Social media are definitely the fastest growing online trend that benefits individuals and businesses alike, and Foursquare is a more recent addition to it.

Foursquare.com is free and enables anyone to make the most out of his or her whereabouts. You can easily share and save the places you visit with Foursquare. It also gives personalized recommendations and deals based on your location and preferences of your friends and people with similar taste as yours. It certainly is among today’s top online craze. However, do you know that you can do more with Foursquare besides these mentioned perks? Are you aware that businesses can get the best out of Foursquare too? Read on to find out exactly why Foursquare can be a perfect companion for you as well.

Foursquare Statistics

In Internet marketing, the numbers matter a lot. So, to hype your interest in Foursquare even more, here are some facts worth considering:

Over 25 million people worldwide check-in places using Foursquare.

 There are over 3 billion check-ins daily through Foursquare.

 Over 1 million businesses use Foursquare’s merchant platform.

Infographic published in Foursquare blog in June 2011

How Can Businesses And Brands Benefit From Foursquare?

Whether you are a startup business, an already established entity, or a freelance entrepreneur, Foursquare is one tool you can use to engage with your customers and fans. With Foursquare, you can literally have more customers walking on your door.

Here’s how it works:

• Foursquare links people to businesses.

• Since the last quarter of the year and the coming years ahead are mobile-friendly, they realized this opportunity. It is an application for your phone that you can conveniently access anytime. It is also a website that you can browse through other devices like desktops, laptops and tablets.

• People use it to know about the best places to go to. Foursquare suggests places to check out based on your friends’ and other people’s recommendations.

• Once people find an interesting place suggestion, they check it out personally and leave tips and comments about it.

• Foursquare also features free tools that help businesses in getting discovered and in engaging with their customers.

What Can You Do With Foursquare?

Foursquare flaunts free tools for you to not only attract customers but reward them as well. With Foursquare, businesses can:

• Be discovered. There can be instances that your business is already listed in their site because someone who might have recently visited your place checked in and left a comment about you in Foursquare. The next thing for you to do is to claim your business, manage your listing, and access Foursquare free tools and data.

• Engage with and reward your customers. You can post updates, list events or offer specials to encourage people to drop by your business.

• Monitor actual traffic.  It offers free analytics for you to find out about your real-world customers. Once people visit your place and check-in using Foursquare, and you have already claimed your location, you can easily access the free analytics based on the check-in data. You can monitor the customer who comes in to your business for the first time and how often each customer comes back.

• Foursquare’s free analytics also allows you to measure your success, meet your most loyal and best customers, and follow your activity.

Whether you belong in the retail, services, food & beverage or other industry, Foursquare is definitely a must-have! Use Foursquare to drive customers to your store, making them spend more and more often. Let locals and travelers find you when they’re within the vicinity. Feature your products, services or menu items, and reward your frequent visitors with Foursquare. After all, it’s the real-world traffic that counts!