Social location-based marketing

Campaign examples of using Foursquare, Gowalla, Facebook Places and Twitter Locations to reach your audiences through mobile marketing

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Our commentary: The growth in options for location-based marketing (aka proximity marketing) has been one of the major trends in 2010. We're sure you've followed the cases about the applications of Foursquare, Gowalla and more recently Facebook Places and Twitter Locations.

There's also Google Latitude which has an API which can be used to ask users for access to update their Latitude location or view their current location if they have enabled their location history in Google.

Our definition of location-based marketing:

Social location-based marketing is where social media tools give users the option of sharing their location, and hence give businesses the opportunity to use proximity or location-based marketing to deliver targeted offers and messages to consumers and collect data about their preferences and behaviour.

Marketing implications: Clickthrough Marketing have produced a short guide to help you get up to speed - to assess the relevance of the tools and giving examples of campaigns.

The report explains how businesses can offer consumers benefits to check-in: "to gain points, be the most regular visitor to that location, to gain rewards and prizes from advertisers, to share their location with friends, and, in the case of events, to meet like-minded people. The privacy implications and options are also reviewed.

Case study of location-based marketing

If you're thinking that location-based marketing is just for corporates with large budgets, the likes of Starbucks and McDonalds, then think again. ClickZ has reported how AJ Bombers, a specialty burger bar in Milwaukee attributed a sale increase of 110 Percent to Foursquare. It has 1,400 people on its Foursquare page who have checked in 6,000 times. The mayor gets a free burger, and currently that's "Amy" - who has had to check-in 40 times in the last 60 days at the one-location establishment in order to achieve the distinction.

Engagement is also increased through people who add a tip to the restaurant's Foursquare page getting rewarded with a free cookie when they show it to a waiter or cashier.

The sales increase figure is based on a single campaign which saw 161 check-ins on Feb. 28 - a 110 percent sales increase when compared to a normal Sunday. Joe Sorge, owner of the restaurant, promoted an AJ Bombers-branded "Swarm Badge" event to his Foursquare-using regulars. Such a custom badge is awarded to users who check in at a location where at least 50 other users are simultaneously checked in. O

The restaurant owner advised that success involves implementing Foursquare as a regular part of operations:

"Our staff encourages the use and engagement of Foursquare by virtue of our Foursquare specials being very prominent throughout our business. It encourages our customers to ask questions of our staff. Education of that staff is the key"

Recommended link: Download location-based marketing paper (Reg required).