Foursquare: Location Based Social Media Marketing
The mobile web truly bridges the divide between offline and online marketing.
- Smartphone applications like Foursquare are being used by innovators and early adopters. Very soon, we may reach the tipping point and see mainstream adoption of location based mobile applications.
- Attempts were made to leverage mobile connectivity using bluetooth marketing, but the onus was on the user to have their bluetooth switched on and be willing to receive an unsolicited message with content that was not always compatible with their handset model. Further, bluetooth has always been more popular with business users than any other niche, severely restricting its audience.
- Text message marketing is still having some success especially with fund raising and voting. Physical retail stores also use it as a promotional channel to customers who have opted in and the channel arguably works as well for physical retailers as email newsletters do for online retailers.
Fourquare is a clever application that uses game theory, where you earn badges, points and can become the 'mayor' of any location you visit. It is designed to be addictive, making it a powerful loyalty marketing tool and also a great source of recommendations.
- You can leave tips at nearby locations that promote your own store. For example, anyone who looks at Foursquare tips at Skycity Cinemas on Queen Street will be reminded that you can get Giapo Gelato just 20 metres around the corner.
- As a marketing tool, retailers can use Fourquare to attract customers from surrounding locations and as a loyalty channel, rewarding customers for repeat visits and achieving mayor-hood or as an extension of an existing loyalty card program.
- Right now Fourquare is a secret club. It has a very exclusive feel to it that retailers can use to appeal to a select group of prospects. It's also under the radar- classic 'below the line' marketing that doesn't cost you anything, and doesn't get your competitor's attention unless you go out of your way to promote it with a press release.
- You may find that Fourquare only gets you 2 or 3 new customers, but let's remember that popularity takes time:
And it's best that you experiment with & evaluate the opportunities of this social media channel early.
Foursquare is one way you can open your social branch.
Other location based applications that are or could become important: Google Latitude, Facebook Geotagging, Twitter Geotagging, Gowalla, Loopt and Yelp.
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