After using foursquare for the past few weeks and checking in when I go out as well as seeing where my “friends” currently are—I am left with one over arching theme. The check-in is the new advertisement. And it’s the dream advertisement. Let me explain.

Advertisement as we traditionally know it is on the outs. That’s why we fast forward when the commercials come on TV. It’s too mass market and lowest common denominator. We have come to expect more. Social media has changed that dynamic and that is why facebook is rushing all over itself to monetize the social graph. They know that when my actual friend tells me to check something out I will check it out. When a big brand tells me to check something out through an ad I rarely listen.

That brings me to the check in. First, let me say this is the land-rush time in Geo-location. Within 5 years (let’s admit it, sooner) this will become extremely normal and geo-location will be pervasive. Right now people are only just beginning to experiment and feel comfortable. So companies who stake a claim now will absorb many new users as the market explodes.

Regarding the check in as advertisement. The check in acts to enforce brand loyalty and increase sales in multiple ways.

1. On a purely micro level when a person checks in they are telling the people in their network where they are located and what they are doing. They are sending a signal to their crowd to come and join them. More than likely this will involve spending money at the place the user checked in. Like I mentioned earlier—there may not currently be overwhelming amounts of people on geo-location services but that will change drastically over the next 2 years. It will be extremely common and convenient for us to serendipitously convene with those located around us.

2. On the same note but a bit more macro. When a person checks in they are signaling their crowd that they endorse this place by giving it their time and awareness. Not only do they value it enough to give it their own time and awareness—they are willing to send it downstream to take up the time and awareness of their network. And nothing is more valuable than time and awareness. They are effectively saying “I valued this place enough to spend my time here as well let you know about it. I give this place my personal stamp of approval.” There are actually people competing to be the “mayor” of a business. This means that they are actively and repeatedly going to this place and checking in. This is incredible in terms of branding and marketing. You can’t buy this kind of word of mouth.

3. Finally, on a purely macro level—checking in reveals a pattern about a person’s actions. If you look at my stream you will notice 3 main trends. Home. Work. Food. That’s my life as summed up by my geo-location. Not very interesting? Interesting to a marketer surely.

I challenge you to ask yourself what the geo-aware web means for your next web-app.

No tags