Foursquare Realtime Marketing

8/6/2019 Foursquare Realtime Marketing

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by Tom Snyder

Real-TimeMarketing with

Foursquare

MINI

A member o Penguin Group (USA) Inc.


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3/22

by Tom Snyder

Real-TimeMarketing with

Foursquare

MINI

A member o Penguin Group (USA) Inc.


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ALPHA BOOKS

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ISBN: 978-1-101-46314-7


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In This Mini Guide

Creating Your Location as a Venue

Set Up an Account

Look or Your Venue

Create Your Venue

Choose Categories or Your Venue

Add Tags to Your Venue

Add Tips to Your Venue

Becoming the Manager o Your Venue

Claim Your Venue

What Managers and Employees Cant Do

A Word About Superusers

Rewarding Your Check-Ins

Create Specials

Choose Your Specials

Rotate Specials

Award Badges

Reward Your Mayor

Driving Trafc to Your Venue

Spread the Word

Use Social Media

Trawl or Customers

Measuring Your Success

Understand Foursquare Venue Stats

Monitor Check-Ins at Your Venue

Your Most Important Measurement

How Successul Businesses Are Using FoursquareAJ Bombers

TLC

Tasti D-Lite

Resources


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The Complete Idiots Mini Guide to Real-Time Marketing with Foursquare4

Who would want to tell everyone where they are?

I thought all these people in my restaurant on their smartphones were texting. Turns outthey were checking in.

Somebody just introduced themselves to me as the mayor of my business!

What are these people talking about? Its the strange new world o Foursquare, aservice that allows people to let others know where they are by checking in to theplaces they go. And with 4 million users and thousands o businesses already partici-

pating, you cant aord to ignore it.Foursquare is not only a way or riends to check in with each other and see whatthey are doing, it is a way or businesses to drive customers to their venue, and canbe a powerul marketing tool. Jumping on the Foursquare bandwagon will give youan immediate advantage over your competitors. Plus, becoming comortable andproicient with its eatures now will also put you in a better position to understand,and anticipate, the new ways to use Foursquare eectively as it grows in popularity,eatures, and unctionality.

The true power o Foursquareas with all marketinglies in your own creativity

and ingenuity. In this guide you will learn how to set up yoursel and your business,and get some great ideas on how to use oursquare as a marketing tool.

Creating Your Location as a VenueMaximizing Foursquares potential as an eective marketing tool is what its allaboutand getting your business set up as a venue on Foursquare is simple. A venueis a physical, mapable, geographic location that people will be checking into usingtheir mobile device. Heres how you go about setting it up.

Set Up an Account

Beore you ind or create your venue and claim yoursel as its manager, you need tohave a Foursquare user account. You may already have a personal account. I youllbe participating in Foursquare as a player, and checking into locations to earn badgesthat have nothing to do with your business, youll want to maintain that account oryour own check-ins.


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Definition

A manager is the person approved by Foursquare as the owner of a venue

and who is authorized to create specials, edit details, and add employees for a

venue on Foursquare.

For the purposes o managing your Foursquare marketing strategy or your business,you need a business account with a public name that matches your business. Use theJoin Now icon on the Foursquare home page to create that account. First name is arequired ield, so use that or the business name, and leave the last name blank. Use

an e-mail address that you or your sta regularly check, preerably one dedicated toyour business. Upload a photo that represents your business. Your logo or a photo oyour venue will do the trick.

When prompted, add your businesss Twitter and Facebook accounts to your proile.Its important to be on Twitter and Facebook, as youre limiting your chances o suc-cess on Foursquare without them. Take a ew minutes now to make sure youre goodto go with Facebook and Twitter, then come back to Foursquare to link those intoyour Foursquare account.

tip

If you need help with Twitter or Facebook, The Complete Idiots Guide to Social

Media Marketing will be a great resource.

As you inish the Sign Up/Join Now process, youll be asked i you want to inviteriends into your network. You do, just not at this moment. You need to wait till youhave your Venue Proile ready to promote. Theres a time to come back and indriends later. Ill tell you when that is.

Look for Your Venue

Beore you jump in and create your venue, be aware o the act that theres a goodchance that your business already exists on Foursquarebut be aware that becauseyou didnt create it, it is probably all wrong. To ind out i your business is already onFoursquare, go to any page on the Foursquare.com website and use the search boxin the upper right corner to search or your business by name. I youre in there, thesearch will display your venue page.


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I the inormation is incorrect, your irst impulse will be to look or the place onthe page where you can correct it. Unless you are a superuserand as a Foursquarenewbie, youre probably notyour second impulse will be to panic when you realizethat there is no way or you correct it. Superusers, mayors, and the original creatorare the only ones who can edit a venues inormation. It can be ixed, but youll need alittle help. It will be diicult, but dont worry about that right now.

Definition

Superusers are members of the Foursquare community that have beenappointed by Foursquare to police and make corrections to the database.

Your search might also result in your venue appearing multiple times in a list o venuepages. That happens when people are at a venue, try to check in, but their mobiledevice ails to display it and so they create a new entry. Venue entries created onthe ly by users on mobile devices oten include errors. Because people are eager tojust check in, they will oten create a venue and guess at the address or simply ill innothing more than the name. So in addition to having multiple listings, the situationcan be compounded by each o them containing inormation that is incorrect, or even

missing altogether.

Unortunately, merging multiple venues is also something that you cant do by your-sel. What you can do is to report a duplicate venue. The actual merger o duplicatevenues is one o the unctions that can only be completed by a superuser.

To begin the process, use your mobile device to search or and ind your venue usingthe search unction (Places > Menu > Search). When you ind multiple entries, selecteach one and use the Edit Venue option in the menu to lag the venues as dupli-cates. Shortly thereater, they will appear in the administrative area or superusers,where one o them will compare venue details, then merge any duplicatesand all

their check-insinto one. Depending on the number and eiciency o the superusersin your area, the merger should happen within a ew days.

I your venue has several listings and none o them contains the correct inormation,go ahead and create a new, complete listing or your venue using the steps below.Then report your listing and all o the others as duplicates. Because the superuserwho merges your venues typically tries to ill in any missing inormation on the inalmerged listing, youll make them happy by giving a complete and correct listing tomerge with the others without sending them on a wild Google chase to ind the cor-rect inormation.


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Create Your Venue

Creating your venue is best done on your computer rather than a mobile device.Make sure youre signed into Foursquare with your business account, ind the AddThings link at the top o the page, and click on it. In smaller type, next to ADDTIP, youll see a link to add a new venue. Follow that to the orm youll use to addyour venue.

Make sure to ill in all o your venues inormation correctly, and ill in the crossstreet ield properly. For help, click the style guide link on the edit page, which

outlines the right abbreviations and capitalization.

Because your venue inormation is limited almost solely to your address, with noplace to add any promotional verbiage, make sure you ill out the Twitter ield withyour Twitter proile name. Foursquare will make it a clickable link to that Twitterproile weve already determined you have and are very good at using. You know, theone that matches the visual identity o your business, and has a link to your websiteor Facebook page? Yes, that one.

When youve inished illing out your venue inormation, make sure to double-checkthe map to see i Foursquare thinks you are where you really are. Foursquare uses theGPS on mobile devices to make sure people are really at a venue. So i Foursquareputs your location somewhere else on the map than where it really is, people mayactually be inside your business and not able to ind your venue on their mobiledevices. Even worse, they may check in but not get any points, or be allowed tounlock your special. As the venues creator, you can (and should) move the pin markeron the map to the proper location.

Choose Categories for Your Venue

Next, select the proper category or your venue. I the drop-down menu oers yousubcategories, browse through those to see i any o them will better describe yourbusiness. You can choose both categories and subcategories, and add each separately.

Add as many as are appropriatebut be sure to pick the one that will drive the besttraic to your establishment and set that as the primary one.

Add Tags to Your Venue

Sometimes, people search Foursquare or suggestions o places to go to. Using it likethe Yellow Pages, theyll do their search not based on the business name, but rather

on a service or product oering. Tags will help them ind your business.


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There is no limit to the number o tags you may add to your venue, but i you add toomany it may be diicult or people to ind the ones theyre looking or on your mainvenue listing. A good rule is to only use the tags that you believe will bring meaning-ul traic to your venue. I youll still have a big list, sort them in the order o value.

