After reading this article on GeoLocation over at Freelance Folder I have decided to decipher if FourSquare could present any marketing value to my company. (* off topic if you are looking to hire a freelance web developer send me a note or head over to Cheeky Monkey Media to check us out).
What is FourSquare?
FourSquare is an ‘extension’ for Twitter and Facebook (at least that is what I am calling it) that allows you to ‘explore your city’. In a nutshell, as you move around town you send your location to FourSquare and it updates your status. Once creating an account with FourSquare you have the opportunity to ‘link’ this account with your accounts on both Facebook and Twitter. This does the usual and goes through all your contacts to see who is else is using FourSquare. Since this is a relatively new service you may not find that many.
Pre-Requisites
Not too many things that you need to use FourSquare but a must is that you should have a smart phone. Pretty much everybody I know has one anyways but, if you are using an old cell phone as long as it has a browser or texting capabilities you should be able to use FourSquare.
The Game
So as you move around town and update your status, you will receive points. These points will move you up the FourSquare hierarchy so that you have a ‘title’ next to your profile eg. Newbie, Mayor etc..
Summary
So what is the marketing angle? For a freelance web developer probably not much, I expect it will be easier for me to meet up with people when I am out an about, but will I receive any new clients? I guess only time will tell. I think if you own a business with an actual store front, especially a bar or restaurant I could see how this could offer some huge benefits. You offer a free coffee or a lunch special and have the FourSquare user flock to your location. Since I am a web designer and not a marketer I would love to hear more thoughts in the comments.
