Steps 1 and 2
Take ownership of your location
Although Foursquare has a very large number of businesses listed, a good first step is to make sure your company's locations are listed properly on Foursquare. The easiest way to verify single locations is to log in and search for an establishment using the form in the top right corner of the page. One word of caution: The search will be limited to the area listed below the search field, so make sure that's properly set.
Once the locations are properly set up, you may highlight items of interest by using "Tips" and "Tags" -- but refrain from overt or blatant promotion. Among the lessons marketers have learned from other social networks, such as Digg and Twitter, is that these networks are communities first and foremost. Each has its own engagement model, and it takes time to experience and understand those paradigms. Don't crash the party.
Spread the word
Foursquare is rapidly gaining mainstream visibility and is growing at a heated pace. Over the past month, registration has grown more than 50 percent, to approximately 300,000 at the time of this writing. Despite this kind of growth, the service still has a relatively limited reach, and it's safe to say that most businesses' customers have either not been exposed to (or not become engaged with) Foursquare. For companies that want to start using the service to offer special deals to customers and entice them to come back, it's important to let people know about the availability of such deals.
Of course, the logical place to start is through the company website. This can be done effectively through a callout available from PlaceWidget. This Foursquare-branded widget quickly displays the name of the location, its address and phone number, and the number of people who have checked in there. It also shows suggestions from Foursquare users about what to try, buy, or do at that particular location. In the center of the widget, a photo of the Foursquare "mayor" is shown. "Mayor" is the title given to the Foursquare user who has checked in to that location the most, and these designations are one of the key reasons behind the service's popularity.
