Foursquare is probably the hottest geotargeting site out there. People check-in to locations and win badges of cities and store fronts. With people volunteering their whereabouts give marketers a picture to what customer buy and travel habits to commonly visited locations. It also allows for businesses to engage in their customers. It is mobile marketing that is free. I wanted to highlight a few uses of Foursquare that were common and some outside of the box uses.

1) The most comment use is for companies to reward their customers for checking into their business locations. The payout comes in the form of the customer winning the mayor of the shop or simply checking in receive something free or a discount. Some companies simply thank their guests for stopping by. Either way it gives a personal touch point for those customers.

2) Cities have started using Foursquare and creating badges for their historical sites or special locations throughout the city. It is like having a city guide to give you an idea of places to go and see. The city, like Chicago, gives locations to visit and as the tourist visits that city badges are awarded for completion. It also gives the city tourism some visibility and feed back about its effectiveness.

3) Companies use it at conferences to engage people. Some companies like Intel have used the medium to award special badges for people who visited different booths selected by Intel. SXSW used it as a scavenger hunt to award tickets to those who visit the most music locations.

4) Nonprofits use it to raise money. P&G has partnered up with some charities to donate money when products are checked- in. Every time a customer checks-in a branded product money is donated to the charity. It is a mutual relationship for both the product company and the charity. The product company gets a touch point for it’s product while the nonprofit gets a donation. The end result for P&G is increased sales.

These tips should help you with creating innovative ways for using Foursquare. I suggest this tool because it offers brand awareness and advocacy. The more visibility your company has the more sales of your product or services.

Are there any ways you have seen Foursquare used not mentioned here?

The internet is an amazing resource for businesses of all sizes. It has the ability to impact ROI in a very short amount of time. Here are few ideas that can get your company visible within 24 hours or less.

1) Local search can get you listed in about 15 minutes. A local search listing that is optimized can even jump to the top of local listings within a very short amount of time. I recently worked on a small business that rose to the top of the 10 pack just after claiming their listing.

2) Social media platforms take minutes to open and optimized for your company. Search engines index social media platforms in real time and will give you results fast. I found that new twitter profiles get indexed quicker than a new domain name. When claiming your social profiles, choose vanity URLs if available and make sure you claim you add unique links to your site.

3) Paid advertising can have you up in about a couple of hours. Google, Yahoo, and Bing all allow you to pay for advertising on keywords relevant to your website. You could appear quicker but doing some keyword analysis will save you money and likely give you a better ROI on your investment.

4) Creating a blog is quick and easy. You can have a site with blog platforms like Typepad, Wordpress, and Blogger and it’s free. This won’t have you visible in 24 hours or less in search engines but will help your other mediums like pay-per-click, social media, and local search. You can expect this to change though as Google moves to real time indexing.

With all the free resources getting online is quicker than ever. Tools like social media, local search, and blogs will have you online fast and visible to your key stakeholders. Are you online? Have you found that your company was visible within in 24 hours? Are there other tools that aren’t covered here? Share with us your thoughts and insights.

1) Whistling for a Taxi. Why couldn’t we simply tweet “#taxi 5th & Main.” No need to raise your hand or whistle but simply tweet and soon you’re whisked away.

2) Auctions. What if instead of raising your hand during a bid you simply tweeted. 2k for the bidder @dereklive. Can I get 3k?

3) Deals. Flying deals online. Some models like Woot have a deal a day and Amazon has several. What about low priced deals offered only on Twitter in real time. First 100 products sold to those who tweet #awesomedeal.

4) Stock Quotes. Real time stock quotes that tell you stock prices as they happen. I know there is software for this but I could see people using this with a Twitter client.

5) Ordering. Why not order Take Out or Coffee on the go. A local coffee shop could set up a hashtag for people to order. A reply to the tweet will give the customer the idea that their beverage will be ready for them. To keep from getting unwarranted beverage orders simply have specific hours tweeted orders will be received or the customer has to announce they want the service.

6) Reservations. Dinner for two, Friday, at six. @favoriterestaurant

7) Radio. Why not have dual listening contests. The tenth caller receives cd and the 1st tweet #themusicrocks wins. Or they could take Twitter questions in place of phone questions. This gives a greater pool of questions for shows limited by time constraints.

