Foursquare, Marketers, & Why We Disagree with Forrester Research
In a study released today, Forrester Research recommends marketers should stay away from location-based services like Foursquare.
The reason? As reported by Ad Age, after finding that only 4% of U.S. Adults have ever used location-based services, Forrester’s study also revealed that:
Almost 80% of location-based service users are male. Close to 70% of them are between the ages of 19 and 35, and 70% have college degrees or higher. Forrester also found these location-app users to be influential (the report finds they’re 38% more likely to say friends and family ask their opinions before a purchase) and they are especially receptive to mobile coupons and offers. This set is up to 20% more likely to consult their phones before a purchase, and are far more likely to research products and services and read customer reviews.
Their conclusion? That because the current user-base is dominated by one demographic, marketers should steer clear of Foursquare and other location-based services for now (with the exception of certain demographically-targeted verticals such as gaming, sportswear manufacturers, and consumer electronics companies).
Forrester is, of course, a leader in online market research, and tends to know their stuff. That being said, I respectfully disagree.
Forrester’s recommendation that male-oriented marketers should blaze the trail (and that other marketers should wait until location-based services attract more users) is a good one — provided they’re not talking about local businesses. After all, those are the businesses that services like Foursquare and Gowalla are designed for.
If you run a local restaurant, bar, or even a clothing store, it seems to me that a 19-to-35 year-old man who’s an early adopter and whose friends consult him for shopping recommendations is an ideal target market. Sure, if you’re a store that sells mostly to women, it might not be as useful (excepting maybe Victoria’s Secret), but most small local businesses will find this market to be a good fit.
A local business stands a lot to gain, simply by claiming its listing and promoting itself on these services. Even if a company’s location-aware efforts only bring in one customer at first, the long-term effects will likely snowball over time. That customer may become a customer for life, and tell all his/her friends about your business. If you claim your listing early and get involved, you’ll already have recommendations and other user-generated content attached to your listing by the time your competitors take notice.
And all of this for a small bit of work to get yourself set up and regularly maintain your offers.
In short, I think along the lines of the first commenter on the Ad Age article, who said,
This is the equivalent of saying, in 1994, that the internet skews male, so real marketers should avoid it…this is an incredibly short-sighted view.
I couldn’t agree more. For local storefront-style businesses, it can only help to be a first-mover on these platforms.
Sure, the returns might not be huge at first. But the cost of entry is negligible (at least for now), and over time, it’s easy to see that those who adopt early will be the ones who reap the most benefits.
Tags: foursquare, geolocation, gowalla, local online advertising, local online marketing, small business, small business online marketing, social media, social networking
