Today, location-based social network Foursquare launched business pages for brick-and-mortar small businesses as well as for large brands who may not have a store-front but want to engage Foursquare's userbase. This launch is a big step forward for Foursquare, which previously had little in place to help businesses market to users of its platform.
Let's take a quick look at what is available to small business owners and larger brands.
Foursquare Business Pages for Venue Owners
For a business that has a physical location, Foursquare has opened up new marketing opportunities on its platform and compiled a three-step quick-start guide. Venue owners should first claim a business location, then create a special for users who check in, and finally analyze data from their Foursquare campaigns to generate maximum foot traffic. A Foursquare special is traditionally some type of discount at a specific location. For example, a retail store may offer a 10 percent discount on one item if a person checks into their location on Foursquare. The idea behind specials on Foursquare is to create an other that makes people want to check-in, so that your business will be exposed to that person's Foursquare friends.
In addition to allowing businesses with retail locations to run campaigns, Foursquare is also providing eduction on their platform to business as seen in the image above. However, the analytics provided to venue owners might be the most interesting piece of the entire offering. Among some of the data provided you can find total daily check-ins over time, repeat and unique customers and time of day of check-ins.
The bottom line is that if you are a venue owner, you should at least
claim your venue
, and consider offering a special.
Foursquare Business Pages for Brands
From the early days of its service Foursquare worked with major brands that did not have a physical location to create customer badges and other campaigns. Today, brands have specific opportunities to leverage the Foursquare community for marketing. Foursquare is going to continue to do what they call Partner Badges, a paid sponsorship that results in a custom badge related to a brand that Foursquare members can unlock after checking-in at specific location.
Additionally, with this launch, Foursquare is allowing businesses without retail locations to
create a page on Foursquare
. The page contains the business logo, tips that the business as left at Foursquare venues, the option to follow that business on Foursquare. The page also includes links to that businesses profile on other social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
Unfortunately, Foursquare has not yet launched a web-based tool for creating your page, so currently businesses must complete a form and submit it to Foursquare . On its website, Foursquare notes that it could take as long as 2 weeks for a page to be completed, once a form is submitted.
Marketing Takeaway
Location-based social networks are still developing, but have gained a critical mass in some markets. Examine the Foursquare community in the geography of your target market and determine if your business should leverage one of Foursquare's new features for businesses. However, if your are a retail business, you should claim your venue now to protect your brand, even if you are not planning on using Foursquare for marketing at this time.
Inbound Marketing Blog Feed
Paul Segreto 8:45 PM on January 11, 2011
Excellent article. Very easy to understand with the use of graphics.
I only bring it up as many that are scratching the surface with social media are intimidated by platforms outside the realm of Facebook and Twitter. I believe your article, and the way it's presented will help people stop saying, "What the heck is Foursquare?"
Javier J. Hernandez 8:53 PM on January 11, 2011
Excelent article. A good tool to understand how to use foursquare for digital marketing.
Amy 9:16 PM on January 11, 2011
Thanks for the article. The analytics are definitely something to look forward to. Do companies with more than one location -- one in NYC, one in ATL and one in DC -- have to claim all their locations like in Google Places? Thanks!
video 9:53 PM on January 11, 2011
Thanks , Very Good.
Lindy 2:08 AM on January 12, 2011
Where can businesses find a demographic profile of Foursquare users?
Sandra 8:57 AM on January 12, 2011
This was a great article! Thanks for sharing. Foursquare is cutting edge and should be on our radar.
Linda 8:48 AM on January 13, 2011
can someone tell me what the pricing structure looks like for small businesses? I asked 4sq a few weeks ago and haven't gotten a response. Disclaimer: I work for my home town newspaper selling print advertising but I harp on the need for my merchants to embrace a social media plan. Now that I have an android I really like 4sq and would love to show them the advantages of using this one tool.
Stephen Harvey 3:49 PM on January 13, 2011
Foursquare is a great way for retail locations to have the public "praise" them to their personal networks. Being able to have people broadcast to others they know how great a business is can be very powerful.
I agree, even if you do not plan to use Foursquare, at least claim your venue to insure that you have full control over the listing on Foursquare.
Zach 4:22 PM on January 13, 2011
@amy foursquare has an easy process to bulk upload / claim venues. Check out the "Getting Started" tab on foursquare.com/business
@linda there is absolutely no charge for the service for users or merchants
MyCarBudget 7:33 PM on January 17, 2011
Have been looking forward to page for businesses without a physical location for a while now. Will look into submitting a page and see how we go.
Great easy to read article
Jule Rizzardo, a.k.a. Businessgrl 12:18 AM on January 18, 2011
Looks like I need to check out Foursquare! It's great you don't have to enter a physical location for your business!
Koleen 5:37 PM on January 19, 2011
I would be interested in hearing from anyone with ideas for service companies to use Foursquare. We are not selling a product, but we do want to use social media to create a community.
Jennifer Camacho 10:57 AM on January 20, 2011
I find it ironic that I was recently looking at Foursquare's new business program a few days ago and now here is a blog about it. It really does seem like it can be a useful tool but since my company deals with benefits, HR & payroll it's not that easy to leverage. I am leaning towards trying to gear our use to the health and wellness side of things but it's still a while out.
Stephen Harvey 2:18 PM on January 20, 2011
@Koleen I thought a good way to help a service type company would be to create a Foursquare acct as a company and then check in when at company sites. For example, a landscaping company checks in at commercial sites to show a "portfolio" of properties to potential customers that are active on the Internet.
Really any type of service company that does routine work at commercial client locations could use this approach on Foursquare.
Im not sure about the community building aspect, but as an example of a client list or real world portfolio, this might have potential.
Ash 12:09 AM on January 24, 2011
Will Foursquare be active for businesses in the U.A.E? The capabilities are endless. I will give it a shot today itself. Let's see how effective this can get.
Zach 10:16 AM on January 24, 2011
@Ash we're already working with many businesses in UAE! Feel free to check out our site and let us know if there are any questions.
Mandi 1:16 AM on February 03, 2011
It still won't let me claim a venue that isn't a cafe/restaurant.
Very frustrating