Warning

Dont create a huge list of tags and bury your primary service, or product offer-

ing, in the middle of that list. If youre primarily a pizza restaurant, put pizza at

the very top.

Youll enter each tag individually, and they will appear in the order you enter them.Because reordering them once theyre in your proile will require deleting and re-entering, build and sort your list o tags in a text editor irst. When youre happy withthe list, then copy and paste each into your proile, in order.

Be aware o the act that anyone can add categories and tags to your venue page. Onlya superuser (level 2 or above) or the venues creator or manager can delete tags, andonly those or a mayor can delete categories. Youll want to regularly monitor yourvenues tags and categories, and delete any that seem inappropriate or dont it in with

your overall strategy.

Add Tips to Your Venue

Tips are suggestions that users post to your venue page to make recommendationso things to do or to request while at your venue. Be sure to create a tip o your ownwith the most compelling reason you can think o why someone should come to yourbusiness. You only have 200 charactersso make it good!

See the Add link next to the SHARE button? Make sure you add a link to your

website beore you complete the tip! That is the only place anywhere in Foursquarewhere you can drive traic directly to your site. Typically that link will be your sitesmain URL. However, i you have the ability to create a special page in your site justor Foursquare users, make that page the one to which you link.

There you have it! Your venue page is done, and done right. Youll have people check-ing in at your venue beore you know it. I your venue already existed, you probablyalready have check-ins. Maybe you even have a mayor. The next step is to create astrategy that will turn those check-ins into revenue and loyalty.


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Becoming the Manager of Your VenueJust creating the venue doesnt automatically let you start creating specials.Foursquare needs to make sure youre authorized to do that.

Claim Your Venue

The irst step is to submit a claim that you manage the venue. That process begins byclicking on the Claim here link on the upper right o the venue page.

Foursquares venue claiming process has been greatly improved since the dayswhen it was done entirely on the honor system and took weeks, or even months, tocomplete. The biggest change they made was to veriy your claim by calling thephone number o the venue or sending snail-mail to the address. As you ollow thesteps, youll be given a choice o how you want them to contact you to validate yourclaim. Whichever you choose, make sure to let your sta know that youre expectinga contact rom Foursquare.

The process uses a validation code that comes rom Foursquare that, when entered inthe Foursquare site, completes the veriication process. I done by phone, the call will

come quickly and the veriication is instant. I done by mail, in a week or two youllreceive an envelope with easy instructions.

I you chose the mail option and dont receive your envelope ater a ew weeks, go tothe support center (support.oursquare.com), ind the Foursquare or Business sec-tion, click on the Why has my venue claim not been processed? link, and ollow theinstructions.

Once youve been approved, beore you run o to start doing all the things you canwith your new manager superpowers, ind the link to request a Foursquare windowcling. In the new age o social media, displaying one o these in your ront window

or door gives you the same credibility that a chamber o commerce, Better BusinessBureau, or Diners Club sticker used to.

What Managers and Employees Cant Do

With everything you get by becoming the manager, there is one thing you lose. Itsa great honor or many Foursquare users to become a mayor. But theres nothingmore rustrating than competing with someone who has the daily beneit o checkingin as they punch in. So, once you become manager, Foursquare now automaticallydisqualiies you rom becoming the mayor.


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It also disqualiies your employees. So youll want to locate them on Foursquare andwhen you ind them, go to the Employee o section in the right-hand column toadd them as employees o your venue.

Warning

Some of your employees may take their check-ins at your business pretty seri-

ously. Its a good idea to explain to your employees that its Foursquares policy

that wont allow them to be mayor, and not yours.

A Word About Superusers

There are three levels o superusers.

Level 1This status is awarded ater simply checking into 30 venues. Level 1superusers can ix incorrect venue inormation.

Level 2These superusers can edit venues, merge duplicate venue listings, ixmislocated venues, and handle venue address suggestions.

Level 3These superusers can do everything level 2 superusers can, but canalso create aliases or venuesalternate names or places that are com-monly misspelled or nicknamed.

At the time o this writing, oursquare was considering some changes to the capabili-ties and qualiications o superusers. Regardless o what they can do, its good to indout who they are in your area.

tip

I oversee social media for a Midwestern international airport. Before I becamea Level 2 superuser there were a ton of duplicate venue entries there, but only

some of them needed to be merged. By tweeting that I was looking for a super-

user, I was able to identify and contact several superusers who were able and

willing to help me by making the appropriate changes. Now, I pass on the love

by helping, wherever I can, when a business needs some help with their venue.

