Foursquare’s Key to Success

I’ve been promoting foursquare for a number of months now.  I’ve gotten a number of people to sign up and use the service, too.  Many of them even have become what you would call “foursquare addicts” – people who play the game and are constantly checking in to places they visit in hopes of achieving a mayorship, badge, or even free or discounted stuff.  Foursquare has been partnering with hundreds of businesses both small and large to increase the value of a mayorship, check-in, or badge.  Which leads us to the question of how much value can be provided to someone who uses foursquare?

It’s a legitimate question and one that should be thoroughly thought about.  Foursquare will need to continue to grow and increase its user base, but that’s obvious.  What foursquare really needs aside from a large user base is a large user base of dedicated users.  In essence, they need be Facebook and that is no easy task.  When I say they need to be Facebook, I’m not implying that they need to offer the same services.  In fact, that’s not what I’m saying at all.  What they need to do is have a user base the size of Facebook’s and a user base that uses the service as much as Facebook users use Facebook.  And again, that is very difficult to do.

But why is that?  Why would foursquare need to achieve the status of Facebook to succeed?  Well, the only way foursquare will ever be taken seriously and that the majority of businesses around the world will even consider adopting it is if they have a.) a large enough user base and b.) the users frequently use the service.  Ideally, the more people that use foursquare on a regular basis (and that is key) the more appealing it will become for businesses to sign up and offer things to those who use it.

So while you may want to be cool and keep foursquare “not as popular” so you can be the mayor of your favorite places with ease, what is that really providing to you in the long run?  Being the mayor at Starbucks or your favorite local restaurant or bar currently has no real value.  You get nothing out of it.  Except knowing that perhaps you drink too many Venti Iced White Mocha’s from Starbucks and are still paying full price.

Very few businesses will jump on board with foursquare if only a handful of people are using it sparingly.  The opportunities are there for business – it appears foursquare has the analytical and software tools for businesses, it really is just a matter of making it worthwhile for them.  I know what a lot of people may be thinking.  Twitter has had explosive growth and a low retention rate and business are still all over it.  That’s true.  But Twitter provides them with businesses with a unique insight into the consumers mind.  It also allows businesses to easily communicate with consumers for free.  In foursquare’s case the business will see who is a frequent customer, but will also have to provide incentives, discounts, and possibly free stuff if they want to get them back right at that moment in time or that same day.  It doesn’t provide insight into what the customer is thinking, it only provides information about where they are and how often they frequent your business.  I should also point out, how often can businesses provide incentives to foursquare users?  I guess it depends on the business.  Will people only come back when they can get free stuff?  It remains to be seen.

Nonetheless, in order for foursquare to succeed it needs massive growth and high user retention.  Otherwise when Facebook rolls out their own location based services, foursquare may very well be done for.