Marketing with Geo-Location.

To reach customers where they are - literally - marketers are adding location-based technologies to their loyalty and couponing programs. But, these technologies can be used for so much more.

Foursquare has only emerged in the past 6 months on the social media market. The mobile, location-based social network is spreading like wildfire and attracting a lot of attention from the same crowd that helped to bring Twitter into prominence. Foursquare, as of March 29, 2010, has 725,000 users and Mashable predicted that, "Foursquare would become the Twitter of 2010."

But, there is one looming question: Is there a real opportunity for business?

Foursquare is not like Facebook, Twitter, or any other social network. People don't log onto their computers to check what their friends are doing. On Foursquare, friends "check in" to different locations, like a movie theater or a favorite bar, and that is then broadcast to all of their Foursquare friends. It is all done on mobile phone apps, iPhone push notifications, and mobile web interfaces. Thus, the opportunities presented by Foursquare are different.

So, what can a business do with location-based information? The answer depends on the type of business you have. Brick-and-mortar stores with a specific location can immediately advertise to users within their proximity. Restaurants are already using Foursquare-specific discounts and location-based advertising to pull in new customers.

Foursquare gives you a set of FREE tools to engage customers and reward them for their patronage. You can use Foursquare's tools to create a variety of Foursquare Specials, customized just for your venue and for your customers:

• Mayor Specials: unlocked only by the Mayor of your venue. Who's the Mayor? It's your single most loyal customer!
  (The Mayor is basically the user who has checked in the most in the last 60 days.)
  ("Foursquare has deemed you the Mayor! Enjoy a free order of french fries!")
• Check-in Specials: unlocked when a user checks in to your venue a certain number of times.
  ("Foursquare says you've been here 10 times! That's a free drink for you!")
• Frequency-based Specials: are unlocked every X check-ins.
  ("Foursquare users get 20% off any entree every 5th check-in!")
• Wildcard Specials: always unlocked, but your staff has to verify some extra conditions before awarding the Special.
  ("Show us your foursquare Swarm badge and get a free drink!")

They also give you free tools for promoting your Foursquare Specials and real-time stats to track your Specials.

Many companies and organizations are jumping on the bandwagon. Let's explore if this is right for your organization: Contact ABC Creative Group at 315-471-1002 or info@abccreativegroup.com.