Foursquare | Internet Marketing Blog

The Wall Street Journal finds a way to Foursquare with purpose

The Wall Street Journal may have a long way to go before its new New York section becomes a must-read, but it's making some headway with social media.

When the newspaper launched its new section last month, it also announced a partnership with Foursquare. And while one of my colleagues might disagree with me on this one, I think it was a smart move. And today proved why.

by Meghan Keane 07 May 2010 22:23pm 0 comments

Geomarketing: Ten Foursquare marketing campaigns

Geolocation-based social network Foursquare just might be the internet's 'next big thing'. While it isn't anywhere close to the size of Twitter or Facebook, the young company last month passed the million user mark.

That's a memorable milestone for any consumer internet startup, but the company's progress is perhaps better measured by the number of marketing deals it has inked with bigger companies. Here are 10 of those deals.

by Patricio Robles 04 May 2010 11:04am 14 comments

Platform before strategy: the Wall Street Journal teams up with Foursquare

Is Foursquare the next consumer internet startup that's on the verge of making a big mainstream splash? A growing number of print publishers seem to hope it is and are in turn aligning themselves with the young company.

Recently, I detailed the Financial Times' initiative with Foursquare, which will give certain Foursquare users the ability to access FT.com without a subscription at no cost for a limited time.

by Patricio Robles 27 April 2010 11:35am 3 comments

Pepsi Zeigeist 2010: Tracking the twitterati at SXSW

Austin's music, film and tech festival SXSW came and went this year with much fanfare and documentation. One of the parties following along was Pepsi. The soft drink makers spent its second year tracking social media at SXSW with something called Pepsi Zeitgeist.

Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Flickr updates were all sent to Pepsi's tracking interface, built by Slash7. The results from the event show both the potential for listening in on social media and how much room for growth there is in this burgeoning medium.

by Meghan Keane 12 April 2010 22:28pm 0 comments

Check in with Foursquare, tear down FT.com's pay wall?

The Financial Times is lucky. It's in the minority of newspapers that can legitimately claim to have found 'success' with an internet pay wall. The company's subscribers pay upwards of $180 a year to access content on the Financial Times' website, FT.com, which is behind one of the more solid pay walls around.

But that pay wall isn't impervious; it may be coming down if you're a certain type of mobile internet user in certain geographic regions. That's because, according to Business Insider, the Financial Times will soon launch an initiative with Foursquare that will give some Foursquare users who check into certain businesses in certain locations the ability to access FT.com without a paid subscription.

by Patricio Robles 12 April 2010 09:00am 1 comment

'Celebrifying' your business: pros and cons

Some of the world's most recognizable brands collectively spend billions of dollars annually associating themselves with celebrities (movie stars, athletes, etc.). The logic is simple: consumers love celebrities, and by associating with the right ones, brands can generate goodwill and buzz.

Most young internet businesses don't have the moola to ink celebrity sponsorships, but that doesn't mean that celebrities haven't become an important part of the web startup ecosystem. Just look at Twitter.

by Patricio Robles 24 March 2010 08:54am 2 comments

Foursquare opens up for businesses with new features

This week, both Twitter and Facebook have come out with big location news. Twitter is adding geolocation features and Facebook will soon let users share their location. Both of those announcements could strike fear in the heart of a mobile check-in service like Foursquare. But Foursquare is banking its success in the mobile check-in space on attention to detail. And the company also has some new features — that could be very useful for small businesses.

In the next few weeks, Foursquare is going to start sharing a free analytics tool that will help small businesses track — and communicate with — their customers.

by Meghan Keane 09 March 2010 23:22pm 1 comment

Staying cool and making money can be hard to do

Mobile location-based social network and gaming service Foursquare has been generated a bit of buzz lately, especially amongst the early adopter crowd. In just under a year, it has amassed a user base of 300,000, and with deals like the one it recently signed with television network Bravo, some believe Foursquare may be ready to hit the mainstream.

That's good news for the company and its investors, but as Foursquare starts exploring the commercial opportunities that come with popularity, it may find that maintaining the 'cool' factor and maximizing commercial opportunities at the same time is a difficult thing to do.

by Patricio Robles 04 February 2010 10:44am 2 comments

SMWNY: When will location-based services stop being fads and start getting real?

Twitter is over three years old and many people still don't get it. Just last week, The NewYorker's George Packer called it “crack for media addicts.” But will real-time oversharing services make it into the mainstream?

At The Future of Space and Time talk during Social Media Week in New York on Wednesday, panelists from the tech world noted that conditioning larger audiences to share their real-time info and location will be necessary for such technologies to truly take off.

And for advertisers, this could be the key to actually serving those relevant ads everyone's always talking about.

by Meghan Keane 03 February 2010 17:54pm 0 comments

Foursquare and Bravo try to bridge the digital divide — one check-in at a time

As television audiences shrink, the networks are suddenly very interested in partnerships that bridge the digital divide. That might help explain why a big brand like Bravo TV would announce a partnership with a tiny startup like Foursquare today. And it might just work.

Starting this week, Foursquare will start awarding its users with badges that have Bravo themes when they visit over 500 locations associated with the network. The announcement is just one of many partnerships Foursquare has been quickly announcing, and it is just the kind of thing that networks need to do if they want to connect their television audiences with digital and real world products.

by Meghan Keane 01 February 2010 17:55pm 1 comment