This presentation investigates the way that businesses and patrons are benefiting from location-based services, like FourSquare.

1. FourSquare and
businesses:
can everyone win in this game of profit?
Ashlie K.Conway
Social Media Club of Columbia, SC 2/11/2010
Librarian, U. of South Carolina
Conwaya@mailbox.sc.edu

2. About:
Foursquare aims to encourage people to explore their
neighborhoods and then reward people for doing so.
We do this by combining our friend-finder and social
city guide elements with game mechanics - our users
earn points, win mayorships and unlock badges for
trying new places and revisiting old favorites.
From http://foursquare.com/businesses/

3. Things to consider
FourSquare is
“Revolutionizing the very way we think about social
media and turning it into a form of currency”
[Think customer loyalty punch cards]
From http://mashable.com/2010/01/16/foursquare-world/
“Foursquare bills itself as 50% friend finder, 30% social
city guide, 20% nightlife game”
From http://adage.com/digitalnext/post?article_id=138305

4. FourSquare Glossary:
Check-in: telling FourSquare where you are via GPS or
physical address
Mayor: a person who visits a given place more than
anyone else
Badges: think of them like little trophies or rewards for
going to interesting places
Points: another reward/another way to compete
against your friends.
Tips: your recommendations to others
To Dos: notes to yourself

5. Glossary
continued...
Shout: (optional) what
you can say in
addition to where you
are
Image by &y: http://www.flickr.com/photos/smull/144407217/

6. Image by Irish Typepad: http://www.flickr.com/photos/irisheyes/4307046459/
Benefits to patrons/users

7. Lets you know popular spots
Helps you make a connection & get rewards from
businesses
Explore places in your own community that you
wouldn’t necessarily go to (to get rewards)
Prepares you for places with special requirements
(cash only)
Helps you remember places you visit both at home &
traveling

8. Benefits to businesses

9. 84%
Of Americans say online reviews influence their purchasing
decisions, according to a survey by the Opinion Research
Corporation
New York Times: http://nyti.ms/biFSbF

10. Business benefits:
It’s a way to take the online, offline
• Customers offer you constant
exposure and word of mouth
• Opens the door for new kinds of
promotions to reward evangelists
• Customer behavior is tracked,
allowing habits to be identified
and leveraged
• It connects you with your digital
evangelists, people who probably
have a lot of clout in their circles
From http://outspokenmedia.com/social-media/foursquare-divides-the-web/

11. Special mayor-only rewards are cropping up...and
they’re creating customer loyalty battles that are
good for regulars and great for businesses
Develops a deeper connection between place and
patron
Get instant feedback...good customer reviews lead
to new customers
Can measure foot traffic to a store, proving
quantifiable ROI for an advertiser
From http://mashable.com/2010/01/16/foursquare-world/ and New York Times: http://nyti.ms/biFSbF
and http://adage.com/digitalnext/post?article_id=138305

12. We had lunch at E Leaven today,
and when I checked in on
Foursquare, I saw a competitor's
coupon. It was the first time this has
happened to me, so I thought it was
an E Leaven coupon (I've never
heard of David Burke's Primehouse
until now). When I showed it to my
server...I had to explain what
Foursquare is. She knew David
Burke's, so we realized it was a
competitor's deal, but now they're
interested in what Foursquare can
do for them. I offered to talk it
through with them if they want to
pursue opportunities in the future. :) From Jenny Levine (The Shifted Librarian)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shifted/4287901565/

13. Cheap marketing!
“For example, it would cost $5 for a restaurant to
give my brother a free dessert for being mayor, but
with Foursquare linked to Twitter
(read word-of-mouth), that $5 could go a long way
towards driving people to that venue”
From http://adage.com/digitalnext/post?article_id=138305

14. Cons for all
Furthers the distance
between the “haves”
and “have nots”

15. So what’s next?
Image by RobHawkes: http://www.flickr.com/photos/robhawkes/3083026218/in/set-72157610728754244/

16. Currently, some major
corporations can:
“Ping” branded tips (Ping=push messages to you)
Create specialty event/company badges for you to
unlock
Why? So their brand will stay on your mind!
Hopefully something similar to this will be released for
smaller businesses

17. Example: Valentine’s Day

18. Questions? Discussion?