In The Power of Foursquare webinar, author and business communications expert Carmine Gallo dives into the specifics of attracting customers using foursquare. ——————– Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, recently said that the future of computing is social, mobile, and local. He used those three words: social, mobile, local. Well, that describes foursquare: It’s social because you’re sharing check-ins with your friends, you can follow where your friends are, and you can interact with businesses. It’s mobile so that you’re using this social media network where you are, and above all, it’s localised. It’s very different than Twitter or Facebook because for this reason—it’s actually where you are at that moment. “I love the fact that foursquare allows business owners now, of any size, large and small, to be part of the mobile social revolution for free.” Foursquare has now officially surpassed 1.5 billions check-ins, so you can see how quickly it’s growing and how many people are actually using the platform. * While foursquare won’t change your business overnight; it is a fantastic opportunity to be involved in the mobile social media revolution that’s occurring. Any business, whether you’re a hotel as big as a Sheraton, Westin or Ritz Carlton, or just a small mom and pop business, anyone can create a special for people who check in at your venue.
You can attract them in the first place, because if you offer a special on foursquare, you will actually show up ahead of all the other venues on there. You are able to attract people and reward them for their loyalty. You can offer them something like a free appetiser just for checking in.
For example, when you check into a particular Starwood hotel, if you have a Starwood number, you get points for checking in. You may also get points or food/bonuses for dining inside the hotel restaurants. In the U.S., there are approximately 30,000 Chili’s restaurants, and they give people free chips and salsa for every check in. That’s not a big deal—just free chips and salsa, which is like $3— but what’s interesting is that every Chili’s location is seeing more and more people check in every single week, and they’re starting to bring their friends. All you have to do is show your phone to the waitress. “Here’s the inside scoop: it doesn’t cost them $3 for chips and salsa, and nobody leaves with just free chips and salsa! They inevitably order other appetizers and drinks.” “It separates us from the sea of sameness,” the head of marketing for Chili’s said. As a business owner on foursquare, you can be really creative and set up all sorts of different and fun specials. It’s a very simple way of attracting people into your business in a way that was never possible before, certainly not before the proliferation of smart phones and these types of applications. Best of all, it’s free for the users and free for the business owner. 
Click here to access The Power of Foursquare webinar from On-Demand Learning. Click here to securely purchase Carmine Gallo’s book, The Power of Foursquare: *Statistics as of late 2012. This article was co-authored by Elizabeth Rowe. Elizabeth graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (English Literature) at the ANU and a Masters of Media Practice at the University of Sydney. She is currently completing an internship with the Australian Businesswomen’s Network.
