By Nancy Rabern
Recently, I had the pleasure of talking with 
Jeff Hillmire, the Chief Digital Officer of Engauge speak about four new trends in social marketing. The most interesting to me is Geolocation Marketing – more commonly known as Gowalla and Foursquare
What began in New York City as a game, has now become a loyalty plan.
My first instinct when I started seeing my friends checking in to their local Starbucks and the Chevron station on Facebook was “and I care about this, why?” Then, when they started posting badges and “Mayorships”, I was thoroughly confused. I knew there was some marketing effort in here, somewhere, but it wasn’t immediately obvious. The more I speak to thought leaders such as Jeff; I finally am realizing the power behind geo-location marketing. Harnessing this power for use in B2B marketing at Hire Profile is my next undertaking. Have you any case studies of how Gowalla or foursquare have enhanced a user experience in a B2B environment? Please share them with us here or on our facebook fan page.
If I “check into” Starbucks every day at 2pm, Starbucks now knows something about me. They know I probably work or live close by, that I hit an afternoon slump and that I like to get out of the office. Now they can start to push coupons or other marketing messages to my mobile device in order to increase my brand loyalty. Even getting those silly “Mayor” badges, has become something I covet. When I check in at Starbucks, I can see which of my other friends have checked in as well and perhaps share a cup of Joe with them. Starting to make sense, isn’t it? Just like Facebook, Twitter and other social websites, Geo-location marketing only works if everyone gets on the bandwagon, so hop on soon!
According to Jeff this is the “end of punch cards and the beginning of mobile loyalty.” The analytics behind FourSquare and GoWalla are still being sorted out, but the potential for brands to interact with their customers in a whole new way is blossoming. I’m very excited to see where experts like Jeff and Engauge will take us next.
P.S. – I finally became Mayor of my own home! I just had to add a picture to my FourSquare account – thanks Jeff, for the tip!