Is Your Business Ready To Play Foursquare?
Like much social media, Foursquare works on user engagement, information sharing and a sense of fun. It has been described as combining elements of Twitter, Facebook and Google Local Maps. Users check in to Foursquare when they visit cafes, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, retail outlets and other locations. They can rate, review and recommend places to all of their Foursquare friends. It is a powerful word of mouth hub for both locals and visitors to a city.
Most people use Foursquare via mobile apps – it is all about people communicating in real time while out in the real world.
There is also a gaming element to Foursquare, as users collect badges, do activities and seek rewards. Businesses registered with Foursquare can offer deals and specials to users – so it’s a great opportunity for targeted marketing.
As evident by the nature of Foursquare it suits businesses that are hospitality, retail or service based.
Setting up your Foursquare account
- You need to register as an individual and then go into Foursquare and look for your business. When you upload your profile picture, keep it personal, not a company image or logo.
- Your business may show up already. If it doesn’t you can easily add it by clicking the ‘add things’ tab and selecting ‘add a venue’.
- Enter your business details, including address, phone number and Twitter ID (if you have one).
- It’s a good idea to add tags and keywords relevant to your business, most important of which is the city and state you are in. This ensures your business will be found by people searching locations.
- Download the Foursquare app to your smart phone, log in and then ‘check in’ to your business. Whoever checks in the most to a business on Foursquare becomes the ‘Mayor’.
- Ideally you want other users to become Mayor of your business as it shows they are checking in there often. Many businesses offer specials and incentives for users who become Mayor, and accomplish other Foursquare rewards.
Don’t underestimate the gaming side of Foursquare. People engaged with social media genuinely enjoy seeking and accumulating rewards and they don’t have to be financial. Entire websites are dedicated to showing users how to earn badges on Foursquare – which is usually by checking in to a number of different places.
Having your business registered might mean that it is your café, photo booth or dry cleaners that users choose to check in to in order to earn their latest badge!
Can my business really benefit from Foursquare?
McDonalds reported a 33% increase in ‘check ins’ last year in response to a campaign where they had placed random $5 and $10 vouchers in stores. The ways in which a large, well known brand like McDonald can benefit from Foursquare are obvious. It is a company accustomed to word of mouth, has its own existing community and a huge turnover of daily traffics (hence ‘check ins’).
Customer services is quickly rewarded (and punished) in this environment. Users are in control of messaging and as a business owner you need to understand this.
Any social media channel can bring fantastic marketing exposure for your brand, but there is a fundamental shift happening in the way messaging is crafted. Get it wrong and you could damage your brand. Get it right and you win yourself a legion of loyal supporters who will enthusiastically advocate for you brand. iQuantum has successfully developed and implemented social media strategies for many clients, if you’d like to chat about your situation, please give us a call.
