Have Fun with Foursquare !!

I have been doing some research on a number of applications and tools that will be of great assistance to my various restaurant, food service and hospitality clients. The list is over 50 apps and tools – I may not blog on every single one. But Simmons Social Snippets will be running a series of blogs pertaining to this research. Summer is practically here – my boys have one and a half days left of school – how did that happen! These apps and tools will be very useful this summer so I hope you enjoy and use any and all information I am sharing.

The first tool we are going to explore is Foursquare. Foursquare is a location based application that is always growing and upgrading – offering more and more to its members and businesses who are on it. Essentially all businesses are on Foursquare – but not all businesses have claimed their venue. If you are a business who offers services to consumers – you should claim your venue. By claiming your venue – you can elaborate on the very basic information that is listed for your business. You can add as much information about your venue as you want. If you are a restaurant – you can put your menu on foursquare.

You can Foursquare Specials to attract new customers or reward loyal ones. As a business, when you offer a special, they will be highlighted as orange pin on the map and pop up when someone searches for places to go.  Your special may be redeemed by checking in upon arrival at your business. The customer simply needs to show the special that is on their phone to a staff member when they want to redeem it. I recently did this at Sweet Frog – it was so easy and yummy ! You can create a Foursquare special – running a contest, offering a discount or giving a small gift for a number of check ins. You can monitor the performance of the Foursquare special through the Foursquare for Business app. You may also turn the special on or off from this app.

Recently, Foursquare has introduced a new feature called My History. In a partnership with Samsung, Foursquare will use Samsung customers’ check-in histories to create infographics. These customized heat maps will contain the Samsung logo on their latest Samsung 4 model. There is a “The Next Big Thing” tab that gives recommendations to the users based on previous checked in places.

Summertime is upon us and everyone will be traveling and checking in !! They will be using Foursquare to find places to eat, things to do and terrific deals ! Make sure your business stands out on this fun app and brings people through your door. I know I am going to have fun this summer checking in :)