It seemed like only big brands were eagerly embracing location-based marketing, but this week Facebook changed the game with the launch of Facebook Places. By exposing over 500 million users (many who have never even heard of location-based media before) to the concept, the new addition to the popular social networking service may force LBM into the mainstream.

While the time to act was probably months ago, this is definitely NOT the time to pretend this new media doesn’t exist or isn’t relevant to your social media mix.

There are an assortment of such apps including the new Facebook Places. But probably the most well-known location-based app is FourSquare.The app is used to “check in” to business locations wherever a user happens to be—a restaurant, an airport, your office lobby… literally any place. The user may opt to share those “check ins” through their various social media networks (Facebook, Twitter, other users of the LBM, etc.). While technical glitches make it an imperfect science for the time being, it’s easy to see how such marketing opportunities could be used to benefit your brand.

Location-based apps let you spread your brand message, create awareness, and serve up timely, targeted deals to people who are in a position to take immediate action.