Businesses Need to Check In or Lose Out
Imagine you have had a 1000 people check in and you have no one to meet them at the front desk?
Well that is what is happening with many leading Business and Tourism sites.
we found four local tourism businesses that each have had over a 1000 people check in, yet the operator has not taken the simple step of claiming the site for their business
Location Based Social Networking impacts Business
There has been an explosive growth in location based social networking and business and tourism operators need to get on board.
because people are already checking into your business
it’s almost near certain your business or tourism site is listed
And that people may be making comments about it
What is location based social networking?
Location based social networking allows users to find, review and share information about businesses and attractions in their area. Their area is determined on where they are using the GPS built into most smart phones. The impact on businesses such as restaurants etc could be significant. Location based social networking is building on the already existing popularity of mobile maps, which
In a survey conducted for the World Travel and Tourism Council, 63% of travellers revealed that they used a mobile map service on holiday (source article on Are guidebooks facing extinction? in UK Guardian Newspaper)
People Love Location Based Social Networking
Location based social networking sites include Foursquare, Gowalla and Whrrl and recently Twitter, Facebook and even Google have released their own variations/ hybrids.
Foursquare is arguably the current leader. Although Foursquare is growing in Australia, in Japan and the USA it is really popular. It is also used in the United Kingdom and Korea. Together the UK, Japan and Korea account for around 2 million nights accommodation on the Gold Coast, according to Tourism Queensland statistics.
Leadership by Queensland Tourism
To their great credit, Tourism Queensland has been an early adopter and promoter on Foursquare. With the Minister in a press statement saying that Foursquare is a
“It’s a friend-finder, a guide book and a game that challenges users to experience new things and rewards them for doing so – which makes it a perfect digital tool for showcasing Queensland’s vast array of tourism products. (source)
So back to the Problem
Over 4000 people have checked in to our top attractions already. Might not sound like a staggering figure. But think about this, a significant number foursquare users have other social networks such as facebook and twitter. When they check in, make a review or leave a tip about your site they are sharing that information with many many other people. If one foursquare user has just a 100 other friends or followers on other social networks, then that means 400,000 people have seen your brand.
The problem is despite the great work of Queensland Tourism ( credit where its due), when we checked our top Gold Coast attractions most had not claimed their Foursquare site. This means in three or four cases over a 1000 people had checked into the Tourist location but no one was their from the business. Claiming you site is easy, if you don’t know how just contact us, we will help you.
But what it also means is that businesses are missing out on the spin off marketing benefits and campaigns that they can run. Did you know for example you can post special offers to some of these sites for nothing – free advertising!
Consumers are apparently willing to receive marketing messages to their phones, in particular offers, but brands are failing to make the most of consumers’ willingness to be targeted through mobile messaging (source: extract from article link below)
If you want to discuss how location based social networking can be used to help your business, please contact us , we are happy to help.
