Local social site Foursquare recently introduced a new feature to their app. It’s called the “I’m with…” button, and it means that users now have the power to not just check themselves into your locations, but to check their friends in as well.
Foursquare noticed that after adding their “mention” feature, 9 out of 10 times it was used, people were mentioning that they were at a location with one of their friends. They decided to make this more useful by giving people the option to just go ahead and check their friends in. That way, only one person has to pull out their phone to check an entire group of people into your location all at once.
Understandably, Foursquare has set it up so that one person can’t just check in whoever they please. The first time around, their friend will need to verify that it’s okay. But after that, they can check them in every time.
So, how can we as marketers take advantage of this change?
As you probably already know, check-ins are an important part of Foursquare’s algorithmic ranking. When people use their search features to find local businesses worth looking into, the most important factor is the number of check-ins. This is what has given Foursquare a unique position in the local space. Check-ins give Foursquare habit data, not just reviews and ratings. As most business professionals already know, behavioral data says a lot more about what consumers really do than their “opinions.”
On top of that, Fourquare allows people to follow each other. If somebody they follow checks in to a location, they are more likely to get a recommendation to visit the place.
So, the more check-ins your location gets, the more people who are likely to discover you. And this is increasingly true for people who don’ even have the Foursquare app, as more and more people take advantage of Foursquare’s online search experience.
Unlike, say, Google’s ratings, it’s totally kosher for you to ask your customers to check in, or even incentivize them with special deals if they do.
Well, now you have yet another option. You can ask your customers to not only check themselves in, but check all their friends in as well. You’re free to incentivize this with special deals for large groups. Of course, this would have been possible before, but it would have been much more inconvenient to ask a large group of people to check themselves in, and it really wouldn’t have made much sense to ask without the addition of the “I’m with…” button.
The only real danger that comes into play here is the question of how this could make your other customers feel. They may find it frustrating or unfair that they have to have a mobile phone and an app to get your special deals. To combat this, it would be wise to offer an alternative, such as signing up for an email list, to get the same deal.
So there you have it, an easy way to cash in on this new update.