Alvin Jimenez

If you’re one of my friends on Facebook, then you’ve probably seen me “check-in” a few or more times in different locations the past two months. I’ve been doing it in hopes of understanding the principles of effective location marketing. I’ve also been using foursquare to plot my locations.

If you own an Iphone, Blackberry, or Nexus, you can readily download the app at here. This is basically how the process goes.

First of all, you need to understand how the technology works. Generally, people use lo-so apps on their phones to “check in” whenever they go places. Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) locate the users and determine what “venue” they might be at, giving them options to select a location or create a new listing. These “check ins” allow their friends to know where they are now, or where they frequently go. Some services allow users to leave location-based tips for friends to discover later, and several involve social competitions, or the ability to unlock digital badges, stickers, and prizes. Businesses can announce specials or promotions through these apps, so when users “check in,” they receive notifications of nearby deals.

Source: Mashable

In layman’s terms, you can say this is a bit like Twitter on steroids, though you can’t post any links, and it just tells everyone where you are. If that still doesn’t mean anything to you, imagine yourself taking a trip out of town (it doesn’t matter if the location is foreign or domestic). All you have is your backpack and your mobile phone. All you have to do is check into foursquare and see where other people have been going. Imagine having 10 restaurants to choose from, and then reading a tip from someone who was previously in the same area.

“Try out the Turkish Beef Shawarma at Jacob’s, and ask for extra lemon sauce. It’s beside the local clinic, so you might miss it.”

Foursquare Facebook Integration

Some existing practical applications? A lot of known brands have already started to take advantage of Foursquare. I don’t think I’d want to be a Starbuck’s Barista though.

What I’d like to see are foursquare specials in the Philippines, because currently, there are none. In foursquare, a user is granted a “mayor” badge once he or she becomes the most frequent visitor of that location. Here are just some of my ideas:

• Fitness First – Free membership for a month at any Fitness First branch (Disclaimer: I am the current mayor at Fitness First ABS-CBN). I say only for a month because it’s going to be hard for anyone to claim mayorship from someone else. Once a mayor has claimed his free membership, the following month’s incentive should go to someone else.
• Mc Donalds or any other fast food chain – First time check-ins shall receive a free upsize on their next visit (with a minimum purchase of course). I say only give the incentive to first time visitors since you don’t need to upsell to regular customers.
• Starbucks – Maybe make a special blend available for people who belong to the top 50 who check into a specific branch? It could be for a free cookie once a month too.
• Bench - Just read this article and get find another way to give tickets to the Bench Underwear fashion show.

After having used foursquare for about two months however, there are still a lot of loopholes to be taken advantage of. People can check into a specific coffee shop or restaurant without having to buy anything. What’s going to prevent anyone from checking into each of the 50 establishments they pass on the way to work everyday. It’s also possible to check into the same place more than once in a day. Somewhere down the line, I hope developers of similar apps such as Loopt and Gowalla can do something about it.

Right now, location marketing is still in its infancy stages, and while promising, still requires a high degree of engagement from consumers (not to mention data charges from telcos). But hey, people didn’t think Twitter would take off either. The possibilities between online and offline marketing are endless.

Do you know of any establishments in the Philippines that are already taking advantage of 4square?