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Social Media Playground — Time to play foursquare?

Social Media Playground — Time to play foursquare?

Four square was never really a popular game during recess. Tether ball, red rover, and mutilate-other-people’s-snowmen were the playground fads when I was a kid. Several years and many ill-conceived wardrobe choices later, foursquare has finally reached popular acclaim; well, its title at least — I’d be surprised if 3rd graders are fighting over four square courts down at Happy Learning Elementary this afternoon.

The location-based social networking site foursquare has celebrated monumental growth since its launch in 2009 — championing over 15 million users in December. Businesses and organizations around the globe (including those in the multifamily industry) are embracing the limitless opportunities that exist among those 15 million users.

Foursquare offers oodles of free tools for businesses, most notably specials. After a business has claimed their location, they can post specials to entice potential customers to stop by. Rental companies currently engaging in foursquare offer specials such as waiving the application fee for a check-in (LCOR Residential, Las Vegas) or free coffee and a cookie just for stopping by (The Bozzuto Group, Baltimore).


But it’s not all about specials ― by using foursquare’s lists and tips, The Cocoran Real Estate Group has provided a wealth of local insight to prospective buyers: expert recommendations on restaurants, shopping centers, arts venues, etc., within the neighborhoods the buyers are touring. So people visiting properties in the East Village can check out Cocoran’s lists and tips and see that Artichoke Basille’s is where locals go for pizza, Tompkins Square Park has an awesome Halloween Dog Parade, Rockwood Music Hall has free shows with emerging artists, and suddenly they can imagine themselves easily making this neighborhood their new home. Cocoran has a whopping 14,000-some followers, and is able to engage mobile users for 40% longer than on the Cocoran.com website alone.

If you’re still trying to find ways to get your community in the foursquare scene, consider these ideas:
  • Invite prospective residents to take a foursquare tour through your various different properties, by setting up foursquare check-ins at each location and offering rent discounts to those that check-in at every destination of the tour.
  • Coordinate with local businesses through foursquare cross promotions.
  • Offer prizes to residents that check-in at community events.
  • Provide monthly perks for your community’s foursquare mayor: rent discount, gift card, or dedicated parking spot.
  • Offer a badge to the resident that contributes the most photos to your foursquare page.
I’d love to hear your foursquare (or four square) sentiments and promotional ideas, so leave a comment. And if you’re ready to play, here’s a video from Howcast that provides a quick and
simple intro to foursquare for business. It’s basically the hottest quadrilateral-based sport since chess.

 

 
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

I agree that it goes far beyond check-in specials. I love what Corcoran is doing with Foursquare, and it makes sense in a market where a lot of people are using the app. I also like how they've used their Foursquare presence to create other content, such as infographics that they've reshared on Flickr. What do you mean by "Corcoran ... is able to engage mobile users for 40% longer than on the Corcoran.com website alone."?

The opportunity to build a brand presence beyond the property is where we see the greatest benefit of being on Foursquare. We're working with a few clients to build similar lists and local tips, and we've seen some good traction from local users, especially in the Chicago area. We're also using tips to highlight resident benefits (such as discounts at local venues) and build links back to the apartment company website. We've added the "Save to Foursquare" button to a few property websites, but we really haven't seen too many people take advantage of that yet.

I haven't seen anyone who has offered a badge ... last I checked, it was a minimum of $50k for a brand to get a custom badge on Foursquare. Do you know of any properties doing this?

We're also exploring ways to leverage the Foursquare API to connect their data to other software programs -- I think there are some really interesting possibilities (assuming a decent portion of your target audience is using the service). I'm looking forward to hearing how others are using the service to promote their properties.

  Mike Whaling
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

You lost me at "Four square was never really a popular game during recess."

But really, great blog. Here are some relevant links for those reading:
- Corcoran Group on FourSquare
- Corcoran Group infographic on Flickr

  Brent Williams
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Thanks for your comments! I much appreciate your feedback.

@Mike - With the Corcoran stat, I was trying to say that with their use of foursquare tips, they've been able to keep the attention of mobile users for 40% longer, compared to when users accessed the Corcoran website alone. On second glance, the full stat reads that the addition of foursquare tips to their app has increased the average time spent on the app by 40%, with people spending 4x longer on the app than Corcoran's website -- which is something quite different, so thank you for pointing that out! Source: https://foursquare.com/business/brands/casestudies/corcoran

And you make a great point with the badge. I haven't seen any properties offering a badge, it was an idea to throw into the mix. But thank you for clarifying that in most cases, badges carry a charge too hefty warrant realistic consideration.

It's great to hear that your clients in Chicago are seeing early success with lists & tips. And I love the concept of "building brand presence beyond the property." Thank you again for sharing your thoughts!

@Brent - Thanks the providing these links! -- great for those who want to learn more about how Corcoran is using foursquare.

  Tashina Wortham
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Great article, Tashina! Feel free to join the Foursquare group on MFI. There hasn't been much activity there in a while and it would be good to get some fresh ideas pumped into the conversation.

http://www.multifamilyinsiders.com/apartment-groups/viewgroup/126-apartment-marketing-fun-with-foursquare-are-you-playing

  David Kotowski

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