Costa Coffe are finally catching up with the social media game, it seems. After a four year absence from Twitter, in which rival Starbucks grew their online reach significantly, they are back Tweeting on the @CostaCoffee account.

The company’s main social media presence has always been predominantly on Facebook though, and the page has 707,000 Likes. It is no surprise then that this is where their latest innovation is taking place.

On August 30th Costa Coffee will launch a new Facebook app for their Coffe Club members. The app will give the members of the club, currently 3 million strong, direct access to their account from within Facebook. It will also mean unregistered Coffee Club members the chance to register their card within the platform. As part of a promotional drive, 10 million loyalty points will be given away on Facebook.

While the app will help members to see what they can use the points they accrue for in a platform they are familiar with, it will of course give Costa some rather valuable data about their most devoted customers too.

Apps are a key part of Facebook’s strategy to develop it’s platform, and having a significant brand like Costa building an app within Facebook, not standalone on a mobile platform, is significant for them too.