Should You Include Foursquare as Part of Your Social Network Marketing

From local small businesses to global corporations, more companies are turning to social networks as a way to get their message heard. I have been working with clients over the last couple years to navigate setting up LinkedIn or including Twitter and Facebook in marketing strategies. Now I am working on tying foursquare into a marketing program for a client.

What is foursquare? Well it is a location based social networking site that allows users to sign in at places that are included in their database like the nearby Starbucks or local pizza place. When a user signs in at a location they get points toward virtual awards and has the option to "Shout", which is sending out a short message to their friends. Where the service gets interesting from a business stand point is a location owner can push info to a user that signs in. For example the local pizza shop can offer a free soda when someone signs in. If this short description is confusing or you want more background on foursquare check out this article that I tweeted about a couple days ago "Whats Foursquare All About? Simple Guide From A Power User July"

Getting started with foursquare is simple and it is free for businesses - just go to www.foursquare.com and sign up. If your location is already indexed it can be claimed, if not setting up a new location is easy. It does take a couple days to confirm a location but during that time you can learn the ropes and start planning how to include foursquare in your marketing plan.

Foursquare is a nice marketing fit for anyone running a retail outlet whether it is a restaurant, corner store, clothing retailer, book store or a bar. You can push promotions to those checking in and see reports showing key metrics including who is checking in and when. You can also integrate foursquare into your Twitter and Facebook accounts to insure you are delivering a uniform marketing message. According to the foursquare blog they hit 1.8 million users in June, so if you are a retailer or restauranteur, you should start using foursquare now.

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