With Foursquare, Gowalla, and other “geo-location apps” becoming the new must-do marketing tool, I hope more businesses follow the lead of an Austin-area Starbucks.
A simple handwritten sign acknowledging the loyalty of a frequent customer is all the marketing needed to earn a gleeful shout-out and a simple photo on Twitter.
It’s so easy for businesses to turn checking-in with Foursquare and Gowalla into a digital discount program, but is it meaningful?
Isn’t it more meaningful, as a customer, to be recognized in a special way from your favorite business than it is to receive a special discount?
As a customer loyal enough to become “mayor” of a business, does that customer need a “Buy 9 Get 1 Free” discount to remain loyal? I hope not. If so, then that “loyal” customer isn’t so loyal.
A simple acknowledgment, as shown above, can go a long way to fortifying a profitable relationship between a frequent customer and a business.
I like the overall idea but it assumes that Foursquare has more traction/appeal than it does. To me Mayor means two things: you're both a regular, and a Foursquare addict. :) Businesses should heavily reward the former, and not so much the latter...it's likely there are very many regulars who just don't use FourSquare much and never stand a chance of being "mayor."
I think a great way for a company like SBUX to use Foursquare is to encourage their employees to post really great tips, and to make it a part of their central marketing to suggest tips that every SBUX location could post. And to post in-store reminders for customers to look at FS to see what the "tip of the day" is (for example).
Geo-location is real and exciting. A forward-thinking company like SBUX should lead the charge, preferably not just from the bottom-up.
Posted by: JMW | April 08, 2010 at 06:37 PM
Everybody loves recognition, even if we are just recognizing ourselves in the Social GPS programs. The "Mayor" thing is fun if you happen to be at a location frequently but losing a "Mayorship" won't make me fight to keep it. (I have already lost 3 as more people join Four Square).
It is also frustrating when you find an employee or the owner is the Mayor of their business. It would be better for a location to have a board that acknowledges "Today's Check-Ins", then everybody gets recognized, the application gets more exposure, interesting more people in playing the game.
I agree corporate encouragement/support of Social GPS is important but why should everything drive from the top? Let's see what the creative minds in the field can come up with. They are the ones building the local relationship after all and probably on their own phones.
Posted by: Janet M. Kennedy | April 13, 2010 at 10:55 AM