Foursquare: Not just for kids!

This post was inspired by a recent presentation I did where I learned that many small businesses owners are not familiar with geo-location social networking tools , such as Foursquare, and how as a small business owner you can benefit.

How Geo-location works

Smartphones use GPS to be ‘location aware’ and let you discover places around you.  So basically, when you go places you “check-in” and can see who else is there, get details as well as tips about the place. You can also leave tips behind for others to find.

It’s also a great way to see what’s around you when you may not be sure of where you want to go.

As a consumer, I like to check in and see what places around me that I may not have visited before.

Go somewhere often enough and you can get rewarded. Now from a business point of view, this is a great way to reward loyal customers and make them feel special. As you can see, I like Starbucks (that’s a mezzo/half-sweet/skinny chai latte, if you must know ;). And if you go there often enough, you just may become the Mayor!

Business wins:

• Many Foursquare users have their profiles linked to their Twitter and Facebook profiles, which allows for your business to get exposure on other social networks when they share where they are with their friends. Why not reach out to them and thank them for coming? Or ask them what they liked. It’s another opportunity to engage with your customers and even thank them for stopping by.
• Offer specials which allow curious folk to discover your nearby business
• See who is checking in at nearby locations to yours and possibly even interact with them (just go easy on the self-promotion..remember relationship building!)

As a business owner, Foursquare is definitely another tool you can add to your marketing toolkit. You may not be ready to check into places every time you go out, but at the very least start by monitoring and see what is happening out there.  It is one more way gather competitive research, keep tabs on who is checking into places in your neighborhood, reward loyal customers and see what others are saying about you.  And the next time a customer says they are mayor of your yoga/resto/spa you won’t look so alarmed 😉

Thoughts? Are you a Foursquare-fan?

[UPDATE]: Here’s a How-To from Mashable which goes into detail about the various specials you can set up.