Not just for kids

Foursquare, to my mind, is a combination of Facebook, LinkedIn and Penny Savers. It's part LinkedIn because it builds a network based on your friends, wherever they are and however they came to become “friends;” it's part Facebook because Foursquare uses iconic badges to signify an individual's achievements, and part Penny Savers because, just as how the coupons in those booklets build loyalty between advertisers and their recipient customers, Foursquare is all about building a creative loyalty program.

Foursquare promotes your agency name in the market and reaches a much more mobile audience than might be possible through television or newspaper ads. Granted, the market will tend to be younger, but that's where the future lies. Positioning your business with a platform like Foursquare says something about how you look at yourselves so you will have begun introducing your agency before the prospect even meets you.

When I was a young boy, my mother collected S&H Green Stamps. I'm not sure how widespread that loyalty program was, but she was determined to fill the books to redeem them for a toaster or blender or some other kitchen appliance.

Related: Be a fan of AA&B on facebook!

With Foursquare, however, the proof is in the pudding. While still somewhat new, Foursquare has already proved its worth to retailers as a way to build market share and walk-in business. According to a blog on its website, “Foursquare was created to motivate people to discover interesting things around them.”

This app works by creating environments that provide incentive for members to visit retail businesses. Every time you're out and about, check the “Places” button on your smart phone with GPS to see if it picks up the stores near you. When you visit a restaurant or dry cleaners or some other store, “Check In” online and then leave a “Tip”–not the money kind, but the information type. What's so great about that particular establishment (price, service, product, view, energy, whatever)? Similar to Twitter, the Tips are limited to 140 characters.

The more often you check in to a business, the more points you receive; at a certain level, you can become “The Mayor” of that business. All you have to do is check in to the venue more than anyone else in the last 60 days. If you're at an establishment that isn't showing up on Foursquare, you can add it, check in and still get points.

Some businesses use this process to identify people who deserve coupons for free items. As an example, Starbucks offered $1 off any size Frappuccino for its mayors. Already the most “checked in” retailer on the platform, Starbucks saw a 50 percent increase in check ins since running the mayors' special.

Another store, a chocolate retailer in Palo Alto, Calif., ran a similar redemption program through Foursquare and a local newspaper. Using the free Foursquare platform, the retailer realized 50 new customers and saw more than 100 redemptions after running the program for seven weeks.

In contrast, the $300 ad in the local newspaper netted the chocolatier only one customer with a redemption. The owner also claims that more than 25 percent of people who took advantage of the redemption program through Foursquare return regularly to make purchases.

Local businesses, as well as national chains like Sports Authority, Ben & Jerry's and Whole Foods, are all leveraging this platform to drive traffic. Others are using it to build partnerships.

As I began researching Foursquare, I created a picture in my head of a great social media platform for building loyalty, driving traffic and for individuals to start seeing the communities in which they work and live in a different light. But I was stumped by how a business like an insurance agency, which customers visit maybe once or even never by conducting all their transactions over the phone, could leverage it.

As I read more examples of how retailers created special programs for customers, a picture started forming of ways for a low-trafficked venue to use Foursquare to improve its marketing. A basic tenet of marketing is first to get your brand out into the target community, second is to differentiate yourself from your competition and third is to drive your targets to do something (call, visit the website, check your insurance limits, etc.).

Additionally, if you write commercial lines and have some clients that are retailers, you should encourage them to become a business venue on Foursquare and then partner with them on a special. It will drive traffic to that business and promote your agency at the same time. An example might be to partner with a restaurant you write to give customers a free side dish for every fifth check in, and the program would have your branding on the website. Or maybe every venue mayor of the restaurant could receive a free home inventory check-up. Even if they are not your client now, how much value to you is there in getting them to stop by and discuss homeowner's insurance and the importance of taking an accurate inventory?

These are just a couple of ideas. I'm sure you can think of many more. Visit the Foursquare website to find examples of other businesses that are leveraging this tool. To get answers to many of your questions from a user or business perspective, visit the FAQ page, and if you want to “claim” your agency as the manager, search to see if you're already in the Foursquare listings or add the agency, then identify yourself as the manager. Currently, the verification process is somewhat manual and may take a little time. Foursquare is developing an automated method that will immediately validate with no waiting time. And then you're off!

Foursquare is just one of thousands of apps that can support your marketing efforts. It currently has around 1.5 million users around the world, and is growing. If this platform doesn't fit your agency's marketing plan, I'm sure there's one that does.

You may still think you don't need to have a presence online beyond your website, but think about this.

According to “Socialnomics” author Erik Qualman:

• More than 50 percent of the world's population is under 30 years old
• 96 percent of Millennials have joined a social network
• Facebook tops Google for weekly traffic in the U.S.–which means it's becoming more important how your business appears on Facebook than what position it turns up at in a search
• U.S. Dept. of Education study revealed that online students outperformed those receiving face-to-face instruction
• 80 percent of companies use social media for recruitment
• The fastest-growing segment on Facebook is 55- to 65-year-old females
• YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world
• There are more than 200 million blogs
• 34 percent of bloggers post opinions about products and brands.

Social media isn't a fad; it's a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.

How well is your agency doing it? Can I help? Let me know what other social media platforms you'd like to read about.