I youre going to be serious about Foursquare as a marketing tool or your business,knowing how to contact superusers is important. They can be an ally.


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Rewarding Your Check-InsWhile people have all sorts o dierent reasons why theyll choose to go to onebusiness over another, Foursquare users have a dierent perspective. Knowing whatmotivates them will help you draw them to your business. Sometimes its a desire toconnect with others by using oursquare to ind out where their riends are. Morerequently, its based on the act that they can earn rewards by checking in. Thoserewards include points, specials, and badges. Foursquare awards points or checkinginto venues, and the points that Foursquare awards or checking into your venue are

something you have no control over. I havent been able to igure out a way to useawards to a businesss advantage. I you do, let me know. Probably it is best to ocuson the other two rewards you can control: specials and badges.

Create Specials

As a venue owner, youre allowed by Foursquare to oer specials to people who checkin at your venue. Visitors unlock those specials i they meet the criteria that youspeciy. Because they are customizable, specials give you the best shot at driving thespeciic type o traic you are attempting to attract.

Just like managers, all specials need to be reviewed or approval by Foursquare. Onceyoure approved as a manager, you can create your specials by clicking on the newAdd a special link that will appear on your venue page. The process usually takes aday or two. Once approved, the special will still need a managers inal click to makeit active.

Possible specials all into ive types:

Everytime Check-InsThese are the ones that will be unlocked by anyonewho checks in at your venue.

First-Time Check-InsAs you can guess, these are specials that can beunlocked by a person only the very irst time they check in.

Frequency Check-InsThese are the every 3rd, 30th or 300th variety. Thecheck-in requirement can be set to any number youd like.

Becoming a MayorThe person who checks in at your venue the most timeswithin the last 60 days becomes Mayor o your venue.


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Always Unlocked SpecialsAlso called Wildcard Specials. You determinethe conditions, which your sta will have to veriy. Something like, Show usyour Dogs Best Friend Badge and get 20% o.

Because Foursquare keeps track o user visits, and determines whether a visitor meetsthe conditions o your special, you dont have to keep track o any o it. When acheck-in qualiies a visitor or your special, their mobile device will show a specialscreen that displays the act that they have unlocked it. They simply show that screen

to you or your sta.

Choose Your SpecialsChoosing what specials you wish to oer should be considered strategically. I yourstrategic goal is to bring in lots o new customers, creating a special only or irst-time check-ins will help accomplish that. But i repeat business is your goal, youshould oer specials that reward repeat check-insevery third, or even every tenth,check-in. The more check-ins your special requires beore it is unlocked, the biggeryoull need to make the value or it to be worth the eort. You may think that people

will check in 10 times to earn hal-o on a cup o coee, but they wont.

tip

Its always a good idea to search for your competitors specials to see how yours

compare with theirs, and make sure yours give you the best chance of driving

traffic to your business.

A special that rewards people or posting tips is a good move i some knucklehead hasused the Add a Tip unction to post a critical or negative comment. The only per-

son who can remove a negative tip is the person who posted it. I attempts to ind thatperson, resolve the issue, and have him remove the tip ail, the best thing you can dois to use an Add a Tip special to create so many positive posts that the negative onebecomes lost among them.

Rotate Specials

While you can submit multiple specials to Foursquare, you can only oer one at anygiven time. All approved specials will be listed in your Manage Specials area. Youcan set a single special to run orever, or you can constantly rotate dierent specials


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to run. Every client and business is dierent. Experiment and see which specialsgenerate the best return or the investment and the eort.

The worst thing that can happen is or someone to come to your venue and showan employee the unlocked special, only to be met with a blank stare. Make sure tolet your employees know how the special works. Beore you activate a special, showanyone who may be veriying a special any business procedures that will need to beollowed on your point-o-sale system to honor it. I possible, check in on a mobiledevice and show them how the unlock notiication will be displayed.

