5 Practical Tips for Using Foursquare to Market Your Retail Store, Restaurant, or other High Traffic Location-Based Business
I’ve been mulling this around for a few days since posting the last Foursquare article and thought that there was more that could be added that you would find valuable.
I think Foursquare is a hugely untapped and powerful little tool for small business marketing. Especially if you own a business that requires customers to physically visit your location to make a purchase. Unfortunately most businesses don’t understand just exactly how they can use Foursquare and are missing out on a fantastic and inexpensive marketing powerhouse!
So here are five very practical tips on how to use Foursquare to market your business.
1. Use Foursquare like a customer loyalty card: The cool thing about Foursquare is it shows the user how many times they have been at each location, so you could offer customers a freebie after so many check ins. Make sure you set clear rules about how to redeem the offer including: check ins more than once per day do not count towards redemption of the free offer; or free offer value at $5.00, may not be accumulated or transferred, may not be redeemed for cash, etc.
The women’s clothing store Ann Taylor recently launched a Foursquare promotion like this in New York City giving shoppers 15% off at the store after their 5th check in and giving the person with the most check ins at one location (called the Mayor) 25% off their purchase at that visit.
Another company, Tasti D-Lite, offers frequent shoppers a branded Foursquare badge, as well as additional loyalty points on their physical loyalty card, plus freebies and other perks.
2. Organize a real-time treasure hunt: Now this could get really fun. Leave a clue of the day on the “Tips” section of your Foursquare page with the answer to each clue being a different special of the day. The customers who come in and guess the special, get the special, plus they are eligible to win a bigger prize at the end of the contest.
Another company, Jimmy Choo, a high-end designer footwear brand, runs this contest by having a pair of Jimmy Choo sneakers check in at various hot spots around town. The person who is able to guess the next hot spot and arrive there before the Jimmy Choo shoes arrive will win a pair of very expensive shoes.
3. Use Foursquare to entice new customers to come into your store by offering a 1st Timers check in discount or freebie. “Show us your check-in and your dessert is on us!” Again, make sure you communicate clearly in your offer what the rules are; i.e., free dessert is only for first check in, and must be redeemed with purchase of a meal; etc.”
4. Leverage word of mouth marketing: One of the benefits of Foursquare is that friends can “follow” each other and thus can see each other’s check in’s on Foursquare. Note: The check in’s are also posted on Twitter, Facebook and Yelp, if they’ve enabled the function. This is huge for your business because every check in at your location is a tacit recommendation from the person checking in there. Leverage this exposure by inviting people to check in via Foursquare. Providing special offers for those who check in via Foursquare will invite people to check in more often.
Also, make sure you pay attention to what people are saying on Foursquare about your business, because whether you use it or not, people are using it, and chance are, they are talking about your business. Personally reply back to people who leave tips or make positive comments and thank them. Likewise, it’s just as important to respond to negative comments as well and to remedy the issue as soon as possible. Don’t be negative; just say something like, “I’m sorry that you had a bad experience. Let’s get it touch and discuss how we can make it up to you.”
5. Tie in text message marketing with Foursquare. Invite people to take photos of them having fun or otherwise enjoying your location and text the photos to a special text message phone number. Once they do this they will have opted into your text message marketing program and you will be able to send them additional specials and discounts via text.
What other ways can you use Foursquare to market your high traffic location based business? I would love to hear your comments. Next post, how to market your non-location based business on Foursquare.
Publicity Tip: How to contact the media
Contact the media the right way and you may soon see your face in the news! Photo Credit: Photofunia.com (Get yours!)
Recently somebody shared a media list that they had found on the Internet. They thought this media list was a “goldmine” and while I don’t want to burst anyone’s bubble, the media list could turn into a landmine if not used properly.
Here are my thoughts about what you need to be aware of when using media lists.
1. Many media prefer to be contacted by email, not telephone. How do you know? Do your research; follow them on Twitter, etc. Then after you send an email, wait a week or two, and then send again. Sometimes it’s appropriate to call them as well. But it’s worth trying to find out first.
