I had a client meeting last week to discuss their marketing plans for 2011 and how integration of Social Media will factor into that plan. A few of their stores haven’t yet jumped into the Social Media arena and a quick check found that even though they didn’t have Facebook pages, their customers have been ‘checking in’ at their stores through Foursquare and Facebook Places.
When the GM’s heard this news, they all looked at each other and said to me, “Foursquare…oh, we were thinking of the other Foursquare”. Ah yes, all of us in the car business already have that one in our vocabulary. We’ve been working deals with it since the dawn of time. All the managers in the room said, “Geez, now we gotta figure out another kind of Foursquare?!”
This new Foursquare (and others like Facebook Places) is a location-based phone app that allows users to ‘check in’ at different places to let their Social Network see where they are. This lets the dealership know who’s coming and going in their store and when the customer posts their location showing their friends where they shop….poof, you’ve just automated some fantastic word-of-mouth.
Around this time last year, Foursquare had 200,000 people signed up. Today, it has over 5 million users. Your customers use Foursquare for 3 reasons:
- It has a game-like nature to it
- It creates a competition amongst friends
- It keeps a journal and keeps track of what you do
Let’s face it guys, your store is already ON Social Media. Your customers are checking into your store and talking about it online right now. Your only decision is how to effectively participate in that conversation to generate leads. Isn’t it time you took charge of your online persona? Your customers are waiting to hear from you!
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