Ten great examples of foursquare local updates
It’s been about six weeks since foursquare launched local updates, a way for businesses to reach out and share news with their loyal customers. In that time, companies have been testing a wide variety of ways to use those local updates to reach out to their customers.
Here are ten of our favorites.
Seasonal Items
Local updates are a great way to let loyal customers know about new seasonal items, like this one from Dewey’s Pizza. Loyal customers will see it in their news feeds, while everyone sees it when they check in. The pictures serve as a nice visual enticement for customers to give it a try.
Specials
Foursquare specials can be attached to local updates, which helps to make customers aware of them, even if they weren’t planning to check in.
Charitable Contributions
Local updates, like this one from Meijer, are perfect for letting customers know about charitable contributions your company is making, and encouraging them to help the cause, too.
Recruitment
Which students are most likely to want to join the Campus Activities Council? The ones checking in to the Student Union, of course! This update is perfectly aimed at encouraging them to apply.
Any company could easily apply this same type of update to hiring, because sometimes your best customers turn into your most loyal employees.
Important Notices
Local updates are a great way to get out late-breaking news, like sell-outs or closings due to weather. Your most loyal customers will appreciate seeing the news in their activity feeds before they head your way.
Fashion Advice
This series of updates from The Gap are a perfect illustration of using local updates to keep customers aware of the latest fashion trends. That they come from celebrities (complete with photos) makes them even better.
Truly Local
Large chains have the option to publish local updates chain-wide, region-wide or at the individual store level. This update is customized just to the store where the event will be held, making it much more relevant than a chain-wide “check this site to see if your store is included” message.
Limited-Time Offers
Local updates offer the perfect way to get the word out about limited time offers, like this one from Bath & Body Works. They offer the immediacy of Twitter and Facebook, but go directly to your loyal customers — without the need for “liking” or “following” your updates in advance.
New Additions
A local update can make your loyal customers aware of new additions to your stores — and since they appear when any customer checks in, they serve as a reminder for everyone to check it out.
Teasers
Local updates can serve to get customers excited about things that are coming soon, like this new Starbucks at St. Mary’s University. In many cases, photos really help tell the story even better than the text of the update.
Which of these updates is your favorite? If you’ve seen other great local updates, share them in the comments.
