Foursquare is probably the hottest geotargeting site out there. People check-in to locations and win badges of cities and store fronts. With people volunteering their whereabouts give marketers a picture to what customer buy and travel habits to commonly visited locations. It also allows for businesses to engage in their customers. It is mobile marketing that is free. I wanted to highlight a few uses of Foursquare that were common and some outside of the box uses.
1) The most comment use is for companies to reward their customers for checking into their business locations. The payout comes in the form of the customer winning the mayor of the shop or simply checking in receive something free or a discount. Some companies simply thank their guests for stopping by. Either way it gives a personal touch point for those customers.
2) Cities have started using Foursquare and creating badges for their historical sites or special locations throughout the city. It is like having a city guide to give you an idea of places to go and see. The city, like Chicago, gives locations to visit and as the tourist visits that city badges are awarded for completion. It also gives the city tourism some visibility and feed back about its effectiveness.
3) Companies use it at conferences to engage people. Some companies like Intel have used the medium to award special badges for people who visited different booths selected by Intel. SXSW used it as a scavenger hunt to award tickets to those who visit the most music locations.
4) Nonprofits use it to raise money. P&G has partnered up with some charities to donate money when products are checked- in. Every time a customer checks-in a branded product money is donated to the charity. It is a mutual relationship for both the product company and the charity. The product company gets a touch point for it’s product while the nonprofit gets a donation. The end result for P&G is increased sales.
These tips should help you with creating innovative ways for using Foursquare. I suggest this tool because it offers brand awareness and advocacy. The more visibility your company has the more sales of your product or services.
Are there any ways you have seen Foursquare used not mentioned here?