Using foursquare in Your Small Biz Marketing

Looking for another way to get noticed digitally? Foursquare provides a geo-centric social medium that can be used to strengthen existing customer relationships while cultivating new ones.

Retail, personal services, and food & beverage industries are a good fit for foursquare’s technology. The site’s appeal is in its local search functionality. Small business owners can use it as another cost-effective social media tool in their marketing efforts. Foursquare can be used to map your business, announce a new product arrival, connect customers through friend-linking, and build loyalty through the site’s features. The site’s mapping capabilities, similar to Google Maps and others, displays your ‘location’ on a local map alongside a listing of nearby businesses when a search term is used.

Provide Updates

Small biz owners can post updates on their foursquare account. Users who have previously checked in to your location or who are visiting your location via foursquare for the first time can view announcements, events, special offers, or even funny anecdotes. Providing updates accomplishes two marketing objectives: 1) keeping your market informed about your business and 2) providing exposure through convenient, timely notifications.

Offer foursquare Specials

The site provides exclusive promotional opportunities through its Specials feature. Small businesses can offer users unique promotions when they check in to your location. Users unlock a Special through a foursquare check in which boosts your location’s virtual presence. Specials can be one-time offers such as a daily 2-for-1 deal or can build loyalty such as a free product after ten ‘check ins’.

Announce Your Mayor

Publicly acknowledge the foursquare visitor who checks in to your business most often (called a ‘mayor’). Post the announcement on your Facebook page and tweet it to the world. You can boost your appeal by acknowledging your customers, encouraging others to sign up on foursquare, and recognizing a loyal customer.

Use Tips and Comments as a Guide

Users can give ‘tips’ to friends and make general comments about your company. Take the time to routinely view visitor posts. What are you doing right? Which products are perceived negatively? Monitoring user activity can be a valuable source of customer feedback. Small biz owners can use agile marketing strategies to modify messaging, promotions, and other marketing components to respond to market behavior.

Foursquare users can search for specific specials, leave comments or tips, and link with friends – all of which provide engagement opportunities with your customers and prospects. Find effective (or unique) ways to generate check-ins. The more check-ins your business receives the higher visibility  your location will achieve. Business owners can also advertise through foursquare. The site has opened a pilot phase for several ad products. This feature may not be available to all businesses; we encourage you to learn more through the website.