Foursquare Basics: Localized App and National Holiday

In case you missed it, Friday April 16^th was Foursquare Day. While not technically a national holiday (banks were open, mail was delivered), there were celebrations and special offers in some very major metropolitan areas such as New York, Miami, Atlanta and the place where the whole idea began…Tampa Bay.

Although the holiday was not the idea of Foursquare, once the company got wind of it, the Foursquare team supported it wholeheartedly.

So if Foursquare wasn't behind it, who was? Dr. Nate Bonilla-Warford, a children's optometrist in Tampa bay. An avid Foursquare user, he linked the date with the name of the social media phenomenon, posted it on his blog and the rest is viral history.

New to Foursquare? Here's what you need to know:

·     Foursquare is a location-based social media application that allows users to check in with friends from different physical locations in their area. They can find/share local things to do, earn points from local businesses who have joined Foursquare, and enjoy the heady title of “Mayor” at frequently visited venues.

·   Foursquare performs best with a smartphone. If you don’t have one, it might be time to consider an upgrade. While you can still use Foursquare with a basic mobile phone, it’s a bit more tedious – and Foursquare should not be tedious.

·     Foursquare is free. It’s also easy. If you do nothing else, get your business or nonprofit on the Foursquare map. It will aid your SEO efforts. Location information is the newest layer in the search engine formulas.

·    Foursquare is highly localized. So localized, in fact, that your placement at a trade show can be accessed by attendees. They’ll know where to find you. If you’re handing out incentives to attendees to visit your booth, they’ll know that too.

·    Foursquare can actually provide quantifiable ROI. It’s a boon to local businesses that have often been hard pressed to find that perfect marketing niche.

·     Foursquare can be linked to both Twitter and Facebook. Which means you don’t have to share something three times; you can do it once and have it delivered to three platforms.

Comments

[San Diego LASIK eye surgery]

This is fantastic! Thanks so much I really enjoyed this one and I'm definitely going to check out the app.

[Susan from Springboard]

Thanks for the comment -- we took a look at your website and it looks like Foursquare could be a good fit. Good luck with it.