Geolocation Apps: Who Cares Where We Are?
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So, what are geolocation apps and why should you care? Good question. Well, first off, geolocation based apps are apps that base their features around where you are. They take that information from the GPS in a mobile device, such as a Blackberry, iPhone or another smartphone. That information is used to tell other users of the service where you are. Then some game aspect is usually added, such as giving badges, points or ranks based on how many places you visit or how often you visit them. A couple current apps that use geolocation are Gowalla and Foursquare.
Now for the interesting question. Why should you care? That’s not so simple. If you’re a parent, someone who has a stalker or someone concerned with their privacy, then these apps could be bad news. Think about all the potential problems if the wrong person knew where you or your kids were at all times, just by looking at status updates on these applications. If you haven’t thought about that, you should. If you have kids that use these apps and you haven’t talked to them about the dangers, you’d better.
Okay, that’s the dark side. Now for the lighter side of these apps. They can be a fun way to see what your friends are doing, share what you’re doing and turn going out into a bit of a game. It might even encourage you to check out places you’ve never visited and try new things.
It’s not all fun and games though. For businesses, these apps could mean new customers or a way to reward your best customers. I’m sure some of you are saying, “More customers? Tell me more!”
When it comes right down to it, the benefits of these apps to businesses revolve around exposure and awareness. If I’m using this app and I check-in somewhere near your business and someone else has visited your business before, I’ll probably see the name of your business on the list of places to check-in at. Just the other day I saw a new business that I had missed because it was on the second floor. It’s now on my list of places to check out. See how easily being on these services can build awareness for your business? Plus, if people check-in at your business frequently, that shows potential customers that you might be a good business to check out.
Sold? Wondering how you can you drive those numbers up to increase the popularity of your business? Well aside from offering the most amazing product or service, you could offer a limited time discount to customers that check in at your business on one of these services. Or you could offer a discount to the person that checks-in at your business the most often. That encourages people to visit your business more often, which is always a good thing. Plus, it will increase the popularity of your business on these geolocation based apps, making you more visible to potential customers.
As you can see, not only do geolocation based apps make your business more visible to new customers, they also give you a way to reward some of your best customers. These are customers that visit often and effectively give free advertising to your business by telling their friends about your business every time they check-in.
I’ve only given you a few ways that you could put these geolocation apps to work for you. There are many other ways to use these services to grow awareness and loyalty for your business. Experiment and see what works best for your business. Of course, the method you try will depend on the app you are targeting and I haven’t talked about the different apps yet. I’ll cover some of those in tomorrow’s post. So, if you’re interested in learning about the different apps, check in here tomorrow!
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I’ve been having fun using Foursquare to check in at different locations. I’ve become the “Mayor” of several local businesses that I frequent. These mayorships haven’t converted into any special savings/recognition from those businesses, but that’s OK. It may happen over time, but even if it doesn’t, it’s still fun to just play the game.