How To Foursquare and Drive Business

Explore with Foursquare

Businesses are driving revenues using social media tools such as Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter and more. Today we’re focusing on Foursquare; what it is, why it’s popular, how it can drive customers into your business and the analytics available.

Foursquare it’s very social, very engaging and a very different experience from other social networks such as Facebook or Twitter. GPS functionality, ease of use and gaming attributes make discovering new places fun, rewarding and a quest on its own.

Foursquare

Foursquare is a leader in mobile social networking and local merchant services. Foursquare mobile applications leverage gaming dynamics to help users meet up with their friends on the go, discover what’s nearby, save money, unlock coupons and deals and post reviews of places they’ve been.

Foursquare Data (updated April 2012)
Users: 20+ million worldwide
Check-ins: 2+ billion, millions more each day

Foursquare Badges

Businesses using Foursquare: 750,000+

How Customers Use Foursquare

People use Foursquare on a local level to broadcast to their friends where they are. They also use Foursquare to find local deals and specials which may be the differentiators in deciding what restaurant to go to or what night spot to meet up with friends at.

When visiting new communities Foursquare has a “Search” feature that allows customer to discover places. These are categorized as Top Picks, Specials, Food, Coffee, Nightlife, Shops, Arts & Entertainment, and Outdoors. Top Pick and Specials categories are reserved for those businesses that are top choices or offer specials.

Activities on Foursquare have point values and it’s these point values that drive the gaming excitement and uniqueness of Foursquare. For example, a new check-in may be worth +3 points. Connected friends compete to see who can score the most points, collect the most badges or determine who the “Mayor” of a venue is.

Customers also leave “Tips” which are similar to reviews and their own images of the places they have been.

How Businesses Benefit

Foursquare allows you to find new customers and form deeper connections with your best ones. When people check in on Foursquare at your business they are broadcasting to their friends and their social networks that they are at your business. This is an endorsement and mention for your business, and we all know referrals are a great way to drive foot traffic.

New Customers & Traffic Generators

With Specials, businesses reward their customers and bring more attention to their venue and generate new business. When a businesses runs a special the listing gets highlighted and stands out considerably from those not running specials.

Specials

• Swarm Special , Example, "If 30 people check in at once, get 25 cent wings" 
• Friend Special, Example, “Check in with 3 friends and get a free dessert” 
• Flash Special, Example, "The first 10 people that check in after 8pm get 25% off their order" 
• Newbie Special, Example, "Get a free cupcake on your first check-in" 
• Check-in Special, Example, "Get a free appetizer when you check in"

Reward Existing Customers

• Loyalty Special, Example, "Get a free cookie every 3rd check-in"
• Mayor Special, Example, "Mayor gets 20% off their entire bill"

Note: Specials are only for claimed venues. If you have not yet claimed your business on foursquare, click here to get started. You need a Foursquare user account to claim a venue. You do not have to have a smart phone to create an account, although it does make it easier to understand once you’ve used it on a smart phone. You can get started in just 90 seconds. I explain how here.

Once you’ve claimed your venue and started offering specials you will want to promote your special online and offline. Promote your specials online using Facebook, Twitter, your website, wherever you can. Offline use flyer's, window stickers, chalkboards, whatever and wherever you can to draw traffic. Read more including case studies and results achieved here.

In this video I show you step by step how to create a special in under 4 minutes.

Visibility: Your Customer & Stats

Once you’ve claimed your business on Foursquare, you get full access to real-time data about your customers, including:

Foursquare Stats

• Total daily check-ins over time
• Your most recent visitors
• Your most frequent visitors
• Gender breakdown of your customers
• What time of day people check in
• Portion of your venue’s foursquare check-ins that are broadcast to Twitter and Facebook

It’s super useful, and can be used to tailor your Specials (or even your business).

Get Started

You can get started in just 90 seconds. I explain how here. Remember, you need a Foursquare user account to claim a venue. You do not have to have a smart phone to create an account, although it does make it easier to understand once you’ve used it on a smart phone.

Claim your venue Head on over to this page to claim your listing and get full access to all of Foursquare’s free tools.

Create a Special After you’ve claimed your venue, start creating Specials (for free!) to get new customers and reward your loyal ones.

Grow your business Engage your customers, learn more about them, and help new ones find you. The foursquare Merchant Platform has all the tools you need.



Get More Social Media Ideas and How To

Drive more business with How to Launch Facebook Offers, Brand Building on Facebook, Best Time to Post on Facebook and Twitter, How to Super Charge your Facebook, How to use Facebook and Linked In groups http://netprofitsmedia.blogspot.com/

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Generate MORE Business Consistently and Effectively!

Effective Social Media use can produce quality viral marketing. Facebook, Twitter, Four Square and Yelp, to name a few are great social media platforms to engage your audience. Create fans, engage, build, and grow your brand and business.

BUT if you are going to promote your business using social media BEWARE:  

Social Media requires a time commitment. Random whenever you have time page updates turn off fans and they may ignore or stop following all together.

Social Media requires consistency. A consistent look, a consistent tone. It's hard to be consistent when "whomever" has time is doing the updates.

Social Media should be one part of a systematic digital marketing plan. Systematic means doing then measuring results. Track and measure.

Social Media is promoting and the most visible advertising you do. Like any marketing and advertising, what you present to your public is perception and your business.  If you choose to do it well your business could take off like never before. But, do it poorly and run the risk of turning customers off, alienating them and completely ruining your ROI and possibly your future business.

More Business Consistently with Proven Marketing

Working with Net Profits Media as your Social Media Manager and you will see your brand grow and MORE business generated consistently and effectively using proven marketing methods.

Your cash register will sing when you engage your local audience; plus begin to reach and effectively promote outside of your core audience. You will gain loyal, repeat customers and greater profitability.

Happy customers are the greatest testament to success. Here you can read reviews from customers of ours and the results we have helped them achieve.

As more and more businesses adopt Social Media, more specifically Facebook as a viable advertising spend the question lingers; how much is a Facebook fan worth? Here we answer that question citing a comprehensive survey conducted by Syncape with full survey results.



Once you have created your incentives for fans to "Like" your page you must deliver engaging content to keep them coming back and building your brand. This is defined in your Facebook Insight Analytics as "Reach". On Facebook Brand Building we illustrate how to get the most views on Facebook and compare text, images and combined text + images and highlight the methods and test results.

We go deeper into custom Facebook pages with Custom Facebook Page Examples and video. We show you many examples of effective pages that engage fans and have proven to help build Facebook fans and fan bases for our clients.

Enjoy a fully functioning Facebook Fan Site plus a Foursquare Venue site with our super special offer. Promote your venue with Facebook and FourSquare pages, plus beat your competition with "Like-Us" Specials and "Check-In" Deals that work around the clock.

About Net Profits Media:

James Meyer is the owner of Net Profits Media and has an extensive background in Marketing, Branding and Promotions.

As an executive of an B2C retail e-commerce company James was instrumental in developing and implementing effective operating structures, marketing plans and sales processes that propelled a 4 person "mom and pop" start-up to the nationwide leader in their niche.

As the President of a B2B wholesale distributor, James created the Marketing, branding and promotion to and secure 575 new customers including prestigious high volume big box retailers like Costco, Northern Tool, Summit Racing, Whitney Automotive / US Auto Parts and Jegs.

Now, James has formed Net Profits Media to help small and medium sized business and business owners grow their businesses and help preserve the Mom and Pop business that America was built on.

If you own or manage a small business and you are looking for results we have packages that are both affordable and effective. We offer self-serve and full-service options to best fit your growth plans, resources and abilities.

Thank You.

James Meyer Net Profits Media, LLC
Port Washington, WI 53074
e: netprofitsmedia@gmail.com
p: 414-687-7018
Twitter: @NetProfitsMedia