Foursquare – The Power of Check-In!!

Since the time internet was introduced it proved as our best pal. It made our lives simpler and fun. We love surfing, reading, watching and connecting to our friends through internet. It has shrunk the world into a device. When we say about device then yes, we are talking about mobile phones. Mobile phones and internet are the perfect companions. They have given us an option to save time and money, they help us to stay in contact with our loved ones and through navigation they never let us forget our ways.

Foursquare, is one of the mobile applications that work using the same map navigation! It is basically another social media platform that has transformed the way of seeing social networking. Through this app in your phone you can check-in wherever you go. You can also add your friends from Facebook and Twitter to it. You can like the check-in, comment over it, make new check-ins, leave a comment, earn varied badges, become the mayor, etc. This may sound like a game but things that you do here are seriously fun!

The statics say that Foursquare has over 30 million users with major age group between 18 to 34 out of which male and female ratio is almost equal. More than 2000 check-ins are done every day and some of the most popular ones are at food, business, fitness and retail. There are 40 million venues to check-in. The power of mobile marketing brought organizations to take this route to reach audience, as a result more than one billion businesses are registered on foursquare to welcome your check-ins.

Foursquare marketing

Just like any other social media platform, Foursquare also allows an organization to reach their customers. It is a great way to increase footfall for any business and more people means more business. So, never underestimate it. Remember, every check-in is important. It is because when someone checks-in at your business premises their network are be notified about it. This makes others know about this venue. If some positive comment is left over it then it is definitely going to be a profit for you.  Besides its own arc, it also posts on other networks like Facebook and Twitter. It spreads faster than any other platform.

How to start?

The very first thing that you’ll have to do is claim your business through its website. To claim business you’ll have to create a personal account first. Search your business venue through the search bar.

When you open the business page there is an option in the extreme right of the page then you will have to click ‘claim here’ option.

Once your business is in your control you can now plan how to increase following, attract people to check-in and increase your footfall.

Through strategy you need to:

Advertise:

You need to tell everyone out there that your business is there on Foursquare. For this you can use your Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn to tell your followers. Keep posting on regular basis about your presence on this platform. You can also add the logo for Foursquare within your premises which will help your customers know.

Attract:

What could be more amazing that getting discounts on things you purchase. Your buyers think the same way you do. So, provide offers, special discounts or packages to your customer who checks-in at your business. You can divide your offer packages based on:

• Every check-in
• First time check-in
• Loyalty (for those who come often and checks-in)
• Influencer (who influence people with good comments)

You can also use a combination of any two offers. So, if you see, the whole process is inclined towards increasing the number of people reaching your business.

Inform and Update:

Your most of the consumers are with you because of the services that you offer. Hence, you should maintain the authenticity on Foursquare and update your customers about new offers. You can also provide helpful tips that can help them to save money and get more. You should post on a regular interval on the page.

If you are planning to create a great social media strategy for your business then do not forget to add Foursquare to it. It is going to be a great contribution in your revenue..!!

Feel free to ask any question about Foursquare marketing and also share your feedback!

How to plan an effective Social Media Strategy?

In the highly competitive online world it is important for every organization to come up with a unique strategy through which they can achieve their targets. From generic Google advertisements to comprehensive social media plan everything requires deep research and creative conceptualizing. An online strategy depends on design, content, promotion and engagement. Usage of these five elements makes a tactic good or bad.

The online marketing mainly depends upon engagement because content is the key to it. On internet there are thousands of organizations working in the same domain. In order to be the best you’ll have to play clever. Focus on creating contents that can engage visitors because if you do not then it is easy for them to hop on to your competitors. Along with Search Engine Optimization and a creative website you should also include Social Media Marketing as the part of online marketing plan.

How Social Media Strategies work?

Being highly volatile in nature social media strategies require a lot of efforts and open mindedness of you and your team. You should create a plan that goes exactly to the theme that you have chosen for the quarter. Do not forget to carry these along:

Know the purpose:

While designing a strategy never forget to identify the focus of your organization. Social media can be used in various ways. It has the power to achieve various objectives like:

• Sales
• Lead Generations
• Product Information
• Loyalty
• Customer Retention
• Branding
• Feedback

Once you are clear with the objective of your organization then creating a suitable plan will become simple for you. As now you know the path on which you’ll have to think. So, try to take proper brief from the management or marketing team before planning anything.

Identify Your Forte:

Every brand has a unique selling point. It’s something different from its competitors. Try to shout it loud on social media platforms. Let everyone know what you have and how it is dissimilar from the market. As an example: McDonalds is a fast food chain but their USP is budget and ready to go meals. IPL (Indian Premier League) is the series of cricket matches but their USP is entertainment. You can relate Apple with innovations and Ogilvy with Creativity.

Discuss with different departments and understand what they think the forte of the organization is. After jotting down pointers select the one you think is going to make your company different from the market and plan accordingly.

Analyze Your Audience:

You are there on the social media because you want to get in touch with your consumers. So, every plan that you make should revolve around them. If you have never analyzed your audience then it’s a time to do it now. It is a good way to create an effective strategy. You will have to be really active on all of your social media platforms to evaluate how many are getting engaged with your posts, what they expect from you, what percentage of total audience is interacting with the page, etc. If you know all these you can design a sound plan. You will have to create specific content for your followers or make necessary changes in the current posting style. Your main focus should be to increase engagement on the page.

