What’s the deal with Foursquare?

Posted: August 16th, 2011

You’ve probably heard of Foursquare or seen a sticker encouraging you to Check-In at your local coffee shop. While some may write-off Foursquare as another social media platform to keep track of, Foursquare has been quietly picking up momentum to the tune of 10 million subscribers. Then yesterday, Foursquare got it’s biggest endorsement yet as President Barrack Obama announced the White House’s official use of Foursquare.

So what is Foursquare? Foursquare creates personalized experiences among friends using location-based technologies within mobile smartphones. The entire goal of Foursquare is to share tips, insights, and deals from the businesses and areas you interact with on a daily basis.

Checking-In on your mobile phone unlocks the tips left by your friends and others for that particular business or area. I could Check-In to my favorite deli and leave a Tip for a particular sandwich that isn’t on the menu, or when running a trail in Stanley Park I could leave a tip for a particular place to get that perfect scenic view. When friends or others check-in to those locations, my tips are automatically displayed to them. My friends can even add these tips to a To-Do List to create their own mini adventures based on my experiences.

Recently, Foursquare launched support for Businesses, called Foursquare Pages. This is where Foursquare becomes really valuable for DMO’s and their members. Pages enables a business or organization to brand the Page to their own graphical feel and display Lists of places that they recommend. So if you decided to follow the Think! Social Media Foursquare Page you would see our List of places around Yaletown we love to go for lunch. Additionally you can see the tips we’ve left at all the locations around the world.

Foursquare Pages are a natural fit for member-based organizations who want to promote the members of their region. The trick is to make your Page appealing so visitors will want to follow it. We suggest providing tips, insights, and deals that only Foursquare users can experience. Luxury hotelier Ritz-Carlton took some of the knowledge from their esteemed Concierges and made them tips on their Foursquare Pages of each property. Their motivation? Take the renown insight of their Concierges and make it accessible to people who love the Ritz-Carlton brand online.

Encouraging members to offer small freebies to customers for checking-in on Foursquare is a great way to build some momentum. A cupcake shop offered an extra shot of icing if customers showed an employee a check-in on their mobile phone. Small items such as an “extra shot of espresso” work best.

Marketing material stating that your business is on Foursquare is a helpful way to remind people to check-in (as they’re thinking about what kind of sandwich they want). A small stand-up at the checkout counter goes a long way. I was buying groceries recently and the display showing my purchase had a graphic stating “Check-in to Foursquare and ask for a free apple.” Smart and simple.

Want a Free Foursquare Window Sticker for your business? Just verify your businesses location on Foursquare and they’ll mail you one. Or, to get Foursquare’s logo to use in your marketing material, visit this link and choose Buttons and Logo’s.

Have you used Foursquare in an innovative way already? We’d love to hear your story in the comments section below.

 

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Posted in By Joel Marc, Foursquare | 1 Comment »

What’s the difference between a website and a blog?

Posted: September 24th, 2010

Is there any difference between a website and a blog you’re using to pedal your own wares?

Lets look at the different options for a destion marketing organization:

1. A DMO can write their own blog.  To a consumer, this looks like a website that changes all the time.  Its shiny and polished to present the marketer’s view of the world.  It probably doesn’t rank high on the consumer trust-ometer.

2. A DMO can incentivize locals to blog on their site.  This can be challenging if they’re not already blogging.  Enthusiasm can wane or sometimes people may begin to promote their own interests.

3. A DMO can outreach to bloggers who already have an audience to encourage them to write about your destination.  This is similar to traditional travel outreach with a few big twists.  The more focused the blogger, the better quality audience.  Think quality not quantity.  Also, bloggers rarely get paid.  They’re doing it for passion.  You need to take the time to build a relationship.

4. A DMO could transition their website to become the hub for all of the content that people are already producing about your destination.  Take a look at the Calgary Stampede for an example of how to aggregate conversations, photos and video from around the web and make it look great!

I like option 4 best.  Which one do you like?

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WIFI in the Air.

Posted: August 13th, 2010

I’ve had so many more ideas since my first quick blog about the implications of internet access onboard planes that I thought I’d brainstorm some more.  The passenger who was previously disconnected from the world has a lot of people that they’d like to communicate with:

Airlines can communicate to passengers:

If you’re connecting with another flight, you could get real-time info on delays, gate changes, cancellations.  You can learn about loyalty programs, credit cards and flight specials.

Airports can communicate to passengers:

How long is the customs line if you’re flying international? What is the weather like when I land?  What do I need to know about the airport and ground transportation when I get there.

