"He clocks in, you make money": enclosure-style marketing services
When I first bought the book “He checks in, you make money: Use Foursquare for marketing and make friends (opens in a new tab)”, I bought it with doubts.
Checking in is not a new thing. If Facebook is not enough to check in, why should we use Foursquare (opens in a new tab)? It wasn’t until I opened the book that I discovered that Facebook’s check-in is definitely not equal to Foursquare’s check-in.
Below, I use three errors to illustrate the difference between the two:
- The platform is wrong
Although Facebook check-in points can be turned into fan pages of merchants, Facebook is designed as a platform mainly for friends, so not many people visit Facebook store fan pages.
- Wrong usage context
When Foursquare checks in, relevant attractions and businesses will be promoted in two directions based on the location. Foursquare is location driven, whereas Facebook is currently only a one-way check-in.
- User habits are wrong
The habits of check-in operators are different. Facebook is only for check-in, while Foursquare will have localized and life-oriented information management.
Going back to the title of the book “He checks in, you make money: Use Foursquare for marketing and make friends (opens in a new tab)”, “he” refers to the person who checks in, which is easy to define, but who does “you” refer to? From here it is clear that the positioning of this book is mainly written for service providers who want to use Foursquare; take myself as an example, I am a SOHO lecturer, and my personal brand marketing strategy has been changed by Foursquare.
For example, a while ago, most of the people I served were entrepreneurs, so I would go to some entrepreneurial incubation centers. The number of potential customers gathered in that location (location) was far greater than any other place. Today, if I use my own brand account to check in, it means “I am advertising on my potential customers’ homes, on their way to work, or even in their companies.” Today, as long as a potential customer checks in using Foursquare (opens in a new tab), my brand may appear in front of him for free.
In the past, when we talked about marketing, we always emphasized Location, Location, Location, and Foursquare brought such a new type of “enclosure-style” marketing model.
Finally, too many people discovered the importance of the business model only after experiencing Facebook’s public offering (IPO). The key to Foursquare’s profitability can actually be regarded as the prototype of the LBS (location based service) business model. Most of today’s entrepreneurial models related to LBS can be seen in this book with excellent cases, and some are even unique to Foursquare.
Do you want to start a business? Interested in site-specific services? Everyone is really welcome to take a look at this book (opens in a new tab). I believe there are many prototype business models that can inspire you now.
Text: Sun Zhihua (opens in a new tab)
Picture: Vista Cheng
Author profile: I always read every book with expectations (What kind of problems can it solve for me?) and doubts (Will it have any differences from my past experience?). Currently running the blog “Presentation Laboratory (opens in a new tab)”, welcome to visit.
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Vista Cheng speaks and runs workshops on AI workflows, writing and content systems for companies, schools and public agencies.
