GlobalBX

One of the latest emerging trends for businesses in today’s market is the ability to let customers “check-in” at your business.  In essence, you’re giving customers the chance to announce to their social networks that they’ve stopped in.  There are a number of these new geolocation services giving you a chance to try some truly unique and completely FREE marketing if you do it right.  Now what company wouldn’t like that?

How do I take advantage of this?
A number of companies are offering this “geo-tagging” but only two really stand out.  Foursquare and Gowalla are the industry leaders.  Until recently, Facebook was also a big player in this arena.  They decided to shut down their location-based check-in service due to lack of interest among Facebook users.  Both of these companies allow you to register your business for free and they offer mobile apps for your customers to use when checking in.  You simply need to claim your business and then let your customers know they can start checking in using whatever service you chose (hopefully both!).

Giving it a Boost
Each company offers various incentives for using them.  Gowalla allows users to award companies with various virtual awards that grab the attention of other Gowalla users.  Get enough awards and your business gets featured on their respective city pages.  Another feature of Gowalla is the ability to promote events to different users.  Gowalla also allows you to customize a welcome message for those who check in, plus the ability to add some kind of promotion for stopping by.

Foursquare provides a similar user experience with a few changes with how they handle promotions.  It allows you to create custom promotions for those who stop in and check-in.  You can create coupons, group discounts, first time discounts among many other things.  These special offers encourage others to visit you and share the news with their friends.  It’s a great way to spread the word and give your customers a positive experience at the same time.

The best part with both of these services is that it gets your customers talking about you in front of their social networks for free.  All you need to do is provide them with a great experience once they find you.

Any Alternatives?
There are smaller location-based check-in companies, but none have the user base that Foursquare and Gowalla have.  Google hasn’t quite caught up to either of them, but they do have a “Google Places” service.  Millions of internet users search their maps to find local businesses.  With Google Places you can make sure you’re business is listed and easy to find on their maps.  Also, “places” results are usually near the top of the search engine results pages – so make sure you get noticed!

So there you have it.  You’re now ready to go places with your business too!  This can work for any type of company trying to merge their offline presence with social media and internet marketing.  The best part is none of it will cost you a penny!  Focus on developing good promotions for those who check-in with you, and the news will spread itself!