How Franchises Can Measure Geo-social Campaigns

Everyone is deeply connected to their local community and the businesses within that community. These local stores are part of our daily lives—grabbing coffee at a café on the way to work, meeting for lunch at a deli around the corner and stopping at a pharmacy on the way home. It doesn’t matter if the store is a mom-and-pop shop or local chain from an international franchise, customers view the store as part of their immediate environment and thus have a stronger relationship. That’s why it’s so important for franchises and multi-unit businesses to create a uniquely local presence and recognize their local customers. One of the best and easiest ways to do this is to use geo-social platforms, such as Foursquare and Facebook places.

Geo-social platforms allow businesses to increase awareness and engagement within their local communities and to acknowledge their best prospects—customers that are within the four walls of their store and have an affinity for the brand, enough so that they are willing to tell their friends and the public that they are on the premises. To acknowledge and reward these customers for their word of mouth marketing, brands can offer specials through these platforms. A few months ago, we offered some tips on how franchises can use location-based services and geo-social platforms. Today I’d like discuss how to measure the impact these specials had on a business, specifically through Foursquare.

Basic Insights

Foursquare provides some basic reporting data to show user engagement and sharing from the Foursquare app. Metrics include:

• Check in volume (total and per location)
• Sharing on Twitter and Facebook
• Special data (views and unlocks)
• Basic demographic data (gender, age)

Foursquare check in data for a pilot we managed for a national pizza delivery franchise.

This data can be viewed across all franchise venues or by specific markets/groups that you set within the interface.

When looking at a single franchise location, more detailed information is available for indicating new versus frequent visitors, and for highlighting top visitors and most recent visitors. Local store owners should be very familiar with these users, as they see them on a frequent basis. Corporate can become friendly with these valuable customers as well by offering unique coupons or discounts, or simply giving them a virtual pat on the back through a public thank you.

Advanced Insights

If you’d like to have a better understanding of how geo-social campaigns impact brand awareness, engagement with customers and other marketing campaigns, you can use advanced analytics software such as MomentFeed (disclosure: we have invested in this company). MomentFeed’s data goes beyond the basic check-in volume provided by Foursquare’s platform, allowing for a deeper understanding of success and cross-channel impact, and continued engagement with loyal customers. Following are some of the top features and benefits:

• Top 10 most loyal customers – This data allows you to acknowledge and reward customers that check in the most. After integrating your Foursquare account with MomentFeed, it’s possible to learn more about these customers and connect with them via other channels.
• Facebook Check-ins and Likes – While Foursquare shows the number of users that pushed their check-in to Twitter or their Facebook Wall, MomentFeed shows actual check-ins and Likes on Facebook Place pages. This allows brands to compare check-in volume on both sites, to understand which network is being utilized most with specific demographics and in specific markets.
• Aggregate view of Foursquare tips and photos – Customers frequently leave tips and photos on venues to either endorse a store or warn others about a negative experience. Rather than visiting each venue and manually scanning through these tips, MomentFeed compiles tips and photos left at each location. This is beneficial for customer and employee relations, evaluating sentiment and curating content.

For example, a book club that meets at a local Peet’s Coffee every week has been growing larger and larger. The numbers grew so large that the club members decided to expand their focus and do some charity work with the local library. They continue to visit the same Peet’s for weekly meetings, and most check-in and post photos of the group each time. This would make for a fantastic story about how Peet’s was instrumental in facilitating community change.

• Engagement score and rate – Understand engagement trending overall, by market, by location and by social media channel.

• Top 10 most engaged locations – See which locations receive the most check-ins. Typically, these stores are performing well because they are offering a high-quality, consistent product and providing excellent customer service. You can rewards these stores for their performance, and reward the customers engaging with these stores as well.

• Visitor trending data – See new versus repeat check-ins by day and overtime, and frequency of check-ins. This will help you to understand the impact of specials and other marketing initiatives.

Running specials on Foursquare is a cost-effective way for franchises and other multi-unit businesses to market on a localized level. Measuring success is simple with new tools, like Foursquare’s insights and MomentFeed. And let’s not forget the ancillary perks such as content curation, customer service and market research.

The new search functionality released by Foursquare last week has officially made them a local search engine, and we expect several updates and new features to be released throughout 2012. If your locations are not managing venues and running specials, now’s the time to start.