Location based marketing finally popular in Europe

Almost from the start of the very first Location Based Networks in 2008, they stimulated retailers to launch promo's for those customers who "checked in" at their local stores, pubs and restaurants.

During the first year I noticed lots of successful actions and promo's starting up in the USA and UK, some even nationwide (e.g. promo's of Starbucks, Domino's Pizza, ...)

Pioneer Foursquare has a great business page, listing the latest promo actions nearby.

It seems that after the summer of 2010 Belgium and Holland also noticed the positive aspects of these promo's and finally jumped on the wagon. Especially near larger cities, it happens more and more that when you check in somewhere, you'll be attended to "Special Promo" actions nearby.

Only yesterday I was attended to a promo by a local bookstore in Maastricht (NL) where they hand out free bestselling books to customers who have checked in to their store at least 10 times.

If you are active in retail or horeca ... take action now and get more customers.

Location based networks are very clever marketing tools and free to use !!!

Breakthrough of location based networking

This week Facebook announced the launch of Facebook Places, their take on location based networking. From this week on available in the USA, other countries to follow soon.

I was probably one of the first people in Belgium who really believed in location based networking while many others laughed and said it was "just a game".
Today I see more and more businesspeople check-in to their workplaces, their favorite restaurants and bars and even promoting those by giving tips to other users. Today I also see more and more business owners announcing 'specials' or promo's for customers who check-in on Foursquare or Gowalla. Yes, also in Belgium and also in my neighborhood !

It's good news that Facebook Places is not going to play solo in a move to conquer the market. I was happy to read that they open up the application to pioneers like Foursquare and Gowalla who can forward their check-ins to Facebook Places too.

It seems more than one good idea is born while drinking a beer in your local pub, and that's more or less what location based networking is all about. Getting together with your friends and promoting the places you visit. Location based networking is probably the strongest sample of peer promotion we have ever seen.

Business owners or large companies (e.g. Starbucks) are jumping on the wagon and see their revenue climbing because more and more people are battling to become the mayor of the location and receive something extra with their coffee.

Not all business ideas have to be rocket science ... just a plain and simple checkin tool can be genius too !