If you are an avid Facebook user, you know that those that you “Friend” fall into three different categories; your real friends, the people that you have met in passing, and those who you don’t really know, but feel obligated to “be-friend” them.
Dating sites have grown in popularity because of the aforementioned. Generally connecting two strangers – these sites are beginning to take the place of lonely singles attempting to try their luck by going out for night on the town. With social media they can now peruse the offerings from the comfort of their own home. These dating do a great job of connecting the lonely.
Another important aspect of small business success is location. Social media has grappled on to this trickledown effect and a number of businesses have incorporated location based social media marketing.
One great example of this type of marketing is the check-in location as seen in Facebook, Foursquare and Yelp. Even Google+ has jumped in on the band wagon.
Scvngr , another location based platform, changes up the game by asking users not only to visit specific places, but also to located particular items; like a scavenger hunt. What makes this platform unique is that it not only asks you to complete the aforementioned tasks but it also pushes info that you have completed these tasks to Facebook friends.
The Down Side As a small business owner, you must still always keep the want of your current and potential customers in mind, so providing an incentive for your customers to “check-in” is paramount. By not doing so is a recipe for disaster. Offering your customers discounts is a great way to start. Some Food For Thought
You could follow in Foursquare’s example and tout some of the other places where once could check-in. It would be great if you could partner with some of your neighboring business owners and offer discounts to their shop if they check-in at yours.
You know the old adage, the more the merrier? You may think about giving a discount to a group of 20 or larger who come into your business AND they all check-in.
Create challenges for those passing by. This could be done with the aforementioned Scvngr app. It works well during entertainment events like Austin, Tx’s SXSW, but don’t let that stop you. You could be a small local coffee shop; you could create a coffee location challenge where social network-ers can receive awards and discounts to patrons who complete the challenge; leading them to your shop.
Continuing with the ingenuity, not all of your challenge rewards have to revolve around discounts. Some rewards could revolve around an express checkout feature or maybe the coolest table in the restaurant.
What Makes It Good For You
Next to nothing can be the cost of creating a location-based marketing campaign on a social network. Putting you company or service on the map by setting up a check-in location or reward criteria on Foursquare or Scvngr can be free and can be just as easy to maintain.
The fun part is finding out what works best for your particular business. Once it’s found, you will begin reaping the rewards. The more creative, the better!
