It has often been highlighted in the last few months how, as we walk into 2010, both the Internet and social connectivity are becoming more of a 24/7 experience. Inevitably, Location Based Services are likely to become ubiquitous as part of this trend. These services are available as mobile applications that allow users to state their whereabouts and learn about their contacts’ movements. The main idea is as simple as that, but different services add different layers of information to serve different purposes.
Services To Date:
Foursquare is, without a shadow of doubt, the application everyone is looking at. Foursquare allows you to ‘check in’ to places you happen to be at. By doing so, anyone from your contact list can see where you are and decide to drop by. Likewise, if you wander into a given area you can log in and see if someone you fancy meeting is close by.
Furthermore, this application introduces a reward system where businesses may provide special offers or giveaways to the so-called “Mayors” (the most loyal customers of commercial sites). Hummus Bros and Debenhams are already offering freebies in London. This is, however, a long way off the hundreds of places that have jumped on the bandwagon in the US.
Foursquare
Mytown is a competitor with more of a game angle to it. It works similarly to Foursquare as a check-in service but goes a step further in its attempts at playfulness and monetisation. Mytown becomes a sort of Monopoly where you “buy” properties and earn cash with them. Also, it offers many tools to play the game with more resources ranging in price from 1 to 10 dollars.
In a nutshell, Mytown cashes in on the social game craze that we already live in with Facebook games like Mafia Wars and Farmville. Therefore, it seems to be fated to success financially by charging consumers to play the game. While Foursquare have 200,000 users, Mytown have already surpassed half a million downloads.
Other services include Gowalla, Google Latitude, or Tweetie for Twitter on the Iphone, among others.
Why Could It Be The Next Big Thing?
For the consumer, Location Based Services make you more socially active. Let’s face it, while Twitter and Facebook give you more time sat in a chair in front of a computer, LBS benefits your social life and the economy as a whole, encouraging people to visit more places and consume. It increases your quality of life by maximizing the opportunities of social encounters.
From the business standpoint, it creates a great platform for businesses like restaurants, pubs and bars (and eventually museums or other public areas) to offer loyalty programmes that are fun and beneficial to join. It’s also good at communicating to and luring highly networked and influential ABC1 audiences, which is why the battle for better offers to Mayors may have no limits. In the States, some businesses have gone so far as to offer free drinks to the Mayor, greatly reaping in positive PR, online brand exposure, WOM and increased sales due to customer competition towards the reward.
Finally, and most importantly, the data and knowledge that can be gleamed from this kind of service is a sought after asset for any business. After a few months of check-ins, Foursquare will start trading with the data stemming from visits. How long do they spend on site, at what time, where did they go after, etc. This can be cross-referenced with site offers, music, day of the week, prices and, actually, everything and anything. The possibilities are endless.
About The Author
Xavi Izaguirre
Xavier Izaguirre joined Social Media Library in November 2009 working as part of the Research Team. Prior to joining Social Media Library, Xavier completed a Masters Degree in Marketing and Communications at Westminster University, London. An active user of Social Media platforms, Xavier is very passionate about new trends in communication and Social Media Marketing contributing towards a number of online campaigns within the Educational Sector.
Follow Xavier on Twitter at @Xavi_izaguirre