Where You At?
Location-based social networking has been a hot topic all year, but until recently, there was a very small percentage of the U.S. population actually using these services regularly. But all of that may begin to change as Facebook introduces Places.
Facebook is a power player when it comes to introducing new trends to the mainstream. With 500 million users, it’s easy to see why. And with this new application, Facebook is trying to educate users on how to use the location-based service and why they would benefit from it with a promotional video.
This may just be the kick-start location-based check-ins need to expand to a larger market of users. With that shift possibly around the corner, it’s time for businesses – especially those with physical locations – to take stock of where their locations are, well, located online. This becomes especially relevant as people add commentary, tips and reviews to their check-ins. And on most of these networks, businesses can “own” their place, which allows them to add promotions, monitor comments and even respond to users.
To get started, simply find your location on the most popular networks and then assess the opportunities:
Foursquare – Search for your business name on Foursquare.com. The resulting profile will tell you how many people have checked-in and how many total check-ins have occurred. Users can leave tips for future visitors, which is where some monitoring might be useful, and you may gain some insights into customer favorites. If you find that customers are frequently checking-in to your location, you might want to claim the business and register staff members who can interact with the page. Foursquare also supports businesses providing special offers to people who check-in.
Facebook – Facebook’s Places is now live. Similar to Foursquare, Locations can be found through search, and the number of check-ins and people can be quickly scanned. People can comment on check-ins, so some monitoring might be needed. Facebook also allows businesses to claim its place. Once it’s claimed the business can post updates, edit the information and more.
Twitter – You can tag tweets with a specific location. That location is a link that will bring up a map and an additional link to “Tweets from this place”. This is a great resource for monitoring real-time discussions from customers who are currently at your business. Think of the potential for personalizing experiences and proactively handling any potential customer service issues.
Yelp – Yelp is a widely used review site that has built-in check-in functionality via its mobile app. Business owners can claim their locations through Yelp.com. Monitoring your business page on this site regularly will become more important as people begin writing mini-reviews from their phones as part of the check-in process.
Gowalla – Search for your business on Gowalla.com. Like Foursquare, the number of check-ins and comments that accompany the check-ins are available for monitoring. Gowalla also supports "highlights" giving users the ability to tag locations with additional information like, "This is where I proposed" or "Best Margartia in Town."
Whrrl – Find your business page and see how many check-ins you have. Whrrl users create stories from their check-ins, so the potential for monitoring consumer feedback here is a little bit bigger than other networks. Business owners can create societies (or groups) that users can join for updates on the business. There are also opportunities to add offers to your venue that will be shown to users when they check-in.
Every business with a physical presence will soon have multiple digital versions of that location. Customers will have access to that digital layer while they’re in your store, eating in your restaurant or interacting with your business. The information that they see in location-based networks will affect their experience and perception of your brand. Taking the time up front to find those locations now will pay off in the future when you can use these digital versions of your business to monitor customer reviews and identify promotional opportunities.
So, where you at?
If you need help finding yourself in the vast network of location based services, leave a comment or contact us!
*Photo Credit: psd (Flickr)
About the Author: Katie VanDomelen
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