Say Hello to Thursday Market: A Facebook-Integrated Social Referral Site for Service Professionals
Today is the perfect day to announce that Thursday Market, a social referral site for local businesses, has officially launched nationally. Thursday Market gives customers the opportunity to search for local service professionals in their area based on referrals from friends and neighbors. The site also allows businesses the opportunity to engage with those customers and build awareness and reach for their brand.
The site launched its beta version last year, and currently has 1.1 million users and 3,000 registered professionals. “When seeking out trusted service providers to do work in your home, who do you turn to first?” said Eric Doebele, founder and CEO of Thursday Market. “Playing off this understanding, we built a platform where customers can share unique insights with those that are closest to them. Local professionals also get the chance to put their ear to the ground for future business leads.”
According to the official press release, Thursday Market lets customers:
- Find the right local service provider for their needs and tastes, based on recommendations from people they trust.
- Browse potential service providers in the area without fear of their data being pulled by service provider websites.
Service professionals can:
- Engage with satisfied customers in a private forum
- Receive word-of-mouth referrals and third-party endorsements from happy customers
- Generate market awareness without a marketing budget
Overall, the product claims to gather reviews and personal recommendations together in one place, “increasing the reach and credibility for local service providers.” It also opens up the opportunity for those local service professionals to find other professionals in the area to help build business partnerships. What’s more, the product is Facebook-integrated, which makes it an even more powerful player. Facebook is playing a huge role and will allow Thursday Market to:
- Provide personalized local search experiences via Facebook users
- Use Facebook Login to ease the process of registering new users
- Created a trusted network to find local business and endorsements
- Enable users to share recommendations