In recent news, Foursquare has gone global, allowing for users to check-in from anywhere in the world, at any business. As GPS based social networks are poised to be the hottest expansion [in my opinion] in 2010 it is only right that small businesses understand what a little social-media elbow-grease can do for them.

Wait…what the hell is this? Good question. Think of foursquare as the best addition to social media for small businesses that is out there. Simply put a user interacts with foursquare in this simple sequence of events, we will use a coffee shop for the example:

1. I walk into said coffee shop and order a tall coffee, black.
2. While the barista gets my coffee poured I pull out my iPhone and load up Foursquare. I do this because:
   • I’m a product of technology. It occupies my time while I am bored.
   • I love staying connected to friends and I routinely, like many people, check my Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare from my phone.
3. I click the nifty ‘Check-In’ button. This allows Foursquare to use GPS to figure out where I am. Once I confirm that I am at the said coffee shop I have the option to tell all of my Twitter, Facebook, and Foursquare friends that I am currently at that shop. This benefits me because:
   • If I were in a more crowded place, or even nearby a friend checking in, they could potentially be notified that I am there and connect with me.
   • I am again, a product of technology. On top of that I am also a product of gaming and capitalism, so I like ‘rewards’.
4. As stated, I love rewards so the next step is handled on the Foursquare side. My check-in is now counted towards my total check-ins, daily stats and even achievements such as the holy grail of Foursquare—the Mayor of a location.

Mayor? What does that have to do with my biz? Well if you are like the thousands of other businesses out there, repeat customers are a really really good thing. If you think about the 4 step model above what we are doing is encouraging people to repeat their favorite locations, and better yet, tell their friends. Word of mouth marketing is now segueing into real time social media. The excellent thing about Foursquare is that their system keeps track of who is checking in, how often, and all of their achievements.

The Mayor status changes hands as quickly as the activity in your business. Every time a user checks in, points are applied to their username based upon the business location they are checking in with. The person with the most check-in points is the mayor. Simple concept. If you want to be the mayor of a place that already has a mayor, check in more than them. Check ins are done in a way to prevent tampering.

For many small businesses this is a godsend for shoe-string marketing. You as a small business owner can now see your customers, their loyalty, and if you are smart ante up the reward for repeat business.

The Basic Social Media Geek Foursquare Contest Without overly amping Foursquare anymore, I will give you a quick structure to effectively implement a Foursquare marketing effort for your small business.

1. Print up small signs, to be posted by cash registers and on doors. These signs should show the Foursquare logo with a good call to action like ‘Don’t forget to Check-In on Foursquare!’
2. Add to this sign your offering for participating. In this model I recommend picking a ACME Mayor’s Day [if your shop is named Barista, call it Barista Mayor's Day] that will happen on the same day of each month. On this day, whoever is the mayor, gets treated like royalty. What that means to you and your business is up to you. If we continue along the coffee shop analogy, royalty definitely means a picture of their mug on the corkboard, a free coffee and pastry for them and their guest to be redeemed at their convenience.So to add this to your previous sign made in step one, the text for this coffee shop would beDon’t forget to check-in on Foursquare! Barista Mayor’s Day winners get free coffee and pastries on us for you and your guests. Ask us for more details!
3. Train all of your employees to know this model in and out. Tell them they cannot win, because obviously they can check in every time they go to work. And ensure that they will tell each customer about the Foursquare Mayor’s Day rewards program. Get yourself on Foursquare as part of the training and understand where your business lives on this network so that you can view who the current mayor is.
4. This might take a few months to get off the ground. Don’t fret, the Foursquare movement is really picking up, so invest in being an early adopter for this social media stock. Keep at it, and leverage the other benefits of having visibility into your repeat customers networks.
5. Register and update your business listing and offering on Foursquare’s Business Sign up and on Yelp.com. Foursquare ties in to this site, which provides reviews and business information.

Remember to understand your customers. Figure out what the best incentive is to get them to want to be the mayor of your fine establishment. Lastly, if your customers are on Twitter or other social networks, make sure you publicize the interaction appropriately! Good luck!

Let’s just get this out of the way: Starbucks is really a social media platinum brand. Their ability to foster their social media presence as the customer service interaction for their international brand through @Starbucks is really quite remarkable. But even still, and it is always easier on the sidelines, Starbucks had a few things that could have taken them to another level with their latest VIA product launch. Some might argue that what they have done thus far is already successful, but my perspective is there is always room for improvement and with this being their largest launch since Vivano which in my opinion failed miserably every avenue MUST be considered.

Starbucks VIA Launch

GEEK GRADE: C+

Wins

1. Starbucks has an amazing social media arm, even the failures have wins within them.
2. User interaction is very high judging by the contest submissions thus far.
3. They have done a great job of integrating many platforms: Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Reddit, etc.
4. Their contest incentive is great. There should be awesome pull from this alone. Free coffee is always a good sell.

AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT

1. The Twitter syndication engine is a complete failure. The engine is supposed to allow you to vote and ‘share’ your favorite submissions; these vote are what drives the entire contest. Weeks into the contest this should be a non-issue. I was wondering why there were no tweets of submissions, and this is why. QA failed you guys.
   

   Starbucks VIA error

2. In store presence for this launch has been awesome, but there is zero mention of the contest. Brands that continue to not be cohesive on their launches are asking to be beat in their respective marketplaces.
3. Lastly, shouldn’t there be a Twitter contest? I know you have the current one going, but it seems that Mevolving, an independent blog is using your launch to promote her blog. How is that for souring your biggest product launch, Starbucks? Whoops she stole your thunder!
4. Would have been so hard to throw up a Facebook fanpage?