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.
One of the things I am involved with in Columbus is the American Marketing Association Special Interest Group on Social Media or AMA SIG - Social Media for short. Instead of doing our usual speaker / Q&A format we mixed it up a bit with Round Tables! Watch the video for how it went. You can check out photos from the event on this Flickr Set!
The conversation has already been started on facebook. Go to other fan pages and answer people’s questions.
With so many cooks in the kitchen on a campaign (brand strategy, web, social media, the client), pick your channels carefully when measuring results. Are facebook fans the goal of the campaign? Are conversions on the corporate site the goal? Everyone needs to know what the goal is and work to the same end.
Before you build up your fan base with a special promotion, have a plan of action on how you’re going to engage them once they’re fans. Engagement needs to start immediately.
If you’re unsure you can pull it off for your business, try a personal one first. Get through the learning curve when the stakes are low
Don’t blog about “me, me, me”. Write about what your audience is interested in
Mutli-person blogs are more desirable than single-person ones but you need to get the C-level Execs on board and past their “fear” of what employees might say.
Driving users to become fans/followers of a brand/product page is most effective when offering something of value to the user. Abbott Nutrition gave a free sample Zone Bar to each person who fanned their facebook page. Their page went from 1k fans to 30k fans almost overnight!
Engaging users requires a lot of time and effort. The bigger the brand or user following, the more humans it takes to keep up with your customers.
Large brands or ones with a huge amount of feedback from users need to devise a strategy to identify the keywords and crisis scenarios that require personal responses and engagement, and others that are more “rhetorical” and can be left alone
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I [...]
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