You might have noticed people posting check-ins from Foursquare on their Facebook profiles, or you may have seen the Foursquare logo somewhere on the net. What exactly is it, and why should you care? Well, it has some great social marketing potential, as well as being a way to reward your loyal customers.
Foursquare is a social networking program that allows people to connect with their friends – you can see where your friends are and ‘check in’ as you go to various places. Some of it is kind of silly fun – you can unlock badges, so if your inner Girl Scout didn’t earn enough as a child that is one possible plus. But you can also leave tips and read tips left by others. For example, you might be in a new restaurant or visiting a new city and you don’t know what to do – what is the best dish on the menu? What should be avoided? Which tourist attraction is worth the time and money to visit, and which isn’t? Reading the tips will let you know – and often it is the small things that would not be noted in typical restaurant reviews or tour guidebooks. But tips can also be used to share information on specials – so why not put that out there?
It can also be used as a rewards program. The person with the most check-ins at a place within a certain period of time gets bragging rights as ‘mayor’ of that location. Many businesses offer special perks to the mayor – nothing huge, but something that will keep them coming back. For photographers, that might be a free 8X10 with their session or a waived session fee. Of course, the mayor will only get those perks if they patronize your business – so they will have to keep coming to reap the rewards! You could also do a special prize opportunity for customers who ‘check in’ at lest once during a certain time period – have a drawing for a big prize.
When a foursquare user logs on to the app, it will show a list of places nearby. If your business is listed, everyone who opens up the app within a certain range of your business will see it there. Maybe they never knew you existed – maybe they’ve been looking for a local photographer, but your name didn’t come up in whatever search they did. Why not take advantage of the local factor?
Word of Mouth is a big seller for many small businesses – and Foursquare can help with that. Foursquare users can add friends to their accounts, and they will see where their friends are checking in. When your customers who use Foursquare check in at your business, their friends will see it as well. Take advantage of that by encouraging your customers to log in and you may find new customers calling.
Like any other social media, Foursquare isn’t going to be the savior of your business. But considering the cost of adding it to your arsenal of marketing strategies (did I mention that it’s free?), it’s one more thing to put in your bag of tricks.