The basics up geolocation social media and how to use it for marketing.

1. SoLoMo
Social, local and mobile.

2. What is it?
• Geosocial Networking is a type of social networking
that uses geolocation to create a community of users.
• Geolocation is the process of identifying the
geographic location of a person by a device by means
of digital information processed.
• How do they work?
– Using geolocation social networks from a computer can be
IP-base.
– For mobile use, texted location information or mobile
phone tracking can enable location-based services to
enrich social networking.

3. History
• SoLoMo came after the term Hyperlocal
– Hyperlocal is the most up-to-date information in your area.
• Ex. Local search queries.
• With the increase of smartphone usage and the
popularity of social sites; Hyperlocal transformed
into SoLoMo.
• Even though there are countless sites, SoLoMo is still
seen as the next-best-thing that wasn’t. But why?

4. Why aren’t people checking-in?
– 50% Don’t have a smart phone
– 49% Have no motivation
– 48% Cited privacy concerns

5. • Who is using it?
• What platforms are being used?
• Where are they using it?
• Why are they using it?

10. Ones to watch
• Largest/Most popular:
– foursquare/SCVNGR
– YELP
– Groupon/living social
– Facebook Check-in
• Newest:
– Banjo/highlight

11. Types of networks
• Location-based social network
– Check-in
– GPS
• Geo-location Deal-of-the-day/ Social Shopping

12. Why Use Them For Business?
• Create Loyalty
• Return Visitors
• Brand/Store Advocates
• Increase Sales

13. Foursquare
• Gowalla and foursquare lead the
pack. They were launched at
SXSW 2009.
• Three years later Facebook bought
Gowalla and is now officially shut
down.
• Foursquare is still up and running
with around 20 million users.

14. Foursquare
• Foursquare is a location-based social
networking website
for mobile devices, such
as smartphones.
– As of February 2011 there were 7
million users. April 2012 it was reported
to have 20 million registered users.

15. Foursquare
• How to use it for Marketing?
– Brands can create pages that allow users to “follow” the company and
receive special tips when they check in.
– Companies can also create specials which are incentives for users to
check in.
• Examples: check-in at Chili’s, get a free chips and salsa.
• $10 off a ticket at the Houston Aquarium for checking in.
• Returning customer specials as well as Mayoral discounts
– July 25, 2012 foursquare revealed “Promoted Updates”, an app update
which will allow companies to message users about deals or available
products.

18. SCVNGR
• SCVNGR is a social location-based
gaming platform for mobile phones.
– As of February 2011 SCVNGR had over 1 million
users.
• Launched LevelUp in March of 2011,
which is a mobile payments platform
to increase engagement and loyalty at
local businesses.
• How can you use it for marketing?
– Companies can build pages and
interact with their consumer by
How to start marketing on SCVNGR
creating tasks. http://mashable.com/2011/06/08/scvngr-marketing-guide/
– Provide customer incentives and How to play SCNVGR http://vimeo.com/15175607
deals. How to build a challenge http://vimeo.com/15175672

22. Yelp
• Yelp works as a social networking, user review, and
local search website.
– Combines Google Search, Google+ Local, and foursquare.
– As of January 2012 Yelp had more than 71 million monthly
unique visitors.
• How to use it for Marketing?
– Businesses may advertise with Yelp for preferred search
result placement and extra listing features.
• Extra features include video and photo albums.

25. Groupon
• Groupon is a deal-of-the-day website that features discounted
gift certificates usable at local or national companies.
– 40 Million subscribers
• How to use it for Marketing?
– Retailers, who can treat the coupons as quantity discounts as well as
sales promotion tools.
– Use for business when it has excess inventory, to repeat sales,
additional sales, excess capacity, attracting a young demo, or to
generate buzz.

26. Beware
• Some businesses have taken a hit when working with
Groupon.
– Know how many customers is too many and be prepared
to handle the influx
– Have a plan to retain new customers
• Groupon’s stock has dropped 72% since coming
public November 7, 2011.
– Now work $7.31 each

29. Living Social
• Living Social is a deal-of-the-day website that
features discounted gift certificates usable at local or
national companies.
– 10 million subscribers
• How to use it for Marketing?
– Exactly the same as Groupon
– Living Social provides new customer leads because people
refer friends.

32. Facebook Check-in
• Facebook created a “Places” page where people can check in at.
(Fans pages)
– Facebook Check-in is Facebook’s version of Foursquare.
– It uses the GPS on mobile devices to let your friends know where you are.
• How to use it for Marketing?
– Offer deals to consumers
– Because Facebook has such a large audience people who check-in become
brand advocates and broadcast your business information via check-in. It’s
like shouting it in a mega phone.

34. Banjo/Highlight
• Banjo is a “GPS Social” site
– You can connect multiple social sites to Banjo and by using the GPS on the
phones you are able to connect with people around your area.
• Highlight is also a “GPS Social” site
– You can “highlight” your friends to see what they do and where they go.
– “Highlight” your interests (based off of what you’ve Liked on Facebook)
and you can find people in your area with similar interests.
• Marketing options are very limited at the time.

37. 2012 Up-and-comers
• Skillshare-Online marketplace for offline classes.
• Zaarly-Local version of Craigslist.
• LevelUp/SCVNGR-Loyalty program with mobile payments.
• Dwolla- Transfer money via Facebook, Twitter, SMS or other virtual
channels.
• Eventbrite- Sell tickets to your events through Eventbrite.
• Codecademy-Making code less intimating. Offers classes on coding.