The Power of Foursquare

7/29/2019 The Power of Foursquare

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The Power

of foursquare7 INNOVATIVE WAYS

TO GET YOUR CUSTOMERS TO

C H E C K I N

WHEREVER THEY ARE

Carmine Gallo

New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City

Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto



IntroductionWhat’s All the Fuss About?

‘‘You should be able to stand anywhere in the

world, and foursquare will tell you something to

do nearby.,,—DENNIS CROWLEY, Cofounder, foursquare

On October 22, 2010, NASA astronaut Douglas

Wheelock becae the frst an to “check in” rosace. Back on Earth, 220 iles below, illions o eole did the sae—at the rate o 23 ties per

second. They checked in to restaurants, bars, stores,hotels, gys, and other laces in every city, country, and con-

tinent. What were they doing?

Less than 10 days later, on October 30, 2010, thousands o eole ulled out their sarthones and checked in 30,000ties at the Rally to Restore Sanity, hosted by oular“Coedy Central” hosts Jon Stewart and Stehen Colbert. The

rally drew 200,000 eole to the National Mall in Washington,D.C. It’s estiated that 10 ercent o those attendees were

on oursquare, aking it the ost checked-in event o 2010.Where were they checking in to?

On Deceber 27, 2010, a assive snowstor shut downairorts and brought travel to a standstill along uch o the

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East Coast, blanketing New York’s Central Park under ore

than 20 inches o snow. More than 10,000 stranded airline as-sengers and snowbound travelers checked in to a “oving

target” venue naed Snowocalyse 2010 and unlocked therare Eic Swar badge or doing so. The badge had no racti-cal value excet to oer bragging rights—a badge o honor

they could share with their riends. That sae aternoon, bar owner Alan Cole oered ree aetizers to anyone who

decided to war their body and sirit by checking in to hisCharlotte, North Carolina, tavern between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00

p.m. Three weeks earlier Cole had started oering incentivesor checking in on the tavern’s slowest days. His custoersdidn’t receive a badge but were ket quite hay with ree

otato skins and Al’s aous jalaeño oers. Why werethey checking in?

On February 2, 2011, Aerica’s avorite ground-hog, Punxsutawney Phil, redicted an early sring, andalthough he eerged ro his underground bunker in the

Pennsylvania wilds 80 iles northeast o Pittsburgh, 28,000

eole around the country shouted, “It’s Groundhog Day!”to their oursquare riends, earning the PA Groundhog Day

badge or their eorts. Who were all these eole, and why

were they “shouting” at anyone?What’s all the uss about?The uss, it turns out, is oursquare. Foursquare is a social,

location-based service (LBS) sarthone a that akes yourworld ore interesting. Peole check in on their hones when

they arrive at a lace, they do so at the rate o two illion

ties a day, and they do so in every country. Five hundredthousand erchants are already using the lator, and the

nuber continues to grow every day. As a local erchant, brand anager, or arketing roessional, you’d better know

about it, how it works, why it works, and ost iortant,how to ake it work or you. Many o your custoers are

already checking in to your establishent and you ight noteven know it. We’re in the early stages o a ast-growing trend

and, with the inoration in this book, you will be ready to

THE POWER OF FOURSQUARE

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take advantage o this unique oortunity to engage your

custoers in ways that were never ossible beore.

Pioneering a Mega Trend inSocial Networking: LBS

Foursquare ioneered a egatrend in obile social network-

ing: location-based services. LBS is not a disease, but it ishighly addictive and as a result has the otential to transor

conversations—not only between riends, but also between businesses and their custoers. By giving the obile con-suer a new, exciting way to exlore a city, it oers businesses

an extraordinary tool to enhance the relationshi with theircustoers, atrons, and ans.

