The buzz around Foursquare, the mobile social network, is growing louder, and brands are already finding ways to market around the location-based network. But before the startup even ascends to "next big thing" status, it's looking for a way to monetize marketer interest -- something that former "next big thing" Twitter has yet to do.
Foursquare has 300,000 members voluntarily "checking in" from locations -- restaurants, bars, offices -- with their mobile devices and broadcasting it to their friends. Brands such as Pepsi, dessert-chain Tasti D-Lite, and cable network Bravo are already jumping on the Foursquare bandwagon, eager to use the geo-location services to better target consumers.
With that in mind, the startup plans to introduce paid location-based marketing services for three tiers of businesses: small, privately owned stores and restaurants; brands with retail chains; and multi-national companies. Foursquare is also developing an analytics dashboard for larger brands so they can track who is coming into their stores, Ad Age reports.
Foursquare already offers a free service called "specials nearby" that alerts consumers when they are near a retail chain and serves them discount coupons.
In the end, Foursquare's marketing clout will rely largely on how popular it becomes with consumers. The application racked up 300,000 members in the first year since its launch, but those are hardly mainstream numbers. By comparison, Facebook has 350 million members.