2. Before you send an email, you need to make sure you’re sending it to the right person for what you are sending and that you have the correct email address. If you send to the wrong person, they will just press delete. Also editors, reporters, producers, change all the time, so best do your homework before you press send.
3. NEVER send a mass email to the media, that’s another delete. Instead send a personal email to whoever would be the best contact. Make sure you know what they’ve written about, produced etc. It doesn’t help to mention it and say “I saw that you did a story on this; I thought that you might be interested in this as well.”
4. Media get as much as 500 emails a day. The only way to capture their attention is the headline. If your headline is interesting, they may open your email.
5. On that note, make sure your email is short. Answer the who, what, when, where, and why. Secret: Media love bullet points.
6. Media begets other media. It’s okay to mention that you’ve been interviewed by other outlets. (Maybe include it in your signature line or your boilerplate.)
7. Secret: You can find the contact info of most any media pro on the website of their outlet. Most have a “Submit news” email address. This is the best way to send news tips unless you have a relationship with a contact because there is a person whose job it is to monitor these email addresses all day and disperse the interesting stories to the reporters.
8. Free publicity emails like HARO are great. The key to getting picked is to email them fast! They too get inundated with hundreds of emails. It is true, the early bird gets the worm, and the mention.
9. Another way to get publicity is to blog regularly, write articles and get them published everywhere. Don’t go to the media, make them go to you. Establish yourself as an expert in your field though your writing.
10. Once the media contacts you, contact them back RIGHT AWAY!! Bend over backwards to accommodate them and you may become one of their regular sources.
11. Keep in mind that you do not have any control over what they write or report. The fact is that sometimes you’re going to get disappointed. The details will get cut out, or the story won’t mention your company name or book or they may interview you for an hour, use what you gave them for their story and not credit you at all. That’s the way it is. They are not advertising for you. They are reporting news.
12. Lastly, once your story appears, email the reporter and thank them for a great story.
I hope these tips help you. Publicity is something that anyone can do for themselves with a little knowledge. The reason that people hire publicists is because generally they have the knowledge, contacts, resources and processes to get the job done. However, having a publicist doesn’t guarantee that you will get coverage. Even though I have relationships with the media, they don’t jump on every story that I send them. My relationship gets my foot in the door and that can make a difference.
All the best with your publicity campaigns. I hope you will share here when you get coverage. Also, feel free to share on my Facebook page.
Social Media Marketing: Use Foursquare to Get New Customers
Note: This is a guest post by Social Media DIY
Foursquare is currently one of the most popular service that combines social networking and location-based services. Launched in spring 2009, it includes businesses in more than 100 cities across the United States with more than 300,000 users. Foursquare allows customers to check-in when they arrive at your business. This becomes a game as users compete against each other to have the most check-ins at your business to become the mayor of your business. In addition, Foursquare users earn badges based on their level of involvement and consistency in checking in. Foursquare has mobile applications for the iPhone, android phones, and the BlackBerry, and allows other users to check in using their mobile website.
Here’s a short video that explains how Foursquare works.
How To Unlock Your World With Foursquare on Howcast
You don’t need a Foursquare account to access information about your business. Do a search on your business name. Skim through the search results to find your business. Click on your business name to display a page about your business. The page includes a link to Google Maps but doesn’t provide access to your Place Page (if your business has one).
If your business isn’t listed in Fourquare, you need a free account to add it. One of the options for a place search results allows you to add a new business. The form is simple and collects basic location information. When you add your business, you can add your Twitter account, a smart idea for reaching your mobile customers.
The most valuable information here are the statistics that show you the number of people who have checked in at your business and the names of these users. Most people have a photograph avatar, so you can start to identify your Foursquare customers when they arrive. You can also see your current mayor.
Foursquare wants to help your business advertise to its users. They will help your business set up a special badge for your business that users earn by meeting a criteria you set (number of visits, etc.) They will also advertise your current mayor promotion to people checking in at your business or at nearby businesses.
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Your turn: Have you been monitoring customer check-ins at your business through Foursquare? Have you used any of their advertising or promotion services? Share your experience.
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