Have you played Foursquare yet? No, not the playground game for kids, it’s a new type of social networking that is more like a game you play with your other friends also using the site.

According to foursquare.com, succeeding at the game comes through checking into places in a town such as a restaurant or bar, local clothing shop, mall, etc. You can leave tips for the place commenting on something you liked or disliked about it or if you have a recommendation for someone else. For example, at Harvest Moon Café you may really like their twice-baked potatoes so you may leave a tip stating something like this:

Be sure to try the twice-baked potatoes at Harvest Moon Café  in Rome. Just had them and have to say that they are out of this world.

By checking in places and leaving tips, the users earn points that lead to badges acting as some sort of a merit system. The point system looks like this. The use gets +5 points for finding a new place in the neighborhood, +2 points for going to multiple places in a night, and +1 point for bringing a friend along with them. The person that has checked-in the most at a particular place becomes the mayor of that place. It then becomes the game to dethrone the mayor. Once you become the mayor, you are often offered freebies by the place that you are the mayor of. This is a nice incentive for users.

Foursquare is different from other social networking sites not only because of its playful interface, but also because it uses GPS technology to track its users. The GPS technology can track you automatically with its mobile application, or manually when users log in online. Foursquare’s mobile application is free of charge and is available on every smart phone carrier, and only can track users when they arrive at specific checkpoints.

When you check in at a place, Foursquare makes sure that you are actually at the place you are checking in at. This comes in handy if other people you know are in the area because they can see you are at a certain place and can then meet you in person.

As unique as Foursquare is, it has some nice features that will be very attractive to anyone interested in social networking and numerous benefits for businesses that want to reach out to more customers.

Its gaming appeal is what makes this a very viable marketing utility for businesses, local and small businesses specifically. Since the application is based on people exploring locations that others have found value in, successful local businesses have an incredible opportunity to be found through interactive and virtually free channels. Turning your business into a fun mobile adventure for those who use this popular social media tool gives customers a new and exciting way to discover and explore your business without expensive advertising efforts.

Businesses have also started to find success to creating discounts specifically for avid foursquare users. Those companies that offered incentives and savings to the foursquare mayors of their business found more customer loyalty and more participation with their foursquare location, according to a MG Seigler of TechCrunch.

So go ahead, start your foursquare adventure today!

A comScore survey looked exclusively at the impact of ad impressions on visitation to the advertiser’s site and found that though there was a 65.0% lift after one week of ad circulation, lifts in site visitation varies between categories. Results show that the more narrowly tailored an advertisement is, the better the lift in site visitation.

This was specifically seen in automotive advertising that referred users to highly specific automotive Web sites. On the other hand, apparel and retail advertisers’ site visitation dropped the least over the four week period while CPG & restaurants continued to drop sharply after the first week.

The best thing to remember when approaching Facebook for advertising is that it is somewhat different than utilizing other advertising tools. In an interview with Tim Kendall, Facebook’s Director of Monetization and performance advertising head, on insidefacebook .com, he reminded advertisers that Facebook is a people targeting system and not a keyword targeting system. This makes it even more important for a company to really know their audience and how to target them.

Luckily, using Facebook for advertising to target audiences has become easier with the ability to filter ad placement based on specific qualifications like location, age, sex, marital status, connections, friends of connections and more. There is even a keyword section to allow ad placers the opportunity to target based on keywords in a user’s profile. It is because of a user’s willingness to share niche interests on their profile that allow categories like entertainment to work well with Facebook advertising. The ability to set-up a page and have fans enables an advertiser the opportunity to branch to friends of friends and beyond. This works well for Facebook’s ability to  targeting users based on what pages they are already affiliated with.

As far as whether or not Facebook advertising is effective, the answer to that lies in how well an ad is tailored to fit an audience. Another study by comScore (found on InspireMedia.com) showed that 28% of respondents were likely to notice advertising on social media sites, this placed user-generated content sites fifth behind television, print, news and corporate Web sites. However, Kendall believes that there is a 100% improvement on a click through rate basis when an impression is a Social ad (or event ads). “People come to Facebook to learn about their friends, so if you can make the advertising about their friends, it’s more effective.”

A great place to go for more information on what rules to follow when setting up a Facebook ad is the 10 rules for advertising on Facebook article by Nick O’Neill. This article gives great advice for how to keep the target audience in mind as well as establishing and keeping advertising goals.

How to businesses get started/avoid being overwhelmed by new technology?
Can every business use social media?
What about personal privacy and negative press?

The five minute interview is available uncut below:

WRGA Interview with Tricia Steele

We start by examining one tool that has the ability for dynamic growth and impact of one site in particular and that is- twitter. You may have or have not heard about this site, but with close to 19% of all Internet users using this medium according to a Pew Internet & American Life report, it’s difficult for some to see business potential. Of course, to understand its potential, we first must establish what it is exactly and how to best use it for your business.

