called the strength in weak ties.) There’s a lot to be gained with a social media connection. It’s instant, casual, sometimes personal and generally informational as a lot of sharing happens. Think of social media as the letter that rarely gets lost, the phone call that more often gets answered, the email that usually gets the reply or the  unannounced visit that is not unwelcome.

Social media distinguishes you from your competitors. Cause marketing isn’t that new for a lot of the businesses you’re calling on. It has been around since the early 1980′s, after all. But social media is brand new for almost everyone. Heck, Youtube is only five years old! When you combine cause marketing with social media, you get a more powerful pitch that gives you an edge over your nonprofit competitors. Business partners will appreciate that their “cause expert” is staying abreast of the latest trends and is open to sharing their expertise.

Social media is the future. 350 million people on Facebook and you think it’s going away? Youtube is the second biggest search engine after Google and you think it’s a fad? 90% of the businesses on the Inc. 500 list use Twitter and you think only kids use it? Whether you like social media or not, it’s here to stay. It may not always be called WordPress, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, but the online conversation genie is out of the bottle.

If you still don’t think social media and cause marketing are the greatest match since PB&J that’s up to you. But cause marketing alone will make the mouth stick when social media with it will make your pitch better and easier to swallow.

Don’t be known as the person whose mouth is better stuck shut.