Award Badges

Badges are huge motivators or some Foursquare users, with some people willing totravel mileseven hundreds or thousands o milesto get one. The traic generatedby a badge is oten a one-time visit because the urther people travel to earn thebadge, the less likely they may be to become a repeat customer. I done strategically,however, badges can still be a smart way to drive traic to your business.

Foursquares philosophy is to help badges hold value by making them a scarcecommodity. So they exercise extreme control over how many, or rather how ew, o

them they create. Unless your business is a major national brandlike Starbucks,the Bravo Cable Network, or an NBA teamits not likely that youll be able to haveFoursquare create a badge just or you.

But there are ways to take advantage o existing badges to drive traic to your venue.

The Swarm Badge is awarded when more than 50 people are simultaneously checkedin at the same venue. You will only want to oer this as a possible incentive i youhave a reasonable degree o certainty that youll get enough people there to have 50o them check in. Its harder than you think. Unless youre a sports stadium, hugeconcert hall, state air, or other venue where lots o people come or a speciic event,it wont happen spontaneously. Youll need an already substantial base o ans that areregularly checking into your venue, or a very special event, promotion, or celebrity toincentivize a large group o them to come at the same time. Asking or an RSVP willprovide you with the numbers o potential attendees, and i it looks like you may bedrawing a crowd o over 100, only then will you want to start promoting the act thatthe possibility o a Swarm Badge exists. Twitter will be a great tool to assist in thateort, as ans hoping to get a Swarm Badge will spread the word to their riends toincrease the odds o a qualiying turnout. Use your account to promote it. I you stilldont have one, and didnt create one the last couple o times I told yougo do it now.Seriously.


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tip

Use a site like Twtvite (twtvite.com) for RSVPs to your Swarm Badge event. Your

event will have its own link to send, and youll know how many yes, maybe, or

no responses you have.

The Super Swarm Badge requires a crowd o 250. Good luck with that.

Even though its not likely that Foursquare will ever give you your own badge toaward, there are other creative ways to use existing badges to drive traic. The

complete list o oursquare badges can be ound at www.4squarebadges.com/oursquare-badge-list/. Scrolling through the list and seeing how those badges areawarded may either provide you with opportunities, or uel your creativity to usebadges as a way to drive traic as badge hunters add to their collection.

Keep in mind the act that checking in is usually all thats required to unlock badges.While you hope that people will actually spend money at your business, many willsimply unlock their badge and leave. Some may stay long enough to make a purchase,and others may come back. But i youre looking or check-ins that result in dollarsin your cash register, oer regular specials that include discounts or ree items thatcombine with a purchase (like a ree dessert or drink with the purchase o a meal).

Reward Your Mayor

Rewarding a mayorship is a special that should be considered cautiously. While it canget a small handul o people locked in a passionate battle or the title, it holds nomotivation or those who realize they have no chance at ever unseating the mayor.In addition, the more valuable the reward is or becoming a mayor, the more likelypeople are to cheat by checking in without making a purchase, or actually even com-ing in.

Because just being the mayor is oten reward enough, oering a special only or themayorat the expense o one that entices the massesmay not be the best use o thepower o your specials. I youre the type o business that typically rewards loyalty,you may consider doing what one bank chain did when they decided to ind the may-ors o all o their 44 branches and give them a git certiicate rom a local restaurantchain.


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Driving Traffic to Your VenueI you build it, they will come. But its still good business to ind people and invite,inspire, or compel them to come.

Spread the Word

Go back to the Foursquare.com site and click on the Find Friends link in thetop menu. Options there will allow Foursquare to check your Gmail address book,

Twitter ollower list, and Facebook riends and will send them an invitation tobecome your riend on Foursquare, with a link to your proile. They may just acceptyour riend request, but they may irst check out your proile. Seeing a tip rom youinviting them to your venue, with links to your website, Twitter, and Facebook pageare all great brand reinorcers.

Use Social Media

Put a link to your venue on your website near all your other social media icons,so people know you support Foursquare. The social media community tends to

patronize businesses that are active in that community. Make sure you publicize yourspecials on your website, Twitter activity, and Facebook page.

I the style o your business is to have widescreen TVs on your walls, think odedicating one as a computer monitor and have it display all the tweets about yourbusiness. Sites like Twitterall (twitterall.com) or Visible Tweets (visibletweets.com)allow you to conigure a search that will show all tweets that include your businessname and your oursquare check-ins. While people inside your business will getexcited to see their tweets on your wall, even more importantly, theyll be providingyou with ree advertising to hundreds or thousands o their ollowers.

