Foursquare Marketing: Geolocation par excellence September 4, 2011
August has been a busy month for Foursquare: it kicked off with the launch of its partnership with group buying website Groupon to integrate its offerings in the United States and Canada; it continued by giving brands and businesses the ability to create a page in minutes through a Twitter account, without the need for prior approval; it continued with the implementation of lists and continued with the option to check in to events , as well as venues (although for now, events are only active in the United States telegram data and can only be created by Foursquare managers and three partners: ESPN for sports, MovieTickets for movie theaters, and Songkick for concerts).
The result was not long in coming : on August 15, the White House announced the opening of a Foursquare page to promote the monitoring of President Obama's road shows and rallies, and immediately afterward, NBC announced that it would begin covering and reporting on events through Foursquare.
Foursquare continues to promote its geolocation services for its 10 million users . Every day, this social network records more than three million check-ins; since its launch in March 2009, the number has risen to 750 million. In addition, more than 500,000 businesses use Foursquare's business platform as a promotional tool, primarily by creating places or venues where their customers can check in and receive special offers. Added to this option is the now more easily created page or the use of the Foursquare API to develop applications. A whole host of possibilities that businesses, large and small, are increasingly taking advantage of.
Businesses, shops, and companies with physical locations have a ally in Foursquare to attract and retain customers through check-in promotions . To help spread the word, the platform provides free official Foursquare stickers for the storefront or door.
Although there are no concrete figures, several businesses and SMEs in Spain across all sectors are now using Foursquare to attract and retain customers, utilizing the various types of promotions offered by the platform:
Newbie: Users only receive the promotion the first time they check in. In Madrid, children's clothing store Alba offers a 5% discount with the first check-in; in Bilbao, Compufix offers a 10% discount on any antivirus purchase or any repair work; and in Valencia, Joyería Antonio offers a free watch battery replacement.
Check-in: The promotion is awarded every time you check in. For example, in Asturias, the Casa Edelmiro Restaurant in Las Regueras (recommended in the Michelin Guide since 1995) offers a vermouth to guests who check in for lunch on Saturdays. In Seville, the consulting firm Activa Consultores offers two months of free consulting to anyone who wants to start their own business or become self-employed. In Cartagena, the Hotel Carlos III offers breakfast.