Why Do Digital Marketers Love #Foursquare?

By Mary C Long at SocialTimes:

What do self-identified “digital marketers” know about strategic online marketing that you don’t? Lots. It’s their JOB to know what works and what doesn’t.

So wouldn’t it be interesting to know where they’re focusing their efforts on Twitter and what kind of content they’re sharing most often, including their favorite social sources? Thanks to the folks at Leadtail, we can tell you just that.

And as you’ve guessed, Foursquare ranks highly among these sharable nuggets — higher than you’d expect, no doubt. (Hint: It beats out Twitter photos and Vines . . . on Twitter!)

We told you before that marketers really like Foursquare- and with good reason. It offers:

A Great User Experience and a simple way for consumers to discover unique information about a location and what is happening there

Seamless Search and Share Capabilities offering new ways for users to search for local businesses by places they haven’t been yet and and an easier way to share to Facebook and Twitter from their iPhones once they actually check in.

Personalization for Multiple Locations, which is fantastic from both a consumer and a brand perspective. The ability to “like” tips and comments made to a brand’s Foursquare pages from social media dashboards is win-win.

A Rapidly Growing Community: “In general, Foursquare is expanding – the platform is now home to 1.3 million business pages, 3.5 billion check-ins and 33 million users.”

And, it’s newest arrival – Ads After Checkin: “post check-in interstitial advertisements, according to reports in Ad Age and About Foursquare, with Captain Morgan rum as an early taker.”

The ads work based on the type of venue a user checks in to. Users who check in to bars see Captain Morgan ads suggesting that they order a Captain and Coke. Users who checked in to local pools have also seen ads for Toys R Us.

So is it any surprise that digital marketers are so enthusiastically embracing Foursquare?

Well, yes! Which is why you’re reading this post to begin with. You probably thought the only thing Foursquare was good for was annoying followers with checkins or providing easy access to stalkers, right? Well, you’re wrong.

But who are the folks sharing Foursquare tweets more often than Vines on Twitter? Here’s how they describe themselves:

And they’re located all over the U.S.

So it looks like Foursquare’s business case is making sense to lots of folks who (we’re assuming) know better than the rest of us. Maybe it’s time to give Foursquare checkins a serious shot with your business.

Want to know more about these digital marketers – like what they talk about, which social networks they’re active on and digital marketers’ favorite sources? Reach out to the folks atLeadtail and download their full (free) report here. You’re welcome.