Beneath the smart technology, a location-based service is fundamentally social in nature. A network like Foursquare provides a wide array of badges users can earn just by doing activities or visiting certain locations. Businesses can make use of these to entice customers. It is important for any fledgling business to always look for an opportunity to drive sales and promotion initiatives at off hours.
In the previous post, I have discussed foursquare ‘Specials’ with a few practical examples. In this post, we shall consider more ideas and more examples.
It is important to reward customers, as mentioned in the opening paragraph. For instance, Pacific Catch opted to host a party, which let customers earn a special Foursquare ‘swarm badge’ (it was awarded to gather along with at least 50 other Foursquare users). The hostess of Pacific Catch was in a bee costume. Close to 75 people willingly showed up just so they were able to claim the badge.
Check your data
The geolocation platform allows businesses to receive an analytics dashboard, free of cost. It contains data about check-ins as well as customer demographics. The analytics dashboard’s goal is to build a solid customer-relationship management tool. It is important to give merchants powerful opportunities not only to know more about their customers, but also to connect in real time with them.
The Destination Bar based in New York City employed this data to literally live up to its name. One of the partners in the bar, Dan Maccarone, adopted Foursquare early to leverage its business-friendly features. The smart business owner he is, Mr. Maccarone, makes use of the analytic dashboard offered by Foursquare for gleaning a valuable piece of data about all bar customers, after they check in and with whom they happen to check. The information includes details, such as how they break down in terms of age and gender, By doing so, he is able to discern vital patterns of how his business usually ebbs and flows throughout a busy week.
At one point of time, managers of the bar noticed that flow of check-ins declined on Saturdays past 2 a.m. In response, the bar began holding a special late-night happy hour. They made use of popular social media channels to spread the word about the idea. An immediate increase in customer check-ins and sales happened.
The lesson to be learnt:
You may view the Foursquare check-ins as an apt representation, just like the Nielsen ratings. You can tell and know quite a lot about your target audience based on the segmentation of the people checking in. They serve as a great sample set to gauge the mindset of your regular customers.
Before I wind up, here are a few vital aspects to keep in mind. Make it a point:
- To claim your venue listing
- To correctly prioritize your goals
- To devise a strategy for accomplish these goals.
- To consider giving away Foursquare specials/badges to lure and reward customers.
- To monitor key data with the help of an analytics dashboard.
I hope, you will find the information handy and it help you in your endeavor to use a geolocation platform for increasing your business. Do not forget to share your experiences with us.
