According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, 81% of cell phone owners use their phones to report where they are or to check someone else’s location. The same number of survey respondents indicated that they use their cell phones to coordinate where they are to meet someone.
If you own a store, restaurant, professional offices or any business where customers can visit your establishment, tapping into this trend may be a profitable way to market your business. Using a geo-location or "check-in" services and mobile applications such as Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite, Loopt, Shopkick, Facebook Places and even Twitter may help new customers discover your business. In addition, your loyal customers can leave invaluable positive feedback (yes, you do open yourself up for some negative feedback as well!) and you can further engage with them by offering discounts and other benefits. Many of these services are "geo-social," combining social networking with their "check-in" service like the fast-growing Foursquare which give "mayorships" to the person checking in most often to their business and even offering freebies - with competition for "mayorships" and rewards to be had, no wonder Foursquare is so popular.
Check out these articles to learn more about how you can use geo-location tools to market your business:
- Geolocation 101: How it works, the Apps, and Your Privacy
- Ways Small Businesses Can Offer Location Based Deals
- Cellphone in New Role: Loyalty Card
- How to Leverage Foursquare for Business
- How Powerful is Foursquare for Local Businesses?
- Use Facebook Places to Boost Business and Life Sales
- The Video Guide to Facebook Places for Business
- 3 Reasons Why Twitter's Geolocation Feature is Cool
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