I logged into my FourSquare to check in at my office today and I saw something new! A little green button with “special offer” dropped down. When I clicked it, it took me to the following ad below (sorry for the dark image)
Foursquare monetizing already!
In case you can’t read this it says the following:
Welcome to Starbucks
650 S. Third St.
As mayor of this store, enjoy $1 off a NEW however-you-want-it Frappuccino blended beverage. Any size, any flavor. Over valid until 6/28
(Tue May 18 @ 1:45 PM)
What I like about this is the ad was very non-intrusive (as ads go). I actually had to take an action on my phone to see the ad. It didn’t just pop up in my face. I also like the fact that it was highly relevant and the establishment was just down the street. However, I think the ad is a bit misguided in that it only applies to the Mayor of that Starbucks.
Anyone who knows anything about Foursquare knows that there can only be one Mayor…so essentially this coupon is good for $1 off for only one person. Not exactly casting a wide net there. Furthermore, many times the Mayor of a small shop like a Starbucks is an employee who works there. For example, I am the Mayor at InnoGage. Good luck trying to beat me…I’m here every day.
A better execution would have been for them to shoot me a coupon good for $1 off anything but good only for the next hour or maybe end of the day. In that case, I probably would have gone over to get a coffee.Regardless, I’m glad to see FourSquare begin to monetize.
Personally, I love location based applications like FourSquare because I see such amazing potential for generating value and revenues. Hats off to Starbucks for a good first attempt.
Tagged as:
FourSquare,
geo tags,
location based application,
location based service,
monetizing,
revenue,
Starbucks
Business Blogs Work!
One of my favorite companies in the world, Hubspot, has conducted another study on Business Blogging. Once again, their results are staggering. Hubspot conducted a study of 2,300 companies and put them in two groups. Those who blog and those who don’t. Before I go one, let me point out that the criteria was just “blogging”. It was not Good blogging or Excellent blogging. This group included those companies who blog…and suck at it. Yet the numbers are still amazing!
Businesses that blog see an increase in LEAD GENERATION that is 126% HIGHER than businesses that don’t blog…all else being equal. If you’ve been on the fence because you can’t justify the ROI of blogging or don’t see the value then it’s time to get off the fence - the results are indisputable. I seriously doubt that your direct mail campaigns can make claims like this.
Let’s take this one step further. Remember that I said this study included “businesses that blog”. That includes those that do it poorly, which is most companies to be painfully honest. Imagine what your numbers could look like if you had a blogging platform that would guarantee your success and supercharge your SEO!
InnoBlogs
We are going to be releasing InnoBlogs 1.2 in February which will contain an SEO engine as well as something we call Blogging360. Our SEO engine will supercharge your web traffic and conversions delivering an even higher measurable ROI. Our Blogging360 module will connect you with similar content all over the Internet for higher engagement, inbound links and idea generation. More on that to come! If you’re interested in learning about our platform, please give me a shout.
Tagged as:
Blogging,
Blogs,
business blogs,
Business Class Blogging,
Hubspot,
inbound marketing,
InnoBlogs,
lead generation
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