So when Facebook announced that it would launching a new geo-location check in application I thought, How original, Zuckerberg. But being that I’m a huge nerd you better believe that I sat down to watch the live announcement online. And again, because of the nerd factor, I posted a status update about watching the announcement.

Then this happened:

It was in that moment that I realized why I needed to seriously pay attention to Facebook Places. FourSquare and Gowalla are awesome. So awesome, in fact, that they made Facebook sweat and come up with a competitor. But Facebook Places will succeed where FourSquare and its ilk have not because it has the ultimate upper hand: eyeballs.

There are already millions of people using Facebook. They are comfortable with Facebook; it’s like an old friend. Facebook’s reach is so prolific that it cuts across demographics in huge ways. There is a certain type of user who even knows what FourSquare is. That person is typically an early technology adopter, highly educated, fairly trendy and sometimes affluent. But Facebook is the everyman’s network, as evidenced that practically every “man” is on it. Thanks to good ol’ FB, people are going to realize – maybe for the first time ever – that location check in is even an option. That realization is a powerful thing and is going to have serious implications when a business chooses to promote its location-based deals.

I’m going to give this serious consideration as I move ahead with social marketing for my restaurants and hotels. How do you think it will affect your marketing strategies?