Maybe its because I only live in a town of 48,000 or because I got sick of it too fast but I don’t see the power in location based marketing. Social networking tools such as foursquare and gowalla are taking hold in the location based social marketing world and I still can’t get in on it. I think I got into foursquare at the wrong time. About a year and a half ago I got foursquare because I thought that it was fun and I wanted to stay on the “cutting edge”. I lost interest after a few months because business hadn’t quite adopted using it for too many promotional purposes. I think now it can be a powerful tool, in bigger cities. I think providing people with information based on their location is a helpful tool, although I’m not a fan of having to utilize so many different applications.
I come from the ADD crowd but give me a break, I do not want 10 different apps that I have to update manually using my phone. Granted, I have a Blackberry Curve (kinda out dated for the times) that I avoid even browsing the internet on. Even so, if I had a smarter phone I would still avoid having to log in to multiple applications just for the sake of getting a good deal. I was ecstatic when facebook added places, but it has done little more for me than tell stalkers where I am at any given moment. So here’s my proposition, I know we are almost there but I want this soon(there’s the impatient generation coming through). Call it creepy or whatever but I am actually excited for the day when advertising looks more like the Minority Report.
We’re already having our emails and social networks scanned to target us for advertisements. But wouldn’t it be great if you’re phone could serve out the information to tell the advertiser what I am interested in? IBM is currently working on this awesome technology and I can’t wait to see it in place so that instead of me walking past a Kotex advertisement in the store for tampons, my phone could tell the sign that I am approaching my interests and maybe remind me to buy some more Gillete Fusion razor blades (my personal favorite that don’t rip my face). Going along these same lines if I am on my regular route around town and nearing one of my most frequent restaurants, wouldn’t it be great if an ad could be targeted to you specifically of maybe your favorite dish? “Hey Ryan we see you’re in the neighborhood come on in and get a Cinnamon Pull-A-Part Half Price at the Pie Pizzaria.” Creepy? I say AWESOME! If advertisers could waste less money on Bulk Targeting and targeting their specific niche that would be ideal.
So for those companies utilizing foursquare (I might readopt just so I am not left in the dust) make sure that you are targeting your core market and making them come back for more. Offer incentives and follow these great tips.
Ry Bay 
That was trippy, I remember seeing Minority Report and being a little freaked out about the retina reading advertising. But we’re almost to that point. Freaky.