Tag: mobile marketing

Foursquare aims to expand some of its services

Location-based services are becoming more popular for businesses and consumers. These services offer benefits for both parties: Businesses can use geographic information to formulate better marketing strategies and consumers can be rewarded for their loyalty to a specific company by “checking-in” to a location. Checking-in to locations is a trend that has taken the social media space by storm. Foursquare is one of the pioneers of this service in the social sector, and the platform is now taking steps to streamline its location-based services.

Platform aims to streamline its practice

Foursquare has announced changes to its terms and conditions documents, which will take effect on January 28, 2013. The social media platform is looking to better streamline its services for businesses and consumers. For years, Foursquare has been one of the most prominent names in social media marketing and location-based services, but other social networks have begun to encroach upon the platform’s virtual turf. In an effort to stay relevant with consumers and businesses, Foursquare is taking steps to provide better service.

New policies could be of benefit to businesses

One of the changes being made to the platform’s privacy policy involves the names of its users. Foursquare will begin showing the full name of each user across its entire platform, allowing this information to be seen by anyone. Users can, of course, opt out of having their full name displayed without being faced with any penalties in terms of service. Another change involves the check-in history businesses can see. Traditionally, businesses could only view check-ins over the most recent three-hour period. After the changes go live, however, businesses will be able to keep better track of their traffic.

Foursquare manages to stay ahead of the competition, for now

The changes may help businesses provide better rewards for consumers that check-in frequently, while also allowing these businesses to access information that can be used for marketing campaigns. In 2012, Foursquare reported more than 15 million new users and celebrated the 3 billionth check-in. While several other social networks are pushing new location-based services, Foursquare continues to hold a solid lead over its competitors.

A recent survey has shown that shoppers want to use mobile commerce while in store.

The results of a study conducted by an ad agency named Moosylvania have now been released, revealing that consumers want to be able to use mcommerce to discover more about products before they make their purchases while in-store.

The survey showed that 80 percent of smartphone owners want better optimized product information.

The report, which was entitled “The Shopping Experience in a Smartphone World”, included the responses of 1,874 American adult smartphone owners. The results from this study showed that among the participants, 97 percent had access of some kind to a desktop computer (including at home, at work, or in another location). At the same time 43 percent had access to a tablet.

Moosylvania’s study determined that product information is among the most wanted mcommerce features.

Norty Cohen, the CEO and one of the founders of Moosylvania, stated that speed is “beyond the essence,” for consumers when they are seeking to make a purchase of a product or service. He went on to explain that consumers “are researching reviews, comparing prices, photo sharing and making purchases in seconds, and prefer doing so equally online and in-store,” through the use of mcommerce and other features on their smartphones.

The survey indicated that owners of smartphones have been using apps and mcommerce sites in order to assist in the purchasing process. They have been using these resources to inform themselves before they make their final decisions to buy. Other findings that were produced by the survey include the following:

• 13.4 percent said that they use mobile devices to research products on the weekends.
• 2.7 percent research product information using a mobile device on holidays.
• 10.9 percent stated that they use mcommerce to look into products while they are at work.
• 30.1 percent of the study participants said they were typically away from home when they performed most of their mcommerce product information searches.
• 19.6 percent said that they have used their mobile devices to look into products while watching TV.
• 12.4 percent use their smartphones to research products while they are in-store.
• 10.9 percent of smartphone owners do not use mcommerce resources to obtain product information.