Foursquare
As mentioned in my previous post I believe the future of marketing is being driven by the connection of the physical and the digital world.
One of the services driving this, and getting a lot of attention during this year’s SXSW (after launching during SXSW last year) is Foursquare.
Foursquare is a location based social network that includes a gaming element.
Offering native mobile applications, SMS (text to 50500) or a mobile browser experience, Foursquare works by letting you “check in” as to where you are and sharing with your friends. You can also publish your location updates to your Twitter status and on Facebook.
The game element allows users to earn points and badges as they check-in. The more users check-in the more Foursquare features they can unlock.
The success of the service is beginning to drive some critical mass in adoption.
- Number of users: 500k+
- Over 1.2 million check ins per week
- Growth Rate: 60 – 70% monthly
- Global Distribution: 60% US
- Demographics: 21 – 35 (mobile / social)
- Mobile platform distribution:
- 67% iPhone
- 13% Android
- 11%. Blackberry
- 7% Mobile Web
- 1.5% Palm
- 1% SMS
What does this mean for marketers and others looking to take advantage of this trend? Currently there are two primary opportunities to leverage Foursquare:
API use: (see: http://foursquare.com/developers/)
The Foursquare API enables developers to build applications that interact with the Foursquare platform. You can use the API to create new ways to check-in to foursquare or visualize the data generated by the Foursquare community. The API is still a work in progress and they allow for feedback and suggestions.
Custom Badges:
Provide the ability to deliver custom, branded applications for users to earn.
Examples include:
