Mobile marketing has become more and more important as consumers migrate to the new platform.

Location based sites like Foursquare lead the pack, but how do you make the most of the platform? What strategies work well?

Businesses have started to recognize the power of location based social media; its ability to get people to visit a store, attend a concert, or perform an action. The following are a few example strategies that businesses can take advantage of on Foursquare…

Create a Foursquare Special

Want to connect with consumers near your store? Foursquare grants you that ability. Users that check into venues near yours can be shown a pop-up offering them a deal for your store.

Businesses should be strategic with their use of this promotion. If your store is near a transportation hub, for example Penn Station in New York, you’ll be able to capture consumer attention as they check-in daily.

Other potentially high value stores include Apple stores, Best Buys, Starbucks, and popular restaurants.

If you’re near one of these high volume stores, it’s definitely worth working with Foursquare to create a “checkin deal”.

The Scavenger Hunt

For those with multiple stores and a willingness to offer some great deals, a scavenger hunt works well.

All you have to do is create a Facebook application which requires users to input a certain number of phrases or clues before unlocking some kind of prize. Have users that check in to your stores be presented with the clues they need to unlock the prize.

Obviously, the prize has to be cool enough to get users to visit each store. An amazing prize and online scavenger hunt could build buzz about the stores, build new Facebook fans, and introduce new consumers to new locations.

Leave a Tip Get a Tip

On Foursquare, the tips users leave can be a powerful social proof for new consumers. One way to build tips, is to offer an incentive. Similar to how we reward consumers for filling out surveys, why not tips.

Creating a promotion called “Leave a Tip, Get a Tip” which offers a user a coupon or dessert for leaving a tip on Foursquare, could build that social proof.

You just need a small reward to convince consumers to leave a tip. In return, you gain both a tip and the viral spread of your brand as they check-in.

Check In Days

Tweetups and online driven meetups have been an extremely powerful way of building a brand’s reach.

A great example is CoffeeGroundz in Houston, which often uses Twitter to hold meetups where they have great music and coffee. Their events almost always draw a big crowd and have now grown a culture of their own.

Another example is German Auto Body which used Reddit to host a free BBQ. The owner posted it online and it became a front-page story for the extremely popular social news site, Reddit. Once the event was over, the creator deemed it a great success and said that he’s thinking of hosting another.

Imagine if these events, explicitly incorporated Foursquare as well. Asking your online networked consumers to spread your brand messaging across their social profiles, as they check in to your free event – it’s a win win for both the brand and the consumer.

Best of all is that this strategy requires little more than reminding consumers that are at your meetup to check-in on Foursquare.

Final Thoughts

Foursquare has revolutionized location based social media and mobile marketing. It’s given marketers a platform to reach new consumers and make every store, restaurant, and location a shareable content piece online.

Taking advantage of this new medium requires little more than some ingenuity, basic resources, and a thirst to be unique. Do something fun, invite people, have them check-in and invite their friends – rinse and repeat.

What have you been doing with Foursquare? What strategies have you used that worked? Leave a comment and share!