Live from Social Media Week: Is it time for marketers to check in to location-based social services?
A quick walk down Main Street will soon become a lot more complicated. Just a block or two down the road, your phone tells you that your two friends have gathered for a beer at a pub on the right. Three steps later, your phone alerts you that the bakery across the street is offering two-for-one macaroons. I’d argue that beer and macaroons are perfectly complementary, but that’s beside the point.
Location-based check-in services and applications (using GPS-enabled mobile devices) scare some and excite others, but if we were to judge the trend by the recent growth of services such as Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, Yelp and countless others, there are certainly a growing number of folks in the latter camp.
At Wednesday’s Social Media Week session, “The Future of Space and Time,” attendees got a good look at what the future may bring — from a few guys who are blazing the path. Denis Crowley, founder and CEO of Foursquare (full disclosure, Denis and I are friends from college), Chris Dixon, co-founder and CEO of Hunch, and Tony Jebara of Columbia University and Sense Networks touched on some key themes that progressive marketers should be thinking about.
Before you turn your nose up at these services and ask, “Who would want to share their location?” let’s first take a look at some history. Tony Jebara of Sense Networks referenced a McKinsey study from 2001 indicating that just 10% of the population would pay for any type of broadband. Seems odd now — but in 2001 there was little reason to want or even need broadband, he noted. Fast forward to the world we live in, complete with streaming media of all shapes and sizes, and it’s almost a necessity. Foursquare’s Denis Crowley brought another illustration closer to home, asking if anyone would want a GPS device in their car if it didn’t transmit location signals. It wasn’t until the data receipt provided information on accidents or traffic jams ahead that these devices became so valuable. In short, we’re just scratching the surface with mobile services. Pair collaborative innovation with richer, more socialized data, and naysayers may be eating their words sooner than later.
Discussing what needs to occur for real mainstream adoption of these services, Crowley pointed out that “the products, not the technology will define acceptance.” There is no question that increased engagement and product innovation will continue to drive usage, but the business community will need to play a significant role in the growth of these channels if it plans to market inside them. Marketers can either view these services as another chance to broadcast their message indiscriminately or work to add value to the community as a whole. Some restaurants and bars are already buying in, offering frequent visitors (or “mayors”) a free drink or appetizer, but the opportunities can go beyond a freebie here and there.
This is not your father’s (or older brother’s) online marketing. We’re not just talking about engaging on this site or that social network. This is engagement on a more personal, physical level — location. When discussing the difference between what makes these services intrusive or not, Chris Dixon underscored the critical importance of opt-in as a standard. The second consumers feel as though their data is being used without a consensual value exchange is the second the relationship goes sour. The very same goes for businesses looking to market in location-based spaces.
If you’re not willing to make the game better, maybe you should sit this one out.
Image credit, anyka, via iStock
Posted by uberVU - social comments on February 5th, 2010 at 7:49 am
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Posted by Cory Grassell on February 5th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
As I just read another blog post about Google Maps' upcoming Store View application, local is a hot topic right now. In fact, 80 percent of purchases occur within 15 miles of the consumer home or place of work. So when consumers are conducting their online searches to determine which business they want to visit, marketers need to take every measure to make sure they are at the forefront of search results. Go local, and tap into increased sales potential.
Posted by Craig Stark on February 5th, 2010 at 7:46 pm
Who will become the trusted harbinger of client profiles?- my guess is Google et. al. who we may see a few “suggested offers” which will likely be a little less than “opt in”. Consensual Value Exchange is the biggie- look for a flurry of companies to offer “engines” and connectors which inevitably force consumers to list multiple profiles- the cart and horse syndrome. Geolocation is here- let's see where we go! Marketers should tread lightly until these bets are clear- picking the wrong horse too early may backfire and create negative social influence.
Posted by Kaila S | Vertical Measures on February 5th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
I really liked the quote: “the products, not the technology will define acceptance.” It's completely true. And with location based online services it should only become more mainstream. Sounds like everyone needs to hop on, and take a trip to augmented reality!
Posted by JEBworks on February 5th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
I like the reference to that study about broadband. Today the naysayers are gaining steam, especially when it comes to advances in technology that at first sight seem like an invasion of privacy to them, when in fact they are not. All too often these critics don't bother to check the facts before panning some of these innovations. In the end it always comes down to actual or perceived added value for that many people are willing to provide some information in return. Location based, mobile services that provide such value will find adopters.
Posted by mossappeal on February 5th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Good summary of what was a great panel. But the challenge is the metrics keeping up with the tactics. See @webmetricsguru 's good post on his research efforts: http://bit.ly/aMfrq3
Posted by socialnerdia on February 5th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
I really like Foursquare and I think location-based apps are going to become more widely used. The one thing I don't like is that I can check-in from anywhere so it's easy for someone to check-in, and become a mayor, without actually being in that place.
Posted by Marshall Sponder on February 5th, 2010 at 11:44 pm
Thanks for listing my blog post about online metrics around Social Media week
Posted by Johnny Dee on February 6th, 2010 at 3:01 am
Beer and macaroons are “complementary”, not complimentary- although it's still arguable.
Posted by Is it time for marketers to check in to location-based social services? | SmartBlog On Social Media | The Perfect Storm Team on February 6th, 2010 at 1:42 am
[...] Live from Social Media Week: Is it time for marketers to check in to location-based social services?…. [...]
Posted by robbirgfeld on February 6th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Correct you are. Thanks!
Posted by FARAH CASIS on February 6th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
If I told you I'm going to give you a Free drink when you are near my bar if you give my your mobile number, would you give it to me?
Posted by Location-Based Services and the Marketers that don’t Love Them (Yet) « Leo Burnett – Cultural Fuel Blog on February 8th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
[...] that don’t Love Them (Yet) Posted on February 8, 2010 by Jay Denhart I had just read this article about marketers not sure how to take advantage of Location-Based Services, specifically ones that [...]
Posted by Ecommerce News for February 12, 2010 | Technology News on February 14th, 2010 at 6:11 am
[...] It’s Time to Check into Location-Based Social Networks – SmartBlog on Social Media Location-based check-in services like foursquare, Gowalla and Loopt are hot right now, and, thanks to the growth of the mobile web, it’s likely they will only get hotter. But, are they useful for business? If yours is an online-only store, perhaps not; but if you have a brick-and-mortar store as well, there are a number of ways to leverage the value these services provide. [...]
Posted by Scott on March 8th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
One of the reasons in 2001 that only 10% of the population would pay for any type of broadband is because of the price not because they did now want it. If they would have been asked the question in a different way the response would have been different.
My recent post Unique Content or Useful Content
Posted by Portability and Location Based Apps | Digital Democracy on June 23rd, 2010 at 4:45 am
[...] and location based apps and how they are starting to gain traction. The following article Is it time for marketers to check in to location based social services by Smartbrief is certainly worth a read if you want to come to grips with an area cited by many [...]