If you are a keen tweeter, then you may well have come across tweets that mention a new form of social networking – Foursquare. If you haven’t tried it yet, we thought we’d put together a quick guide to give you an overview of what it’s all about and what it potentially means for small businesses.
What is Foursquare?
Foursquare is a location-based social network, which also acts as a game you can play with friends or strangers. Essentially, it enables you to tell your friends where you are (and vice versa) and lets you have a bit of fun whilst you do it.
How does it work?
Using a GPS enabled mobile device (think iPhone or Blackberry), the mobile app encourages you to ‘check-in’. You can check-in from bars and restaurants or even a street or a famous landmark. You can also include a message if you like and the system will then log this news. You can also elect to notify other social networks like Twitter or Facebook quickly and easily.
People that are ‘friends’ with you on Foursquare (this friending happens very much like Facebook) will then get pinged a message to let them know your whereabouts and activities. The idea is that they can then join you or just be pleased that you’re out having a good time.
The other two things you can do are create a to-do-list of places you’ve always wanted to go and add to a Top 12 list of your recommendations for other people.
The other side of the app is the game. You get ‘points’ for everytime you check-in and the number of points you get depends on where it is, how many times you’ve been there and how many times you’ve checked-in during a day or night.
For example, you get a point for checking in, you get five points if it happens to be from a place you’ve never checked-in from before; a further point if it’s the second, third, fourth etc place of the evening; and another still for checking-in multiple nights in a row.
The points aren’t really good for anything other than bragging rights but there’s a leader board on the site showing top users. Also, if you check-in from the same place more times and more regularly than anyone else, then you might find yourself crowned Mayor. You can also collect other badges as you use the app more often.
Ok, sounds fun but not very useful
You can also add tips when you check-in and when someone else checks-in to the same spot they can read your tips – this might be what the best dish at a restaurant is to the best coffee house in the area. The other element of the game which is just starting to grow, it that local businesses can now start to make special offers to users that happen to be checking in nearby. For example, some cafes are now offering free coffees to its Mayor or 10% discounts to checked-in users.
So how do I get started?
You can signup at the website and this can also be used to search places other people have visited to see tips and recommendations. To really get the most from Foursquare you need a GPS mobile device. There are apps for the iPhone and Android and Blackberry users can use the mobile website (a Blackberry app is on the way).
Is it free?
For now, yes. All the features are currently free.
So why’s this great for businesses?
If you have a business that has local shops, stores or locations, then the special offer feature could be really exicting. It is good for two key things:
- Loyalty – it allows you to give customers a reason to return and helps you reward repeat visits
- Word of mouth – it also allows bricks and mortar locations a great way to get in on the virtual, social media craze. Because users can share updates on Twitter or Facebook it can help spread the word. You also then encourage other Foursquare users to check-in at your establishment
We also stumbled across this great little Slideshare presentation the other day, which we thought gave a great Foursquare overview, so thought we’d share:
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