How Businesses can Benefit from New Foursquare for Businesses

Foursquare newly introduced its second app, ‘Foursquare for Businesses’ - a new standalone app to help business owners share news with their customers, right from their phone. It enables its business partners to post photo updates, manage specials and offers and monitor analytics.

This new Business app allows businesses to easily cross-post Foursquare updates on Twitter and Facebook networks at the same time, also use the app to see recent check-ins, turn specials on and off and look at business data such as likes and top customers. A separate 'analytics' tab shows the top recent visitors (along with a total number of check-ins and likes).

Businesses can certainly benefit out of Foursquare for Businesses:

Foursquare offers free tools to help you attract and reward customers. Whether you manage a single location or national chain, you can:

1. Learn about frequent and recent customers:

Its key advantage is that businesses can keep a track on their frequent visitors by just tapping into visitor’s profile. It not only keeps a track of your frequent visitors, but it also allows you to learn more about your recent and most loyal customers.

Having different specials or offers for frequent visitors could encourage them to visit often. Make them feel special!

2. Drive Traffic through Foursquare Specials:

Foursquare specials are designed to get new customers in the door with specific promotions and loyalty programs.

One can activate and deactivate specials to drive traffic to their doors.

For example: A hotel manager who sees number of empty tables in a restaurant, can turn on an offer of 15% off on Foursquare special. Discount always hooks attention!

3. Make Announcements to the visitors:

This feature gives businesses a new and a better platform to announce about their latest offerings and collections. It enables stores to make their announcements easily available to visitors.

The Foursquare for Business app is currently available on iPhone and Android. Download it for free.

4. Measure Footfall:

See how many check-ins you're getting each week, and how many of those are being shared on Facebook and Twitter.

Best practices for businesses:

1. Claim Your businesses and make sure your information is up to date. Add a description, phone number, hours of operation as well as links to your website, Twitter, and Facebook profiles.

2.  Remind customers to check in. Offor incentives for check-ins.

3.  Post regular updates, offer specials, and add events to entice your customers.

4. Read tips customers leave at your business location(s) and check your analytics data regularly to keep track of your customers.

Click here for iPhone, and here for Android.