Back on February 3rd of 2009 I wrote a post that asked Will Social Media Become More Niche In 1000 Days? With the recent rise in popularity of Foursquare the answer to the question is yes. Social is far more niche than when I wrote that post.
The addition of geography to keyword and #hashtag search has allowed users to dive even further and businesses are able to derive even more:
- Business Intelligence
- Competitive Analysis
- Direct To Consumer Marketing
In the coming months look for Foursquare to start segmenting industries even further. Also, rural America does not have much of a presence on Foursquare, so they might have to seed some content there. Ultimately, the day might come where you will be able to search for the most random of items or service based on your current location- and find it. I think it is safe say that Foursquare is pushing niche and the Geo makes traveling, moving or simply knowing your surroundings, that much easier.
I am sure there are other business drivers I missed. Feel free to bolt on your business drivers for Foursquare in the comments.
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Social Schmoozing 
May 3rd, 2010 at 10:50 am
Great post! I think that even though FourSquare has been around for a little while, businesses are still jumping into using this tool as part of their marketing plans. It’ll be interesting to see how some not-so-obvious brands come out with creative uses for this tool. But in the meantime, I think that any restaurant, coffee shop, bar, etc. that isn’t offering special deals to their Mayors is seriously missing out!
May 3rd, 2010 at 11:05 am
Janet- agreed! I suspect that other businesses will eventually jump on board and create almost a yellow pages of the web with Foursquare. The only difference is you cant get testimonials from the yellow pages. 😉 Need a lawyer? Graphic designer? Heck, need a new job? Imaging being able to get ratings and reviews for employers on foursquare. Say you visit Chicago, love it and want to stay? Being able to search for highly rated companies to work for would be huge. The opportunity is endless. They just need more users and they need to break it down buy niche industries for it to realize its full potential.
May 3rd, 2010 at 3:29 pm
As of right now many location based services do not offer nearly enough value to their users. I use buzzd, which is a real-time social city guide for your mobile device. It offers one comprehensive source to see the most popular places around them based on happenings and check-ins from across multiple sources. I think it provides much more value for you when you know whats the most happening place in town! They have some new verisons of their application coming out as well, check them out!
May 3rd, 2010 at 5:33 pm
Scott, are you a buzzd employee? FYI adding a link in wordpress is an in-link for buzzd- feel free. 😉
May 3rd, 2010 at 6:23 pm
Hey Derek, I just recently started interning for buzzd, nice pick-up! Its an awesome company and they are gearing up to roll out some new app launches within the next few weeks. Should make a big splash in the LBS field 🙂 Let me know if you would like to be kept in the loop?
And for everyone else that is unfamiliar with buzzd and is reading this awesome blog check us out at http://www.buzzd.com!
May 4th, 2010 at 12:05 am
Scott well done. A case study of how to engage for brand exposure. Please send me your twitter username and what you would like me to tweet with a link. 🙂 You can leave it in the comments for an additional in link if you like.
Lets chat about buzzd. dshowerman@gmail.com
May 30th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
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May 30th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Of course. Share away.