As of writing, Foursquare boasts of over 20 million users worldwide, engaging through their mobile app and Web service to sharing where they are and what they’re doing there. With this many users and the countless engagement opportunities it offers, it’s also become one of the most powerful tools for social media marketing. In fact, there are already over 750,000 brands on it with more getting aboard the social media service, aiming to create and implement strategies that can positively resonate within their targeted niches.

Yes, all the other social media sites have already given us the power to overshare both the interesting and the mundane—from photos of our cats being adorable to describing autopsies in graphic detail. However, Foursquare offers a more focused approach to brand development with the help of existing and potential customers both on- and offline.

With gamification elements built into its core, companies can make the entire experience a lot more immersive through different customized tactics for better engagement opportunities that are fun, and rewarding for their followers. Here are a few tips for optimizing Foursquare for social media marketing.

Sign Up for a Foursquare Business Page

Image by the Robert Scoble

Whether your business has a physical storefront or you’re merely a brand intending to heavily capitalize on geolocation for your campaigns, signing up for a Foursquare account can definitely help you reach online marketing rockstardom. In both cases, signing up for an account offers a ton of opportunities and benefits including the following:

• Customize your business’ page to provide better information about your business; what you offer, where you are, and how people can reach you.
• Use your brand’s Foursquare page to expand your visibility on- and offline.
• Advertise your brand’s presence with your followers and customers playing the role of brand evangelists. Every time they check-in, they help promote your establishment to their own followers on the app and across social networks.
• Helps you monitor interactions and impressions online, helping you take a more proactive approach to customer relations, reputation management, and customer engagement.

Two Kinds of Profile Pages

For brands with physical locations that welcome customers for transactions, Foursquare offers a Merchant Platform where you can create and optimize a page for your stores, monitor its progress, and engage with your growing clientele. Here, you can create ways to reach your targeted demographic, provide special offerings like loyalty rewards (discounts and freebies), and cultivate your following.

On the other hand, if your brand doesn’t have a physical store, Foursquare is still a great place to establish your online presence and maximize your reach. With its Brand Platform, companies can set up their brand’s profile pages where they can connect with their followers, foster communities around them, and create specialized location-based campaigns.

Claim Your Business and Merge Locations

Image by dpstyles™

Between your online marketing efforts and the number of frequent customers, there is a big chance that there are multiple Foursquare listings pertaining to your brand’s singular location.

Obviously, you’ll need to merge them into a singular venue on the site. Otherwise, it’ll be a nightmare monitoring every listing to track your brand’s reputation, activities, and engagements.

Of course, you’ll first need to conduct a vanity search to locate those multiple listings. Once Foursquare comes up with the search results, you’ll need to actually check the addresses specified on each one and get the location IDs. The location ID is the alphanumerics at the end of every location’s URL. With these location IDs, you can make merge requests on Foursquare.

Tags: foursquare, Geolocation, social media marketing, Social Media Marketing Tools, Social Pointers