Foursquare is growing exonentially. It grew 3,400 ercentin 2010 over the revious year. Users checked in ore than380 illion ties during the year and did so in every single

country (including North Korea). “We’re always surrised,”1

says oursquare coounder Dennis Crowley in an exclusiveinterview or this book. “We started oursquare so 50 o ourriends could ollow each other around New York City. I recall

sitting in an investent eeting and soeone asked, ’Whenare you going to hit one illion users?’ I said i we ever hit oneillion users, we’ve done soething right. In one year we hit

six illion. It’s a big surrise.”Even the ost otiistic entrereneur would have been

surrised at how quickly oursquare has gained traction

aong illions o users and evangelists in all arts o theglobe. Foursquare launched in March 2009 and grew steadilyto one illion users by the anniversary o its frst year. Asore ans acquired a taste or the sarthone a, they

sread the word—aong their riends and aong erchantswho would begin to oulate and leverage the lator.

In the next three onths oursquare had added its nextillion users. It only took 50 days to grow ro our illion

to fve illion by Noveber 2010 and only 44 days to reach six

3

Introduction



illion users by January 2011. On a sring Saturday in 2011,

oursquare ofcially “arrived” with an announceent by NewYork City Mayor Michael Blooberg, who roclaied Aril16th as “oursquare Day” in the city (see Figure I.1).

Each day 35,000 new users join the international co-unity. Although oursquare was born in New York’s East

Village, 40 ercent o its daily check-ins occur outside the

United States. Foursquare is available in ultile languages,including Jaanese, Sanish, Geran, French, Italian, andothers.

Millions o eole are checking in to every ossible loca-

tion: train stations, hotels, shoing alls, art galleries,concerts, restaurants, bars, ovie theaters, gys, college ca-

uses, and any other venues. Soe eole are even checkingin to ceeteries! Thankully, these users are very uch alive,

and you’ll learn about the later.

F I G U R E I . 1

Foursquare founders Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai receive a foursquare

Day proclamation from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.


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Businesses—large and sall—are joining the counity.

Five onths ater its launch, only a handul o erchantsinquired about joining the lator—about 15 brands in all.

Today hundreds o thousands o brands, retailers, and localerchants actively use the lator to reward loyal custo-ers, attract new ones, and engage those custoers on a ar

deeer level than ever beore. In addition these businesses areusing the lator and accessing a treasure-trove o custoer

data for free. Here is a short list o ajor well-known brandsthat have active oursquare artnershis.

◆ Starbucks ◆ NASA ◆ Wall Street Journal

◆ Jimmy Choo ◆ Chili’s Bar & Grill ◆ Toys”R”Us ◆ Barnes & Noble ◆ Bravo

◆ MTV ◆ American Express ◆ History Channel ◆ RadioShack ◆ McDonald’s ◆ Sports Authority ◆ Starwood Hotel and Resorts ◆ 7-Eleven ◆ Walmart

You’ll learn ro arketing directors at any o these brandsas they share insights into why they’re going obile, resultsro their caaigns, and tis on how you can do it too. But

the real ower o oursquare is soething already racticed by sall, local erchants in every neighborhood in every

corner o the lanet who oer tis, secials, and rewards toattract new custoers, encourage the return o loyal custo-

ers, stand out ro the coetition, and extend their brand.

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Introduction



The Key Questions

Desite oursquare’s exlosive growth, ost erchants have

little understanding o just how owerul it can be as a ar-keting tool. Very ew businesses know how best to leverageoursquare to engage their custoers. This book is intended

to take the ystery out o oursquare and by doing so, helyou understand the eerging category o obile, social, and

location-based services. You will hear directly ro the toarketing exerts in the world. You will learn how large and

sall coanies are using the service to attract, engage, andreward their custoers, and you will understand how to suc-cessully ileent your own oursquare strategy. You will

learn this inoration through discussions with oursquare’sounders, erchants, exerts, and the users who love it so

uch they volunteer to suort it, build it, and roote it.I don’t retend to be a social edia exert, guru, or ninja.

I’ a business owner and a journalist who writes and seaks

on the toics o leadershi, counications, and innovation.

So why would I cover a toic like oursquare? Because it’s not just a social edia story. It’s a counications story, it’s aninnovation story, and it’s ascinating.

