Foursquare is sure addictive. And businesses are paying attention (small and large). Some are still wondering where the value lies and some are embracing the possibilities. The latter are seeing some great returns too. There are multiple examples of small businesses that are betting on Foursquare and seeing uptake in store visitors and coupon redemptions simultaneously getting zero ROI from their newspaper ad placements. And then, of course, there are business owners like Joe who doubled his sales with his creative idea of swarm badge party. The idea that is being duplicated by other small businesses all over the country.
And then there is an example of BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) in San Francisco. At Web 2.0 Melissa Jordan, BART’s Senior Web Producer, talked to us about their partnership with Foursquare. “Transit by definition is a location-based service,” says Melissa. “So we asked ourselves: How can we get more folks taking public transportation?” In fall of 2009 she decided to partner with Foursquare to help her company with that challenge.
Results? Impressive! Melissa recently ran a survey to understand the impact of the partnership. After this program was introduced:
- 43% of survey respondents had recommended a destination near BART
- 38% were having more ‘fun’
- 23% earned a frequent rider badge
- 19% rode BART because of Foursquare recommendation
- 17% connected with friends
- 14% rode BART more often
Another benefit of the partnership was the understanding of BART customers’ habits and interests better. Watching where folks are checking in and what their general interests are allowed the company to create distinctive consumer profiles. Foursquare also helps the company connect with customers, answer their questions and suggest helpful tips. It helps BART promote to them in ways that will match their interests using free stuff and discounts. “Check-ins and connections build loyalty,” says Melissa. She loves seeing tweets like this one: “Thanks for whisking me to work everyday!”
Nowadays other cities like Boston and Chicago are reaching out to Melissa asking her for advice on how to incorporate location-based services into their strategy.
“But location-based services have to step up and provide MORE functionality and tools that brands can use,” Melissa stresses passionately. “They need to improve their analytics. As well as add a layer of augmented reality on top of location-based services.”
Did your business experiment with Foursquare? Tell us your story!