So what is it? Foursquare is a location-based social media platform. That's the best way I can describe it, but you could also call it a website, a game, an advertising medium, even a GPS application. Confused? Click on the 'Learn More' link on the Foursquare website and you might be a little more enlightened, but in a nutshell, Foursquare is an application that lets you "check in" to your current location using your smart phone, which you can then share with your friends, and at the same time you can see which locations your friends have checked in. Think of it like Facebook, but instead of the focus being "what's happening in my life?", with Foursquare the basic theme is "where am I, and where are my friends?".
The first question we usually get asked after explaining this is "what is the purpose?", which is a very fair point. Well nobody is really sure, maybe there is no purpose, but with 1.7 million users after just over a year of operation, and growing by nearly 100,000 users every week, there is no denying its popularity.
The big question being asked now is, how can businesses tap into this audience? Well here are three very simple steps you can take with your business to grow your voice on Foursquare. And the best part is, it's going to cost you nothing!
#1: Get On It.
Head to the Foursquare website, create an account and search for your business. Is it there? If yes, great! It means someone has been to your business and added it as a venue on foursquare so that they, and others, can check in. Has your place got a mayor? Mayorship is rewarded to the person with the most check-ins, so have a look. Are they someone you recognise?
If your business isn't yet added into Foursquare, then add it in. It's a very simple process and you can nominate yourself as the owner of the business, which means you have control over the address and category under which it appears. After that, get friendly with all the foursquare users in your area and add them to your friends list. It's fairly easy to do through the website.
#2: Add A Tip.
A Tip is something users can add to any venue, and acts as a type of shout-out to their friends for when they are in the same area. For example, I might add a tip to my favourite pub that says "Ask for a Bahamas Bender, it's not on the menu but you won't regret it!". And then when one of my friends checks in to the same pub, or to a nearby venue, they'll receive the tip. Digital word-of-mouth, I guess you could call it.
What could you say about your business? And remember, this is a social media app, so the less corporate and the more friendly you sound, the better your chances of being picked up by the savvy media users in your area.
#3: Give People A Reason To Check In.
One of my favourite things about Foursquare, and the thing which will increase its popularity among businesses, is the ability to reward customers who check in. If you have nominated yourself as the owner of a venue, then this gives you the ability to add a coupon or a special which will display to users when they check in nearby.
The details of the offer are totally up to you. You might want to reward you Mayor with 20% off their meal, a free copy of the paper, or even by putting their photo up in the window. On a more general scale, you could offer 10% off for all customers who check in on Foursquare. All of these techniques, while creating a bit of fun for your customers, also creates some competition in your local community for people to come to your business, check in, and enjoy the benefits.
I hope this has given you a general idea of the functions of Foursquare and started the ideas flowing around how you can utilise it for your business.
This is only a brief overview of the basic functions, but if you need any further information on the application, give us a call at Traffika, or just leave a comment below. We'd love you hear from you.
Chris is a specialist in Social Media Marketing at Traffika. Follow him on Twitter @chrispahor.