Foursquare is a social edia tool that businesses o any sizecan use to tell their stories and engage their custoers in aninnovative way. I’ not interested in writing a book on how to

download the sotware. You can download the ree a andstart using it in ewer than two inutes. As a erchant you can

clai your venue, create a secial, and start reaching your cus-

toers in no tie—just visit the oursquare website and ollowthe sile three-ste quick guide. As a journalist I’ ar ore

interested in the stories behind the a. There’s a story behindevery secial that a erchant oers. Every badge that soeone

earns tells a story, as does every ti and every ayorshi, all o which you’ll be fnding out about in the coing ages.

The stories in this book will insire you. As a businessowner or arketer you’ll want to hear the story o a strug-

gling restaurant owner who credits oursquare or utting his


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lace on the a. You’ll want to read about the governent

agency that was orced to innovate around obile network-ing because it had no advertising budget. You’ll want to read

about the nonroft that raised $50,000 or a single caaign,thanks to an innovative check-in strategy. And those storiesare just scratching the surace. You’ll hear directly ro inter-

national brands and organizations such as Bravo, the RedCross, Chili’s, RadioShack, Jiy Choo, and others. You’ll

hear ro sall- and ediu-sized businesses around theworld—hotels, izza joints, restaurants, bars, wineries, ser-

vice roviders, retail stores, realtors, thee arks, nonrofts,edia coanies, and colleges. There are ore than 50 casestudies in this book that will insire you to look at obile

social networking as an essential coonent o your growthstrategy.

As a journalist I’ also trained to ask questions. You ight be asking yoursel the sae ones: What is it? Why is it ior-tant? What’s in it or e?

What Is It?Foursquare is ore than just a sarthone alication, asyou’ll see. Users sign u or an account by visiting htt://

oursquare.co. When they’re out and about, they ull outtheir sarthone and oen the oursquare a to see wheretheir riends are or to exlore laces in their vicinity (e.g.,

landarks, stores, restaurants, coee shos, bars, gys, andother business and ersonal establishents). Foursquare

will even recoend things to do or laces to eat based on a

user’s check-in history and the check-in trends o their riends.Once they check in by taing the venue or lace nae ontheir hone, they can choose to let riends know where theyare and what they are doing. They can also uload a hoto,

leave tis, or send essages to their riends. They can—andoten do— link these activities to Twitter and Facebook. Since

it’s widely known that word-o-outh is the ost owerulor o advertising, this “sharing” eature is critical or you to

understand, areciate, and leverage.

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Introduction



Also uon checking in, users get oints and coete

with their riends. They can earn badges or secifc check-in behaviors or exeriences. They can becoe the ayor o

a venue without ever sending a die on a caaign—er-chants are rewarding the or their loyalty. They can leavetis or any oursquare user who checks in to the sae loca-

tion or a nearby venue. They can get discounts and otherrewards ro articiating local erchants or ajor brands.

They can get ree stu. They can learn ore about lacesthey’ve never visited. Best o all, these users have un—and

they share that un with riends on their social networks.One erson osted this descrition o oursquare onTwitter: “Foursquare is a doe little gae and you get dis-

counts and ree shit i you’re the ayor.” A little silifed, alittle crude erhas, but that retty uch exlains it!

This cobination o riend-fnder, city guide, and gaeechanics creates a highly addictive lator that encour-ages users to return again and again. It sounds sile, and

it is. It’s also “insanely addictive” or any eole and very

owerul.Here’s the truly coelling art, esecially or businesses:

oursquare turns social networking into a gae with its

badges and ayorshis. This ight sound silly to you—andit did to e until I was “ousted” as the ayor o y local co-ee sho. They know my name. They know what I’m going to order

before I even reach the counter, and they have my drink prepared

for me. I should be the mayor! (For the record, I did reclai y

rightul osition.) Peole who get ousted as ayors hate get-

ting kicked o their erch. And I ean they get really angry.So uch so, that they will visit an establishent even ore

requently to regain their title. That’s owerul!These ayors love getting rewarded, and the businesses

love the right back. Businesses that reward their ay-ors with a discount or reebies notice a signifcantly higher

level o engageent, sales, and redetions aong theircustoers—all custoers, not just ayors. That’s owerul,

too! Peole are ore inclined to trust a business i a riend


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recoends it. I soeone who is on your list o oursquare

riends osts a ti about a business in your vicinity, it auto-atically gets ushed to your screen when you’re near that

establishent. That’s owerul indeed—so uch so it would be oolish to ignore it.

