In an attempt to become even more ubiquitous, Facebook has started to send out decals to local businesses to put in storefront windows encouraging patrons to go the establishment’s Facebook “Like” page to do just that; like them. Here’s a picture

The above decal was sent to Mashable by an employee of The Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, CA. On the Mashable site is an accompanying letter telling the company about the “program” and offering a $25 credit to run Facebook ads to promote their page as well.

I, along with many others, have been encouraging people to put their presence on Facebook on every piece of marketing material because it just makes sense. Interestingly enough, most small business owners will say “That’s a great idea!” then never make a sign or anything to put by a cash register or hang in a window. That’s not because they don’t want to in most cases but they just don’t take the time to make something. Now Facebook can make something for them.

The sticker has a way to text your “like” of a business which is pretty neat. Of note, there has been no indication of just what criteria must be met to get one of these stickers. At a minimum, the business must have the minimum number of fans to get its own “vanity” page URL which means they are savvy enough to know the criteria and to follow through with the process. As for how long the page has been in existence or any other “measuring stick” for who will or will not see a sticker it is not known. I suspect the bar initially will be pretty high because sending out stickers to businesses with lame “like” pages wouldn’t serve Facebook very well. The Museum of Making Music’s offering is pretty extensive with YouTube, Flickr and event tabs which shows it is paying attention and trying to maximize its presence on Facebook.

Hopefully these stickers work better than the Google Map Place stickers that have gone up in windows but have not had the “sticking power” in some cases. Google keeps its criteria for who gets a decal a secret as noted in a forum response from a Googler

Can a business which didn’t receive a decal request one?

No, it is not possible for a business to request becoming a Favorite Place. Businesses can sign up for Local Business Center to become eligible and if they meet our criteria, they may receive a decal in the next wave.

Hope this helps, and I’ll keep you posted on requesting a new decal.
Cecelia

So customer centric and heartwarming on Google’s part huh? You can almost feel the concern for the little guy oozing from Cecelia’s “No it is not possible” response.

Maybe Facebook could learn a little something and be more open about how they will determine who gets a sticker. Wait a minute. Did I just say Facebook and “be more open about policies” in the same sentence? My bad. One can dream but asking for a miracle is maybe just a little too much.