Trawl for Customers

While you want to be concerned about people checking into your venue, you maywant to consider seeing who is checking into other nearby venues.

A recent change in Foursquare removed the display o people who recently checkedinto venues. Later, Ill show you how to set up a search to see who is posting check-ins at your venue to Twitter. You can also set up searches to see who is checking intoyour competitors or neighbors venues, too. When you see those tweets, consider


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replying to the tweet and oer them a complementary or a more competitive incen-tive or checking in at your venue.

You may also want to talk to nearby businesses that are complementary to yours. Forinstance, i youre a restaurant or nightclub with a concert hall or theater nearby thatgets lots o check-ins, why not suggest that they create a special or their check-insthat will be redeemed at your venue? Something like Ater the show, check in atJacks Bistro, 1234 Main St., show them both your check-in here and there, and gethal o your irst drink. They get to oer a special that doesnt cost them anything,

and you get the traic. Its a win or everyone!

Measuring Your SuccessAs with everything else you do or your business, you want to make sure your eortsare producing results. Foursquare may or may not produce a return that justiies theinvestment. Here are a couple o ways or you to see how its working or you.

Understand Foursquare Venue Stats

You have access to a bunch o statistics about check-ins at your venue via the link toVenue Stats at the top o your venue page. Statistics available include recent (andall) check-ins and top visitors, the percentage o people who posted their check-in toFacebook or Twitter, and the gender breakdown. Your top visitors and most recentvisitors are listed, and you can graphically see when people are checking in by dateand time o day. You can display results rom today, last week, all-time, and a buncho time rames in between. You can decide which o the inormation is valuable, andwhich is just trivial.

Managers can see venue statistics, edit venue ino, create specials, and add employees.

Employees can only see the statistics.

Monitor Check-Ins at Your Venue

While your dashboard can display recent check-ins, Twitter also gives you a great wayto see whos at your venue right now by letting you create a notiication that tells youwhenever someone checks in at your venue, and allows Foursquare to post that check-in on Twitter. When someone checks in at a venue and wants it to post automaticallyto Twitter, Foursquare embeds a link to the venue page that starts with http://4sq.com/ and then adds a six-character ID at the end. Once its posted, Foursquare will

always use that same link anytime anyone tweets that theyre at your venue.


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To actively monitor those Tweets, go to search.twitter.com and search or tweetsthat contain http://4sq.com and your venue name, as it appears on your venue page.I people have been checking in and tweeting about it, youll see the short Web link.I you use a tool like Seesmic, Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, or Mixero to monitor yourTwitter account, you can create a column that searches or and displays all the Tweetswith that link. Youll know who has checked in at your venue and broadcasted thatact on Twitter, and also see when your mayor is ousted by someone else. By using asite like Tweet Alarm (www.tweetalarm.com), you can even set up a search to sendyou an e-mail whenever someone checks in.

Warning

Typically only 10 to 20 percent of all check-ins are posted on Twitter. Dont ever

use those posts as an absolute measure of the number of check-ins.

Your Most Important Measurement

Not everyone has their Foursquare account set up to post their check-ins to Twitter,

so you wont see everyone whos checking in with this method. Your dashboard willbe the most accurate and complete record o who has recently checked in, but keepin mind that the ones on Twitter are not only letting you know that theyre at yourbusiness, theyre also letting all their ollowers know. Engaging and rewarding thosepeople creates some potentially great and highly visible public relations.

O course, the best monitor rom a return-on-investment standpoint is the numbero check-ins that result in sales. While you can measure check-ins, or viral mentionsabout your venue by check-ins posted on Twitter and Facebook, setting up an internalsystem to keep track o purchases related to people who redeem specials may be thebest barometer o all.

How Successful Businesses Are Using

FoursquareThere is no shortage o ways to leverage Foursquare to build your business. Whileyou may come up with great ideas o your own, there are plenty o resources availablethat include tons o ideas that are already being implemented. Here are just a ewexamples o how businesses have been using oursquare to great success.