Why Is It Important?

Foursquare atters, quite sily because eole are checking

in at the rate o 23 ties a second. As sarthones continueto rolierate, the user base is only exected to grow. In 2010,

200 illion sarthones were sold around the world. Thenuber is exected to double to 400 illion units in 2011, 600illion in 2012, and 700 illion in 2013. Foursquare is grow-

ing right along with it.Social networking is no longer a trend—it’s ainstrea.

Mobile social networking is sily the next stage in the evolu-tion o conversations. Facebook has about 150 illion activeobile users around the world, which is about as ainstrea

as it gets. Although oursquare does not have the nubers to

atch Facebook (yet), it’s growing and growing ast, thanks toa swar o users who are true evangelists. These eole gettheir riends on the lator and bobard local erchants

with questions about why they’re not being rewarded or being a ayor or a loyal custoer. Later in this book, you’llhear ro any business owners who adoted oursquare

ater hearing about it ro their custoers.Foursquare kees adding ree tools and eatures that ake

it ore and ore attractive—both to users and erchants.

Just days ater oursquare launched a new hoto-sharingeature, its users were uloading one hoto every second(one illion hotos had been osted in the frst three weekso the service). Foursquare added an Exlore tab that sug-

gests things to do, laces to eat, and what to see, based onlaces you’ve been and the laces your riends have visited.

Foursquare continues to give erchants ore ways to rewardloyal custoers and erchant tools to analyze the data. Every

check-in gives the coany—and its artners—a richer

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Introduction



set o data oints ro which to build even ore eective

caaigns.These eatures encourage users to return, and that’s why it

atters. They coe back to unlock secials and rootions,and to earn oints, badges, or ayorshis. They coe back tocoete with their riends. They coe back to exlore their

city. Soe eole love the idea o discovering a city and shar-ing tis with their riends. For soe, they coe back to kee a

journal o where they’ve been. Their reasons are dierent, butthey kee coing back. Foursquare’s ounders will tell you

that i you ask 10 dierent eole you will hear 10 dierentreasons or using oursquare. In short, oursquare has soe-thing or everyone, and its growth is staggering.

Foursquare itsel ight not yet be considered ainstreain a traditional sense, but aong its illions o users, it’s a

daily addiction. As o this writing, 35,000 new users are join-ing the lator every single day—ore than one illion each

month. It atters to the, and so it should atter to you. These

users are waiting or you to engage the.

More than 100 local user counities around the globeonly want to roote the service and to connect like-indedans. It atters to the. There is a story behind every badge,

and you will hear directly ro users who share their sto-ries—it atters to the. Since oursquare is an oen API(alication rograing interace), thousands o develoers

are building services to coleent the site. Today you candownload oursquare to your iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, or

other device. But it didn’t start that way. For exale, our-

square’s tea was not the frst to develo an Android a.Third-arty rograers built it, and oursquare then took it

in-house to irove it—but develoers built it frst.Foursquare does not have an ary o saleseole ak-

ing cold calls to sign u erchants. Why? Because they don’thave to. Their users do it or the. Foursquare even started

an abassador rogra or suerusers assionate about thecoany. These evangelists were asked to fll out a or on

the oursquare website; i aroved, they received a ack o


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oursquare Abassador cards (custo-rinted with their

naes). They handed out these cards to local businesses toencourage the to sign u and oer secials. The abassa-

dors did not get aid. They did it because they love oursquare.Many brands are leveraging the lator to engage their

custoers. They are not waiting or case studies. They are the

case studies. Soe analysts are redicting that local and socialobile tools will revolutionize the way coerce is done, and

they are singling out oursquare as one o the ost iortantnew arketing tools to engage your custoers and grow your

business. I you’re looking or a etric that easures yourreturn on investent (ROI), you’ll fnd it aong the brandseatured in this book (although the “investent” is near zero).