My goal for 2010 is to share even more. Because of this goal I have given myself a digital resume. The reason is that within a short few years sharing has nearly become a commodity. You may not even need to create the content but merely disseminate that information. If done well, you may gain followers, friends, and maybe even fans. In fact, the old adage of “I think therefore I am” is being replaced by “I share therefore I am.” Therefore, I am sharing more. I am personally excited for this because I have just uploaded my digital resume on Slideshare.net. In 2010 I plan to continue and adding social media to my sharing venues on :

Google Profiles
Twitter
Linkedin
Flickr
YouTube
Facebook
Slideshare
& Blog

If you have a recommendation of a social platform others ought to consider or have interesting ways you use social media then send me a message.

1) Twitter Search. Twitter is a great tool to find out in real time what people are saying. You can simply do a search at any time and get real mentions of your company.
2) Facbook Search. You can find comments that people are making about your brand.
3) Google Alerts. You can search for keywords that relate to your brand, products, or service. You can get monthly, daily, or hourly updates.
4) Yahoo Pipes. Yahoo Pipes also aggregates information with websites and with keywords you specify. You can also make your searches viewable by others and have them indexed by search engines.
5) Youtube. You can do a search for your brand, product, or services. Just know that it may not be what you are expecting.
6) Search Forums. Industry related forums is great place to get involved and find out what people are saying.

Interested in learn more about listening in social? Read Jeremiah Owyang’s Evolution: The Eight Stages of Listening.

Have tool you use or recommend? Have any comments on companies you find do this well? Share your thoughts.

Using Mobile to Connect on Facebook

Facebook’s mobile applications make it easier to socialize and connect for business.   Recently, 65 million users update their status through a mobile device.  This also allows for users to share pictures, videos, and even chat.    They even have a place where friends can find out where each other are and connect while on the move.  With a user base of over 400 million users world wide it only makes sense to compete here.  Fan pages have been a great way to connect with customers.  10 million people become a fan of a page every day.   It allows you as a company to offer something special to those who love your brand allowing them to become and advocate very easily.  You can find out their needs and concerns and communicate with them on a daily basis.

Twitter on the Go

Twitter Logo

Twitter also launched a mobile site at the request of users and can be lucrative to business.   Although the limited 140 characters may seem restrictive there has been a fairly large adoption of the platform.  According to an article published by Tech Crunch, there were over 20 million U.S. Twitter Users in June 2009.

Twitters simplicity also makes it easy update your status and engage customer.   Facebook, your website, and your blog can all have the feed appearing in each venue.  Many companies are using this to update their customers about new product lines, events, discounts, sales, contests, and giveaways.  It also gives companies the chance to connect with their followers (advocates) and listen to their interests and needs.  You also can follow what is being talked about in Twitter’s live feed.  You search based on location and keywords and then send a tweet engaging that person with discounts to entice them to buy from you.  Google also is searching Twitter constantly allowing more ways for you to appear in search results.

Google Maps, Mobile. and Your Local Listing

Google Mobile Navigation Picutre

Google Locals Listing

Google’s Map Navigation for Mobile makes it more important to have your business listing verified.  Yesterday, Google launched Map Navigation which allows mobile device users to receive turn by turn instructions while on the go for free.  This also equips the user to search for products and services that may be along the route such as attractions, hotels, restaurants, and movies.  How this effects your company is that visibility becomes more important.   If you don’t appear in search results and especially in local search thenyou will likely missed opportunities.   Especially if Google begins offeringadvertising to those who are using the turn by turn directions.  If you could imagine offering an ad at around lunch time and an easy go here now button that will redirect you to that location.  So get your company listed and get in the Local Search ten pack and watch Google to offer advertising in the near future.

Mobile Sites and Accessibility

Mobile sites will have become a necessity with the advent and adoption of smart phones.  With data plans dropping and mobile devices become easier to use it won’t be long before everyone is using them.  Have you ever searched or browsed a website on a mobile without a mobile site?  It is both cumbersome and difficult to navigate.  It won’t take long for a user to move on to the next website that does use it.  What a better way to get visibility to your potential customers when they look for you.  It is like having great location and an inviting atmosphere on the digital highway.  It is true that it may be expensive but it will become more important as mobile become common place.

Mobile Conclusions

Mobile is impacting our culture and the world.  Its ease of access to the internet demands that companies and advertisers make use of it.  Social platform such as Twitter and Facebook allow for companies to connect with customers while on the go.  Even Google’s local search will make companies consider how they are appearing in local search results.  While customers are visiting their favorite social sites to find friends and using Google to get there, it demands that business consider how they connect with their target audiences.