Three reasons to keep an eye on foursquare

I don’t use foursquare. At least not yet.

But every time I go out to lunch with Michael, I see him checking in to the restaurant on foursquare with his mobile phone.

I’m at the place where I don’t feel like joining yet another social network. But as a marketing professional, I need to stay ahead of things. So I asked him why he takes part:

It’s a game which creates a different mentality than checking in on Yelp, or something else.  It keeps the users engaged.

A little of my paraphrasing on the potential he sees for the hospitality industry:

1. Foursquare drives repeat business. People keep coming back to the same place to become “mayor.” People compete to stay mayor as well, and I have seen competitions get ridiculous.
2. Foursquare partnered with Zagat. Not so much that foursquare will get a wider audience, but Zagat has direct, on the go, immediate advertising to potential clients that are branded as foodies.  Zagat gets to say “come here” if they are next door having a drink.  It’s amazing site-specific marketing.
3. Foursquare is being used  like early adopters of Twitter…. and foursquare has a more direct capacity for commerce and B2P than Twitter.

This is a tool I’ll definitely be watching. In the meantime, be sure to read Michael’s blog for more social media goodness….