But i you consider the act that not all iact takes the oro urely fnancial etrics, you will fnd that oursquare oers

even ore owerul ors o iact: engageent, awareness,inuence, and loyalty.

Coounders Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai

started the business by asking theselves one question: how

do you turn lie into a gae? The answer was to get rewardedor seeking out new exeriences.

By cobining gae echanics and GPS-enabled sart-

hones, this tea ade it so that local erchants and businessowners can connect with their custoers in ways that are arore interesting than ever beore. Merchants can reach their

custoers wherever they are, in ront o a couter, on the go,or even in a coetitor’s location.

Mobile counication, social networking tools, and geo-

location services are not going away anytie soon. On thecontrary, with the advent o aster cell hone networks and

the exlosive growth in the sarthone arket, obile socialnetworking is only bound to grow, becoing essential to

how eole live their daily lives. Sixty ercent o all obileInternet usage is now sent on social networking sites like

Facebook and Twitter. And as you’ll learn, these social net-works coleent oursquare and hel unlock its ull ower

and otential.

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Introduction



Peole use obile social edia to connect—with riends,

brands, erchants, and a broader social network. Mobilesocial networking lays a owerul role in eole’s lives

because it acts as an intrinsic and extrinsic otivator:

Intrinsic Extrinsic

build sel-esteem receive rewards

gain meaning to lie collect badges

establish a eeling o importance get discounts

satisy curiosity earn points

experience the joy o learning, win ree stuf discovery, and sharing

What’s in It for Me?

Ah, the ultiate question. For users, oursquare sily akes

their lives ore interesting and un. What could be ore o anincentive than that? Foursquare enhances eole’s lie exe-riences. Is it a obile a that everyone needs? Noe. But it

akes users’ lives ore entertaining. By doing so it can hel

a brand, retailer, or local erchant attract new custoers,engage a higher level o loyalty, and give the brand to-o-ind status. For arketers and business owners, oursquare

is a tool that you can use to extend your brand story as wellto gain a variety o ways to attract, retain, reward, and engageyour custoers. With ourquare you can do the ollowing:

◆ Reward your best customers. ◆ Create specials that attract people who are near your venue

but not in it. ◆ Ofer valuable tips, insights, and inormation. ◆ Get ree access to data, real-time statistics, and customer

analytics that small businesses have never had easy access to

until now.

In the ages that ollow, I’ll give you lenty o reasons whyyou should care about oursquare and the booing growth in

LBS. You’ll read about dozens o coanies that are fnding


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success with it and, hoeully, be insired to exerient with

your own caaign. Soe o the erchants, businesses, andajor brands who tell their stories include:

◆ a boutique hotel that credits oursquare or helping it com-

pete against larger, more established chains ◆ a matchmaker who owes her entire business to oursquare ◆ a popular chain o ice cream parlors that has seen a sizable

increase in business since launching a oursquare campaign ◆ a major university that embraces oursquare to engage its

students, donors, and visitors ◆ a national television network that is using oursquare to mar-

ket its programs and to extend its brand ◆ a nonprot organization that has raised $50,000 or an envi-

ronmental campaign solely by using oursquare ◆ a Milwaukee restaurant that has attracted 150 regular and

new customers on one slow night thanks to oursquare and

has since embraced oursquare to make it one o the most

popular restaurants in town

Beore you dive in and learn ore, I’ going to give youthree fnal reasons why you should care right now. First, it’s

ree. You have nothing to lose. Second, your custoers arerobably already using it. Third, the growth story is unques-tionably iressive and you will want to be a art o it.

Beore oursquare reached its second anniversary, it hadrecorded ore than 250 illion check-ins ro users world-

wide. Its aeal is international. Tokyo was one o the ost

checked-in cities even beore the localized version o the ali-cation becae available. In ewer than two years, oursquaretoed 6 illion users. Today it’s ore than 10 illion users.It’s growing aster than Twitter did at siilar stages. So again,

what’s in it or you? It’s ree, it’s growing like crazy, and yourcustoers are already using it. Go get the.

When I began researching this book, I asked ysel a ques-tion you ight be asking yoursel right now: What tye o

businesses should use oursquare? The answer surrised e:

13

Introduction



just about anyone. Big brands are actively using oursquare,and you will hear directly ro any o the in the ages

to ollow: brands like Bravo, NASA, Chili’s, the AericanRed Cross, Starbucks, and any others. Media roer-ties use oursquare. Retailers use oursquare. Restaurants

use oursquare. Business-to-consuer brands use it, as do business-to-business frs. Service brands use it. Realtors use

it, as do consultants, entrereneurs, and sall business own-

ers. Wineries use it, as do izza chains and sandwich shos.Foursquare alies to everyone.

The devastating global recession has orced businessesto develo innovative ways o engaging their custoers.

Average sily doesn’t cut it anyore or coanies coet-ing in a brutally coetitive global econoy. Being average

only guarantees below-average results. We are now enteringthe age o “extra”: extra quality, extra skills, and extra services

to engage your custoers. Foursquare could be the extra youneed to launch and grow a successul business.

C H E C K I N G I NC H E C K I N G I N

FOURSQUARE USERGROWTH HISTORY

◆ March 13, 2009: launched at the popular social media

conerence South by Southwest

◆ April 22, 2010: hit 1 million registered users

◆ August 22, 2010: hit 3 million users

◆ December 1, 2010: hit 5 million users, prompting a urry

o press activity◆ January 14, 2011: hit 6 million users (growth obtained

aster than anyone—themselves included—had

predicted)

◆ Today: more than 10 million users as o this writing and

growing exponentially!


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Seven Keys to Unlock Your

Business Potential Ater extensive interviews with oursquare’s ounders, inves-tors, custoers, ans, artners, social edia, and arketingexerts, I have discovered seven big ideas that will hel you

CHECK IN to the ower o oursquare to unlock your brand’sotential:

C onnect Your Brand. Align your oursquare strategy with

your brand’s value proposition and your brand story.

H arnessNew Fans. Use oursquare to attract new customers

who otherwise might not know about your business or who

don’t keep it top o mind.

E ngage Your Followers. Add insights and inormation to

keep your brand in ront o your customers and ans wher-

ever they are.

C reate Rewards. Leverage oursquare’s powerul and ree

tools to learn more about your best customers and to createrewards or their loyalty.

K nock Out the Competition. Outsmart your competitors by

being a leader in this new space and develop creative cam-

paigns. Don’t wait or case studies—be the case study.

I ncentivize Your Customers. Give your customers a reason

to check in, again and again.

N ever Stop Entertaining. Foursquare is a playul platorm.Always have un.

Each idea in C-H-E-C-K-I-N is eatured in its own chater.Following each o these chaters are suorting chaters that

eature two secifc case studies reinorcing the big ideas. Thetitles o each suorting chater are coined ro the naes o

soe oular oursquare badges.Facebook started as a way or riends to connect online,

uch as oursquare started as a way or a grou o riendsto fnd each other in a big city. Facebook began with a ew

15

Introduction



thousand users in a New England college and grew to 500

illion ans around the world. Foursquare is ollowing a sii-lar trajectory. Major brands that established an early resence

on Facebook struggled at the beginning. Coca-Cola had 800Facebook ans in Noveber 2007. Today it has 16.5 illion.Early leaders were rewarded. Those brands that are exeri-

enting with LBS tools like oursquare ight end u beinglight-years ahead o their coetitors as the lator gains

oularity. There are always business owners, entrereneurs,and anagers who will wait to see how others do it. Do it frst.

I soeone asks you what oursquare is, you would beentirely correct to use any o these answers:

◆ It’s a social, local, and mobile networking tool. ◆ It’s a location-based social network. ◆ It’s a geolocation app. ◆ It’s a game. ◆ It’s a communications tool. ◆ It’s a new social-media marketing platorm.

These exales answer the question, “What is it?” But orarketers or business owners, it’s ore instructive to ask,

“What does it stand or?”Sily ut, oursquare is a tool that hels you exlore your

world. It illuinates, inors, and insires. It invites us to

exerient, share, and have deeer, ore eaningul conver-sations with riends and the brands that touch our lives.


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Documents

The Power of Foursquare