Evaluate Different Platforms:

There are numerous social media platforms on World Wide Web like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Foursquare, YouTube, etc. Every platform has its own specialties. So, while creating a strategy for your organization you should first know which platform will be able to fetch you a bigger fan base. You should also keep your audiences’ age groups, demographic locations, interests, etc. in mind.

As an example: If you are dealing in apparels and accessories then Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest is going to help your business grow. You can expect conversions from these channels. On the others hand if you are dealing in banking sector then Pinterest, Instagram or Tumblr might not be that helpful for you.

Be Open in Organization:

The best way to utilize social media is through letting other departments to add their inputs to it. Never allow one person or a team to handle social media platforms for an organization. Different departments should work together to bring the best out of it. Through this, the page will never get dull as likers will experience a huge variety in content. Also, when you work in a team you get more ideas and social media is also about experimenting and experiencing.

Offer Personal Touch:

Just like you, your audience also wants to connect with you. They do not want a dead page posting like machine. Never let your followers feel disowned. You should be quick in responding to their queries, show gratification to their appreciations, listen to their feedback, appreciate their participation, like every comment and talk to everyone if possible. This will help you to gain loyal consumers. You can even retain an irate buyer. What all you need to do is make the page sound like a human!

Fun of Different Social Media Platforms

Varied Social Media Channels explained through using coffee!

Facebook Comment Thread – ‘Reply’

Facebook has been continually coming up with new features. After every few weeks we hear something new from this giant social networking website. Few months back we were introduced to a great new search experience through graph search. Later it came along with new timeline look and now again with a new feature – comment thread.

What is Facebook comment thread?

Comment thread is a feature that allows you to reply on any comment by any user over a status, image or video. It comes right below the comment and also notifies the person on which the comment has been made. It is surely a good option for those who want to start a discussion but could not do it because they were not in each other’s friend list.

So, now whenever you find any interesting comment by someone you can directly hit the reply icon and say what you wanted directly to the person. It also creates a different discussion box. The only restriction is that one cannot reply over a reply.

Is it good for a brand?

It is going to be good for brands because it filters the comments based on the sentiments. Positive comments will rank up whereas the negative ones will be down-ranked. In addition to this, the order of the comments of the conversation thread will depend on the interest of the reader. It means that every user might see a different conversation ranking on top. It helps a brand to spread word of mouth which is the most effective and inexpensive way to advertise.

A brand might not have all genuine likers on the page but if one can influence the emotions then it’s not hard to convert as well. Through this feature when people will read the positive comments more undoubtedly their perception for a brand can change. Well it doesn’t mean that on the basis of this function only the brand image will depend, but yes it is be a contribution by Facebook to the organizations.

How to activate or deactivate this?

Facebook has been actively providing an option to every page to activate it. But if in case you didn’t get it by default or you don’t want to use it then you can follow these steps.

It is right there in the edit page section that you see on the top right of the page.

Click on manage permissions

Then scroll the page to ‘Allow replies to comments on my page’ and tick the box.

And now you can allow or deny people to reply on the comments made on your page.

The only flaw:

Overall the page looks absolutely fine. It is a good way to engage likers in discussions but the only flaw is that it makes the complete post looks messed-up. You will see random reply boxes than normal comments and again cluttered discussion threads.

But if we see on a broader prospective then Facebook reply is going to be a great benefit for brands and for people who likes open discussion on social networking sites. Also, as it focuses more on positive comments it is definitely going to change the outlook of social media marketing.

The Red Equal Sign & Social Awakening on Social Media!

Social Media has been the best way to share our thoughts or opinions on a particular topic. It gives us the way to express more and know others’ take on this too. From political issues to spicy Hollywood or Bollywood news we can get everything through using social media platforms. Facebook and Twitter have proved that these platforms do not only indulge youngsters to share funny facts or their story within their friend circle but also it has international and powerful reach.

A topic is getting viral in US because of social networking sites and people are showing their active support as well. It is about the legalizing marriages of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender in California where the 1996 Marriage Act only allows it between men and women. While the case was under hearing, Human Right Campaign created a logo with a pink equal sign over the red background. People were asked to share it to show their support. Within 24 hours it got more than 25,000 likes and 78,000 shares.

It has sparked light of discussion in Supreme Court over the issue as people were bombarding social media with red equal signs to reinforce. As per the data shared by Facebook, around 2.7 million people changed their profile pictures.

The graph gives the insight of sudden plunge in profile updates. Abruptly after 26^th March people started making changes to their profiles. It was the date when the ‘red equal sign’ first came on Facebook. Majorly college students took part in this campaign followed by other age groups too. A data represents that women were more supportive than men in changing their profile pictures.

On Facebook, famous actor George Takei changed his profile picture which grabbed more than 40,000 likes from his fans. Besides this, Sophia Bush changed her DP on Twitter to show her support. Over all this campaign is a hit as of now every moment people are adding to it. As a result this issue is spreading like fire not just in USA but also on international level.

The above map shows the virility of the logo in different regions of USA as per Facebook.

Twitter was nowhere behind Facebook to make people talk about this hot topic. Some of the most trending topics on twitter were #UnitedforMarriage, #equality, #prop8, #MarriageEquality, etc. With this logo came parodies which made people talk more about the issue.

Social Media is designed to give you a space to you to connect with your family and friends but also it has the global reach which makes it eye opener for people and government. As an example, the Egyptian revolution started with a status by a journalist which brought all the gulf countries together and fight for one cause.

Social Media has extreme gravity that stays calm throughout but if something comes in its way then it has the power to unite the world as well!