Foursquare Adds Business Support
Sounds like the folks at Foursquare finally realize that if they want it to be profitable (enough to sell off Foursquare and make a killing), they will have to get more local businesses involved. The more businesses involved, the more people will want to “check in” for recognition…and more importantly the deals, discounts, and offers as a result of becoming a Foursquare regular at a particular business. Additionally, the more people patronizing a business, the more value the business sees in promoting on Foursquare, the more ad dollars Foursquare can attain.
Currently, the number of businesses taking advantage of foursquare for promotions and marketing is pretty low to the tune of approximately 2,000 WORLDWIDE (I told you it was low). Before, it was up to the local business to find or add their business on foursquare, and then manage their own Foursquare-related business (promotions, deals, etc). Well, it still is their responsibility; Foursquare is just making it easier to do so.
For starters, for every unclaimed business on Foursquare, they have added the link “Are you the manager of this business?” under the businesses information. After they go through a validation process, Foursquare will call and set them up with some marketing goodies (like an online dashboard so that businesses can create and manage their own Foursquare specials, deals, and promotions. Additionally, the dashboard will give business managers to ability to track their promotions via real-time analytics included with the dashboard. With the dashboard, managers can analyze:
• most recent visitors
• most frequent visitors
• the time of day people check in
• total number of unique visitors
• histogram of check-ins per day
• gender breakdown of customers
• portion of foursquare check-ins broadcast to Twitter and Facebook
Foursquare even has offered businesses cool window decals to let Foursquare patrons know that this business is “Foursquare Friendly” (I just made that up), thus encouraging customers to whip out their smartphones and check-in!
You know a brotha loves free, so I just thought I’d mention that Foursquare for business is free. Businesses looking to tap into the rage that is Foursquare can do so without charge. But again, it’s still up to local businesses that are already busy enough managing their regular customer traffic to reach out and engage their mobile customers.
Tending to a virtual dashboard to cater specifically to a small, mobile crowd may initially seem challenging to some businesses who are just trying to stay afloat in this rocky financial climate. But as mobile technology continues to grow, so will people looking to whip out their smartphones and other mobile gadgets for enjoyment, and to save a buck or two. As a result, it behooves any business to jump on the technology bandwagon (especially if it’s free) in order to grow their customer base, so they can cater to that ever-growing customer who is more likely to want to become “Mayor” of their local food joint so they can get free French fries with their order…and then tell ALL their friends about it too! (Word of mouth is still king).
Category: web 2.0 | Tags: Business, foursquare, geolocation
About the Author Terrance Gaines is a husband, father and self-proclaimed Technology Evangelist who shares tech news, reviews, tips and tricks on his blog BrothaTech.com as well as other sites and in print media. You can also find him talking "all things tech" on Twitter @BrothaTech.
See all posts by BrothaTech.
Foursquare must be doing something right if they can major media businesses like MTV, the History Channel, WSJ, among others to join their cause. Then, there are non-media businesses like the San Francisco BART – not to mention more than 2,000 small businesses (mostly restaurant venues) around the world that not only to join them, but to go to the trouble to place a display ad on their Foursquare venue site. While anyone can easily create a Foursquare venue, placing a display ad takes some doing.
True, getting new blood seems like the primary hook for a Foursquare
campaign. No business is so busy that it can't afford to bring in new
customers. But converting the newbies to regulars is where the real
money gets made.
The people who find the way to bridge a B2C exchange from a Foursquare
introduction to a long-term, high-value relationship are the ones
who'll write the book on Foursquare for business (literally). But
first, its concept must be proven. And if that means coupons and
giveaways, so be it.
Free advice: reward recurring visitors who add valuable tips on
Foursquare. If you can get a restaurant's regulars talking, they're
the ones you'll want representing the brand.
You can look at your restaurant example from another perspective.
What if you have a restaurant that's trying to attract new customers. In NYC where there's soooooo many options, using FourSquare discounts will introduce your restaurant to people that either didn't know you existed, or who've forgotten about you. And, there's the tourists always looking for someplace to eat.
I'm working on getting a restaurant in midtown to do an all out social media campaign and getting on FourSquare is at the top of the list.
As much as I'd like to see Foursquare create value for all parties, the part I can't wrap my head around is this:
1. A good business already knows who its regulars are.
2. Most businesses live and die by the customer service of their staff, prices be damned.
3. The “loyalty” created by return checkins for the sake of perks isn't actual customer loyalty.
That said, the day we see people stop being “regulars” at a cafe or diner because that business doesn't offer good Foursquare perks is the day Foursquare will have arrived… and they will be met with pitchforks by the businesses who've had their customers disrupted for the sake of digital street cred.
I've been trying my best to stay away from Foursquare because it's kind of creepy and there seemed to be no real benefit for me to use it. But with this addition, I might give it a try. The hard part for Foursquare will be convincing businesses that it works.