Workmatrix Travel

As Foursquare, the new location-based social networking tool, moves beyond its American roots, a growing number of hotels are discovering that they have a new marketing tool available to them.

Foursquare takes advantage of the fact that smart phones can track the location of their users via GPS.  The simplest benefit for hotels is that by being on the Foursquare site, potential guests can find the hotel when they look for lodging that is close to where they are.  But there is more.

When a Foursquare user arrives at a hotel or other establishment that is active on Foursquare, he can “check in.”  This doesn’t mean they check into a room in the sense of a hotel reservation.  It just means that the user announces his presence at that location via his or her mobile phone.  This information is then communicated out to the user’s friends (via Foursquare, Twitter or other means), providing the next marketing benefit.

Going beyond this, the hotel can offer specials connected to the user’s “check in.” For example, show the bartender that you’ve “checked in” on Foursquare and receive a free drink.  This offer can be promoted on the hotel’s Foursquare page, and elsewhere, including Facebook.

There is also special recognition for the person who “checks in” the most at the hotel. They are given the title of “mayor,” just like one would become the mayor of a small town.  Foursquare users have the incentive to visit a hotel often in order to earn this recognition, and the hotel can offer additional benefits for the “mayor,” such as a discounted room rate.

Being listed on Foursquare is normally automatic, if you’re located in a city covered by the service, so you may already be receiving some free advertising, even if you don’t know about it.  But the real benefits of the service kick in when you start offering incentives for Foursquare users to visit your hotel and return there often. Like all social media, the benefits tend to “snowball,” increasing quickly once you reach a certain level of activity.

Foursquare moved beyond is original presence in London and Amsterdam late last year when it started offering its service in 15 more European cities, including Paris, Rome, Barcelona and Berlin.

There have been talk of location-based mobile services for over 10 years now.  It’s great to see these services finally catching on.  Foursquare is not the only player in this field, and you’ll see a lot more of this as the technology improves and more and more people upgrade to smart phones.

You can find Foursquare at:  www.foursquare.com

A list of US hotels currently using Foursquare for marketing can be found on HotelChatter.

Note that Foursquare has been getting the most publicity, but they are not the only such service. Others include: Gowalla, Brightkite, Whrrl, TriOut, Loopt.  Look for larger, established players to enter this fields soon.