Local Businesses need Foursquare.com

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So what else can businesses do with social media, besides offending fictional cats?

Services like Foursquare and Lookaly present themselves primarily as tools for consumers but also offer some real benefits for businesses too!

Let’s first take a look at Foursquare then check back to our blog over the next few days for a follow up article on local Northern Irish business promotion tool Lookaly.

Local Businesses – Be where the smart phone using trend setters are – Foursquare.com

But what is Foursquare?

Foursquare is, in its own words; “part friend-finder, part social cityguide, part nightlife game.” Users earn points and badges by visiting real world locations; primarily bars, coffee shops, restaurants and night clubs; and “checking-in” on their smart phone. My favourite badge so far is undoubtedly the Gym Rat: “10x trips in 30 days? Go reward yourself to the nastiest double cheeseburger you can find (bonus points for cheesy fries and milkshakes). And ps: you look nice today!” Foursquare is a great way to offer promotions to loyal customers.

Despite the obvious privacy concerns involved in updating the entire internet with your exact location several times a day, there seems to be little doubt that Foursquare is good for business. Even world-dominating fast food restaurant McDonalds saw a 33% increase in footfall when it ran a Foursquare related promotion.

Foursquare is good for good businesses

More accurately, perhaps, Foursquare is good for good businesses. The “cityguide” part of the Foursquare mission allows users to leave tips and mini-reviews of the places they visit, so if your service stinks; people are going to find out! On the other hand, a good promotion has the potential to spread across Foursquare like wildfire. For example, the most recent “tip” about a venue at time of writing was, “Durty Kelly’s: Order the Bangers n Mash. Good stuff!”

So, how do I add my business to Foursquare?

Foursquare.com/businesses is the place to go to get started, with a list of services and ideas for promotions. Personally, I don’t know if I’m ready to turn my every day life in to a World of Warcraft style quest for points and badges, but a few free pizzas might convince me.

Foursquare logo and banner

You can, of course, find both Foursquare and Lookaly on Facebook and Twitter so maybe even these cutting edge social media services still employ someone to herd all the drunken cats. Also, don’t forget to keep an eye out for our follow up article on Lookaly.com!

What do you think?

Do you use Foursquare? Will you give Foursquare a try?

Please Reply Below & Share This Article.

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One Response to Local Businesses need Foursquare.com

  1. louisemccartan September 23, 2010 at 1:06 pm #

    This is another insightful and useful review from our guest writer PJ Hart. We’ll miss you when you once again go off gallivanting around the world! Thanks PJ.

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