How Foursquare Can Increase Your Customer Base

You know the benefits of using Facebook and Twitter to help promote your business, but another social media site is making big waves for merchants everywhere called Foursquare.

Foursquare is a social media where members ‘check in’ when they arrive at certain destinations. It is meant to help users “find their friends and explore their world.”  However, the juicy part for merchants is that you can entice your customers and their friends to check-in at your retail store to earn discounts and receive other rewards.

Major companies like Starbucks to even the Bay Area’s Rapid Transportation (BART) System have been early adopters of Foursquare, and the list keeps growing longer.  When Coach launched its first men’s store, they gave away free cologne to the first 200 Foursquare checkins.  During that weekend alone, 10% of the traffic had Foursquare checkins.  Not a bad way to increase your foot traffic!

Claiming Your Venue

To get your business started on Foursquare, you simply claim your venue by searching for your location. Creating a merchant account is free, and comes with many benefits to you, the owner.

Invite Your Contact List

Once you have claimed your free merchant location on Foursquare, do what you would with any other social media – tell the world! If you already have social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and/or others, write updates and posts informing your other followers and fans that you are now offering special deals through Foursquare when they check in at your store. Foursquare also helps you in this effort by adding your current contacts in Facebook, Twitter, and even Gmail if that applies.

Offer and Promote Your Specials

Not only can Foursquare help you import contacts from Facebook and Twitter, but they will also help you spread the word. By linking your other social media accounts you can give a “shout” about your current specials and see those posts appear instantly on all other media posts.

Give Rewards

What kind of specials work great on Foursquare? Consider the following:

Frequency rewards  – You can base offers on the number of times a customer “checks in” at your place of business. For instance, if you operate a coffee shop, offer a free coffee with every 10 check-ins. Or perhaps give a discount coupon for reaching a set check-in number each month.

Reward by location – Perhaps you are opening a new retail location in your city or region. Consider promoting coupons to those Foursquare members who make the effort to shop at your new store.

Reward for loyalty – If you want to retain loyal customers, reward them for their efforts. Encourage them to check in using Foursquare every time they patronize your store. Using Foursquare’s useful stat tool you can see who the most loyal customers and are spending the most at your business. Be sure you reward them for their continued loyalty with bigger discounts and/or free stuff.

Improve Customer Traffic with Free Stats

Foursquare provides all free merchant accounts with real-time statistical data. Want to know who are your most frequent visitors? Who has the most check-ins over a time period? How about a gender breakdown of those who check-in? All these answers are provided through the free venue stats provided by Foursquare.

In addition, you can use these stats to find out traffic patterns during your business hours. Say for instance that Foursquare shows that you have good foot traffic into your store during lunch and afternoon hours, but you want to get more customers in the door in the mornings. Use your Foursquare merchant account to help entice followers to check-in during those hours for special discounts and sales.

Tips to Leverage More Foursquare Power

Below are a few tips that have helped other small businesses make the most of their Foursquare merchant accounts.

  • Advertise it! – Be sure you post on your storefront that you are a Foursquare merchant. Otherwise, customers may not know or may forget to check-in.

  • Train Staff – Keep your sales staff up to date on your Foursquare promotions, and be sure they know how to realize the sales to your customers.

  • Use The Foursquare Dashboard – You can get more out of your Foursquare account by monitoring your stats. Use the provided dashboard to get realtime results.

  •  Don’t Give Away Too Much – It can be tempting to offer big deals, specials, and sales that eat away much of your profit. Be sure you monitor your promotions to increase sales AND profit.

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