First off, Twitter is a social media site. Social media as searchenginewatch.com defines is, “a category of sites that is based on user participation and user-generated content.” However, while they share these same qualities, they’re different in their approaches on how to share information.

Twitter describes itself as a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to “one simple question: What are you doing?” That may sound vague and unclear so think of Twitter as mashable.com describes it: just conversation in a new shape and being able to listen to the conversation of others in new ways.

While the Age of Information is in full swing, there is often an overload of information as opposed to timely, relevant information for the person attempting to stay current with what’s going on in the world. Twitter filters this information by allowing for only the pertinent information to be seen. It does this by limiting the number of written characters to 140 for every post. With such little amount of writing space, it forces users and businesses to expose the meat of an idea and often with links and sources to offer more defined details.

Generating such specific content, Twitter gives users the chance to see only the information they value and can easily stay current with what is happening in that chosen field or market.  This presents a great opportunity to use Twitter to connect your business to its clientele.

“When you combine messages that are quick to write, easy to read, public, controlled by the recipient and exchangeable anywhere, you’ve got a powerful, real-time way to communicate. And real-time communication is turning out to be ground-breaking for users and businesses alike,” www.business.twitter.com.

Look out for our next installments >> “The Twonderful Tworld of Twitter”

To be followed by>> specific examples of successful business strategies on Twitter.

Thursday, Nov. 12 5:30 – 6:30pm
River City Bank Community Room
This one-hour workshop will be an action-packed overview of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and other social software from a business perspective.  Topics that will be addressed include: retail versus B2B use of social media, security and operational issues, as well as general strategy layout. Participants will leave with a First Steps Guide for utilizing these business web presences.

The event will begin promptly at 5:30 with snacks and beverages provided. Participants do not have to be River City Bank customers, rather this event is open to the public. Interested attendees should RSVP to Kristen Vardy, by emailing Kristen.Vardy@RiverCityBankOnline.Com or by clicking Social Media for Business RSVP.

In an economic downturn, everybody shrinks. The budget dries up. Staffs are cut. Customers are lost. That’s why using social media sounds counterintuitive. How can a business master new technology and a new way of thinking while struggling to stay afloat?

Currently, companies respond to social media in two ways, depending on their size. Larger businesses do what they do best: create yet another department. Small businesses are already swamped: they simply ignore the new technology.

Neither approach works. Social media works best when integrated into many or all departments, particularly marketing and customer service. Within the company, unity flourishes, and from outside, new customers are found and the faithful are rewarded and empowered. All well and good in an ideal world, but what should companies do now, while social media is still developing?

Larger companies should resist the subdividing urge. By creating a new division, they must hire new staff, fill out more paperwork, and create new schisms in the company. In other words, they waste time and money.

Not only is it inefficient to create a social media division, but it hinders social media’s primary function. Applications such as Facebook and Twitter (and countless others) allow companies to know their customers, and vice-versa. Who better to have this knowledge than marketing and customer service personnel? By creating yet another go-between, companies risk distancing customers even more.

While larger companies can use social media, it’s even more useful for small business. Large corporations can’t turn on a dime: change takes time while the market passes them by. Moreover, small businesses can multitask, and learning new tasks is just part of the job.

For example, consider the famous demise of GM. Gas went up, the market responded, and GM made more SUVs. They failed to keep their finger on America’s pulse – consumers. Meanwhile, smaller companies (read: Honda and Toyota) sped ahead. What if GM had stayed in touch with consumers?

Consider your own company. What preexisting departments could use some help? Could customer service be more efficient? Do you want to reach a different audience? Need feedback on your product or service? Even if your company is doing better than most, there is always room for improvement, and social media could help fill the gaps. Ask the people already in those departments how greater contact with customers could be used, then make a social media strategy to boost your company’s position in the market – and your customers’ reach.

What is “the stream”?

Depending on who you talk to, it’s the bane of business or a godsend. It’s the shift from article-writing to instant commentary, from teaching to “sharing” information via Twitter or Facebook. It’s a way of seeing information: as an ever-changing web as opposed to a simple paper trail.

It works like this. Your aunt Susan emails you a link to Liz Pulliam Weston’s financial advice on MSN Money. There, you watch a video on emergency funds. You add it to a live feed, where your co-worker hits the link and reads about credit counselors on scam alerts. He adds a link to his Facebook page, where 150 “friends” see and chase the link.

Let’s be honest: people with real jobs simply don’t have the time or patience to “jump into the stream” of social media, follow every hyperlink, or keep up with all the “real time” commentary on blogs and company websites.

But can they use it? Can you?

Take AT&T. Their Twitter updates are mostly answers to customer questions. This simple format does two jobs at once: it satisfies customer questions in real time, and it’s great PR.

Don’t fall into the trap of all or nothing. Share your successes, network, and find creative ways to do business using the stream – just don’t get swept away.

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