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AJ Bombers

Restaurateur Joe Sorge is legendary in his use o social media to promote his ourestablishments in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by building relationships with both exist-ing and prospective customers. Its not uncommon or Joe to notice a customersFoursquare check-in at one o his restaurants and have the manager-on-duty indthem, say thanks, and oer a complimentary dessert. He also rolls out new menuitems with invitation-only events where inluential guests check in and post photosand comments about those items on Twitter.

While all o his establishments beneit rom his mastery o social media tools, hisburger joint, AJ Bombers, virtually built itsel on the shoulders o Twitter andFoursquare. Behind only Mitchell International Airport and Miller Park, where theMilwaukee Brewers play, AJ Bombers boasts more check-ins than any other venue inMilwaukee, including the 20,000 seat Bradley Center and Summerest, the worldslargest music estival. AJ Bombers was the irst venue in Milwaukee to have enoughpeople check in to earn a Swarm badge.

But an even bigger event was his Im on a Boat event. Not everyone knows thatthey can win the Im on a Boat Badge by checking into a venue that is tagged

boat and using the Shout eature o Foursquare to post the phrase, Im on aBoat with their check-in to their Twitter and Facebook accounts.

O course, the landlocked restaurant couldnt legally tag their restaurant as a boat, sothey teamed up with a local sporting goods retailer who agreed to bring over a kayak,so people could literally be on a boat when they checked in. A badge, a creativeidea, lots o cross-promotion, and huge day-o-event social media buzz, resulted inover 230 check-ins, and the best sales day in the restaurants history.

TLC

In spring o 2009, the cable network TLC began to promote the act that they wouldbe awarding three new badges to celebrate summer, and that Foursquare would begiving an-avorite local businesses an opportunity to award those badges to check-insat their venues.

The three badges were the TLC Summer Badge, which would be unlocked justby checking into a TLC-selected summer-un location; the Cupcake ConnoisseurBadge, earned by checking into three dierent TLC-approved cupcake bakeries; andthe BBQ Pitmaster Badge, earned by checking into three dierent TLC-selectedrestaurants.


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Hundreds o businesses began to rally their ans to nominate them on TLCsFacebook page. Selected venues ranged rom large ones like the SmithsonianInstitute, The World o Coca Cola, and the Lincoln Park Zoo, to small businesseslike the Pancake Pantry in Nashville, Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q in Atlanta, and Tipitinas inNew Orleans.

Tasti D-Lite

Tennessee-based Tasti D-Lite is a 44-location chain o ice cream shops that has

begun to embrace Foursquare in a big way. From very early on, theyve oered spe-cials (Show that youve checked in and receive $2.00 o any size Smoothie. Ask aboutall the new Smoothie lavors!).

But recently they have integrated Foursquare (along with Facebook and Twitter)into their Tasti-Rewards loyalty card program. Previously, customers would presenttheir card and accumulate points only or making purchases at the stores. Foursquarecheck-ins would be done by visitors with their mobile devices, and visually veriied bythe person at the check out. But using new technology oered by their point-o-salevendor, scanning that card now also automatically checks visitors in on Foursquare

and earns them additional loyalty points or doing so.Members use MyTasti.com, a password-protected site, to manage their account andauthorize Tasti-D-lite to log in to their Foursquare account or the check-in. Thecheck-in can also be shouted on Twitter, with a member-chosen message. TastiD-Lite also uses the post to include a link to a printable coupon.

Resources

support.oursquare.comFoursquares searchable oicial support site. Inormation isgrouped by categories, with links and orms that go directly to Foursquare sta.

blog.oursquare.com/Foursquares oicial blog. All the latest news straight rom theFoursquare sta.

aboutoursquare.com/Blog site with all the latest news about Foursquare or users,businesses, and developers.

www.4squarebadges.comA blog site with all the badges ever oered by Foursquareand how they are unlocked.


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Additional Reading

The Complete Idiots Guide to Social Media Marketing

Jennier Abernethy978-1-59257-989-1, $19.95

The Complete Idiots Guide to Target Marketing

Susan Friedmann978-1-59257-903-7, $19.95

The Complete Idiots Guide to FacebookJoe Kraynak and Mikal Belicove978-1-61564-036-2, $16.95

Foursquare Realtime Marketing

Documents

Transcript of Foursquare Realtime Marketing