Hotels and tour operators can communicate to passengers:

People are already booking travel later and later.  Wifi on planes could amplify this.  I booked a flight for the biggest conference of the year in our industry just a matter of days prior.  I could be looking for the best rate on a hotel on the plane.  I could also be looking for things to do when I arrive.

Family can communicate to passengers:

Passengers could pass on information about flight delays. Family can also pass on pertinent information: “I’m running late to pick you up, the traffic is terrible.  Do you want to catch the train instead?”  Being disconnect can be concerning but we’re not cut off anymore: “I took little Johny to the doctor and he is feeling better.”

Passengers can communicate to the airline:

Airline PR departments take note. Complaints will be coming in real time. Passengers can give feedback about staff, about quality, about consistent delays and shoddy practices.  We’ve already seen the ramifications from one little youtube video about United Airlines. Now this can happen in real-time.

Destinations and services can communicate to passengers:

For the last minute traveler, the destination that they are travelling to can promote things to do while they’re on the way.  The trend towards last-minute booking will only increase.  Imagine the special offers last-minute, customized by interest and season.

Passengers can communicate to work:

Passengers can now be more productive.  When I’m on a plane now, I’m as good as in the office.  Same goes for students.  If I don’t have anything pressing, I have access to the largest entertainment system in the world. In-flight entertainment just became redundant, especially the ones you have to pay for.

All of this increased access to communication saves people time, makes us more efficient and will ultimately save the consumer money.  I’m sure there’s lots more that I haven’t thought of.

Can you think of more implications?

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Looking back…

Posted: December 28th, 2009

Here are some of the more successful social media campaigns and cutting-edge ideas that you should know about, if you haven’t already seen them.

Will it Blend? Making a YouTube video of an iPhone in a blender cost a few hundred bucks but at last count the video has received over 7.6 million views.  The video managed to piggy-back off other web traffic because ‘iPhone’ was a popular search term. Actually blending an iPhone was intriguing and entertaining. More importantly, the video showed that the product actually worked:

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Tourism Queensland’s Island Reef job was heavily rooted in social media.  The concept was genius; give away a job that seemed too good to be true on an island in Australia with a great pay check during a recession.  Contestants had to create a video to enter. The community that emerged could vote on the video. This was the first global initiative by an australian State DMO.  It cost $1.7 million and returned an estimated $400 million in media value and $8.6 million in web traffic.  Already a good deal but it gets better.  Now the winner writes a blog every day – you can see it here: http://www.islandreefjob.com/

The Photo-crashing Squirrel.  Banff’s DMO seized on an unlikely opportunity when a tourist took a self-timer photo that a squirrel popped into after it was drawn to the noise of the camera. The photo captured a unique experience that every tourist would like.  Banff wrote and distributed a press release at very little cost.  Combine that with some creative use of social media and you have very cost-effective attention from mainstream media channels across the world: http://www.canada.com/technology/Banff+squirrel+photo+gets+huge+attention/1889605/story.html

JK Wedding Intro. This is a YouTube video that just happened to take off and is now being used to solicit donations for violence prevention.  This one was catchy and the crowd loved it, this takes trial and error.  Over 36 million views and an interview on Today!  Not bad for a wedding video.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0  Better still, I like the genius behind a response that has received over 4.5 million views.  Find a video that’s going viral and post a creative response. Keep it relevant too, divorce is related to marriage.  What better way to promote a video production company: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbr2ao86ww0&feature=related

Skittles.com.  Visiting the rainbow online will make you think twice about your presence and whether it’s worth maintaining your own URL.  Why would you if you can do everything where there’s a built-in audience?  Here’s a great insight into the future of the online presence of tourism destinations: http://www.wilhelmus.ca/2009/10/the-end-of-the-dmocvb-website-europe-says-yes.html.

Ikea ran a very creative campaign that I wrote about previously: http://rodneypayne.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/14/

Lastly, here’s an excellent example of how to use Twitter properly.  Connect with your true customers (not just anyone who will listen) and then give them information that they actually want to hear from you.  If you’re a Korean BBQ Kart in Los Angeles, you’d use Twitter to tell your passionate customers (in realtime) where you’re going to be located today: http://kogibbq.com/

For every success there are many more attempts that didn’t go viral but it’s cost-effective to try.  The message from these examples is to stay relevant, choose the right social media tool and keep the information relevant. Find out what your competitive advantage is and exploit it.

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