5 Steps to Successfully Promoting Your Business on Foursquare

Foursquare is an innovative site that introduced location-based social networking before Facebook Places and Google Latitude appeared on the scene, and with over 15 million users and well over two million daily visitors, it is without a doubt a great tool for promoting your business.

With the rapid increase in the use of smartphones with mobile web applications, more and more people are using Foursquare to let people know where they are and what they are doing. It has become almost like a digital phone which allows you to see what various venues and businesses are located in your vicinity, which ones your friends are frequenting, and which of these locations are highly recommended by other users.

If promoting your business on this growing social network seems like a good idea to you, here is how you can build a successful Foursquare campaign in five easy steps.

Create a presence on Foursquare

If your business has not been added to the Foursquare database then you can add it yourself by logging in to your account and clicking the “Add this place” link if your search for your establishment comes up empty. After this, you fill out the form and input all of the pertinent information for your business (name, location, type of services offered). After the venue is created, you can then claim to be the manager of it and take control of your businesses page.

If your business already exists on Foursquare, then you can simply claim rights as a manager without having to create an entry for it. In order to become the manager, you will be asked for pertinent information regarding your business such as the business’ website and contact page. If you have given the people at Foursquare enough good information to confirm that you run the business, then your claim for becoming the manager of it is usually approved within seven to ten days.

Use other social networks to promote yourself

Now that you are managing your business’ entry on Foursquare, you can start promoting it. The best way to promote your Foursquare presence is through other social media sites. A lot of people who use Foursquare integrate it with their Facebook and Twitter accounts so that all of their friends on all of their favorite social networks know where they are and what they are doing. Getting your business’ Facebook fans and Twitter followers aware of your Foursquare presence is vital, because they will be key to getting you new costumers since they already know you and use your services.

If you are using Foursquare as an active user and are checking in to various venues and locations, then you are better off creating a separate account for managing your own business just to avoid confusing.

Offer deals for first-time visitors

Getting new people to check out your business is the hardest thing to do. If your services are up to par, keeping them there should not be a problem. The best way to get people to check you out via Foursquare is to offer deals for first time check-ins. For example, if you run a coffee shop, a Foursquare user that is currently located in your part of town can do a search of coffee shops in your area. If you are the only coffee shop offering a discount or a free muffin for first time visitors, there is a great chance that this person will head on over to your spot for a hot cup of coffee.

Offer added incentives to keep them coming back

This is where you can start getting creative. Foursquare has something that is called a Mayor. You become a Mayor when you have the most check-ins to a specific venue over a period of 60 days. By offering deals and discounts for Mayors, you can get your most frequent customers to step-up their visits in order to try to top one another and grab the spot as mayor of your establishment. This means more business for you overall, and it also can lead to increased Foursquare activity with your venue, which can get the attention of a lot of people who have yet to visit you.

Offer even more incentives to get them to recommend you

One of the best features on Foursquare is the recommendations feature, which allows you to write something about the venue or business that you have visited. It also allows you to take a picture of the venue or yourself while you are there and post it along with your recommendation. Getting a lot of positive recommendations can lead to a lot of new traffic coming to you both offline and online. Offer discounts, deals and freebees to people who leave recommendations, pictures and comment on events, services or products that you offer and keep your business’ Foursquare buzz growing.

Increasing your presence on Foursquare is easy as long as you stay involved and stay active, which is the key to success on just about any social network. By interacting actively with your clientele and working on attracting new customers, you are keeping your business on the map both virtually and in the real world.