According to Rick Wion, McDonalds head of Social Media, the company were able to increase Foursquare check-ins in stores by 33% with a Foursquare campaign this Spring. The campaign coincided with ‘Foursquare Day’ in April and gave restaurant goers the chance of winning $5 and $10 giftcards when they checked into McDonalds with Foursquare.
The chance of getting something free can be enough of an incentive to get people through the doors and Foursquare seems to be becoming a great way of providing these incentives. The one day campaign cost a grand total of $1,000 which, for a company the size of McDonalds, is evidence that location-based campaigns can be relatively cheap.
There are a lot of sceptics out there who think that there is not much scope for location-based services to actually increase a business’s visitors or sales, that its uses are purely social, but I disagree.
I think there are some great opportunities out there for businesses, both big and small, to increase traffic to their stores by offering freebies or running competitions through location-based services. The chance of a free coffee etc. could provide that little nudge that a customer needs to pick your business over a competitors.
