You may not have begun “checking in” to all your daily stops ranging from your rushed morning coffee at the gas station around the corner from your apartment to the happy hour drinks at the “kitchy” Mexican cafe across the street from your office. It seems that everyone is talking about it, but there seems to be some discrepancy in the conversation: is it giving away too much personal information that could be potentially dangerous or is it a tool that can be leveraged for businesses to market themselves to potential local consumers?
Foursquare, the location-based social media platform that has been steadily gaining mainstream popularity in the past year, is a tool that allows mobile users to connect with the social network on their mobile devices and “check in” to locations and let their friends know where they are. It can also be used as a game where users can receive badges and other merits for “checking in” to a certain location a particular number of times. I would think that one’s gut reaction to publicizing where they are at every moment of the day would be that it could be potentially unsafe, but glancing at the latest news feed on Facebook detailing friends “checking in” at their homes, this is apparently not true for all. Blogger and expert Marketing Consultant Simon Mainwairing had a particularly alarming Foursquare experience when his home was broken into immediately following his introduction to the social networking platform. Posting real-time locations for any high-profile individuals would certainly be a risky venture, but the same can be true for everyone in terms of revealing the details of where you are when in unsecured or private locations.
It is certainly undeniable, however, that Foursquare can be very successfully leveraged as a means for local business promotions and marketing. Businesses can offer special discounts to customers who are checking into their business on Foursquare. Foursquare also recommends that businesses using the platform advertise in-house that they are Foursquare “ready” so that customers are reminded when they walk in that they can “check in” there. Business owners who sign up with Foursquare also have access to stats of visitors to their business, what times their visitors are checking in, etc. This tool is very useful for businesses to streamline their marketing and market research efforts without having to shell out a great deal of very much precious marketing dollars!
So while Foursquare does have the potential to be both creepy and useful, it can be best utilized by keeping usage relevant. Posting information about when you are at your home or other private locations is probably not in your best interest. Your Foursquare friends (and Facebook friends if you have to two networks linked as many do) will also appreciate it if you “check in” to places that actually have some conversational value to them. It really isn’t necessary to check into your local grocery store if you go to get items for dinner every day after work. In terms of businesses, it is probably not best to offer badges to users who have only visited your business one time: it doesn’t really give them any incentive to come back for more. As the platform continues to gain more momentum, there will likely be updated functionalities that allow businesses to connect with their customers. But for now, Foursquare users: use this location-based technology mindfully to avoid being the next headline in the local paper.
