TOP 5 REASONS BARS AND RESTAURANTS NEED TO PAY ATTENTION
 1. Rewards
Foursquare provides an easy (and free) opportunity for you to reach
out to current customers and give them incentives for continuing to give
you their business.
Promotions such as a free drink for patrons after every five visits
to your bar or a discounted appetizer after ten check-ins are simple and
relatively inexpensive ways to show your core clients you value their
patronage.
Foursquare’s Mayor program
is another chance for you to flex your promotional muscles, this time
providing incentive for your best customers to compete with one another.
The person with the most check-ins over a 30-day period become your
bar’s ‘mayor.’ A choice parking spot or reserved bar stool for the mayor
is a perk your most regular of regulars will enjoy fighting over.
2. Inform others
Whether you are actively involved with the site or not, rest assured
your customers are using Foursquare. There are going to be people who
find your location via the site, either when they are at your bar or are
in the neighborhood and looking for a new place to visit. With that in
mind you should want to ensure the information they find is thorough and
accurate.
FourSquare allows you to claim your venue,
which consists of confirming your geographic location and providing the
site evidence that you operate the business. At that point you can add
personal information such as photos, information or a link to your
website.
3. Inform yourself
Once you have registered your business with Foursquare you have the
opportunity to take advantage of the site’s “Venue Stats” option.
This mean you’ll be able to view, in real time, information related
to your most frequent visitors, your most recent visitors and the total
number of check-ins over a period of time. You can also access stats
such as gender of those who check-in and the time of day people arrive.
If you do get to the point where are you connecting promotions to
FourSquare, this service will allow you to monitor what is working and
tweak your strategy utilizing a statistical foundation.
4. Attract
One of the better features of FourSquare is the ability to utilize
the service as a way to reach people who were otherwise unfamiliar with
your business.
In much the same way we talked about creating incentives for your
best customers to keep coming back, you can target a customer who might
otherwise have never walked in the door. If there are two similar bars
within blocks of one another, a person might be more inclined to visit
the one offering half-off an initial round drink for those who check-in
on FourSquare for the first time.
5. Keep up with your customers and competitions
With more than half a million businesses registered with FourSquare
it’s likely that if your competition isn’t using the site now they soon
will be. There is no reason to give up an edge to those already taking
advantage of FourSquare and it makes good sense to get a leg up if the
other guys are slow to adapt to modern technology.
Since your customers are enjoying using FourSquare, it follows
they’ll pay closer attention to businesses they find using the service.
Having something in common with the way the modern consumer makes his or
his decisions is critical.
 Barry Chandler is the founder of Interactive Hospitality,
a digital marketing agency that unlocks the potential of bars and
restaurants to attract new customers using social media tools like
Facebook, Twitter & Foursquare.
Interactive Hospitality accepts 10 new clients each month. Not every
business is a fit, but if you’re passionate about your business and
your customers, you could join the growing list of customers taking
their business to the next level. You can apply for a spot here.
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