Case Study: Park District Picks Patch and Sees 25% Growth

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At the Downers Grove Park District in Downers Grove, Illinois, (pop. 48,724) Brandi Beckley decides which channels to use to draw residents to events. She has relied heavily on hyperlocal sites like Patch, TribLocal, and MySuburbanLife because of the targeted audiences that these publications provide…

Case Study: How One Agency Helps National Brands Go Hyperlocal

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It’s Ron Blevins’ goal to help agencies help brands navigate the world of hyperlocal media. As the vice president of digital strategy for Novus, an ad agency owned by conglomerate Omnicom that is focused solely on the local space, he has seen brands move from newspapers to hyperlocal sites, where they are finding more trust and loyalty — in some cases a 20% increase in ROI over national sites…

Case Study: DFW Airport Uses LBS Offers to Spur Traveler Spending

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Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is a massive, luxurious airport that in some areas resembles an upscale mall. Many of the travelers who passed through, the airport found, were tech-savvy. 84% owned smartphones and 36% were checking in on location-based services while waiting to board their flights. So to connect these travelers to the stores near their […]

Case Study: Non-Profit Uses Foursquare For Fundraising

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At BART stations in the Bay Area in 2010, commuters were encouraged to check-in on Foursquare to posters placed by Earthjustice, a non-profit focused on environmental awareness, as part of an effort to gain traction in the tech community. They hit 6,000 in just a few months’ time and earned media as well, in the New York Times, Mashable and elsewhere. Senior marketing manager Ray Wan discusses the organization’s strategy.

Case Study: RadioShack Finds Foursquare Customers Spend More

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After a tepid start to location-based services, RadioShack fully embraced Foursquare, finding that customers who checked in spent more and were more likely to buy wireless products. The company saw an uptick in buzz as an innovator, too. Now, RadioShack is a close partner of Foursquare, serving as a launch partner for some of its badge offerings, and running a major Foursquare campaign around the holidays last year, Holiday Hero. This year, RadioShack will run a “So Right” badge campaign on Foursquare and look to increase use of location-based tools by associates as the company de-centralizes its operations.

Case Study: For Tasti D-lite Builds Loyalty with Passive Check-Ins

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“They used to call it ‘stalking,'” said BJ Emerson at the LocNav Conference this month. “Now they call it ‘location-based marketing.'” The VP of technology at Tasti D-lite has tongue firmly planted in cheek, as the frozen yogurt chain has evolved its basic punch card program into a highly digital loyalty effort involving Foursquare, Facebook and Twitter.

Case Study: Chelsea Piers Goes Beyond Groupon

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Since 2009, the recreational complex Chelsea Piers in New York City has sold approximately 20,000 group coupons — until recently, all Groupons. But after a two-year exclusive came to an end with the deals giant in the spring, Chelsea Piers SVP in charge of marketing and sponsorships, Dana Thayer, began tracking other services, looking at verticals, price points, and what her competitors were doing…

Case Study: The Trouble with Mobile Marketing for a Small Town Restaurant

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At Chattan Loch Bistro & Public House in Bellefontaine, Ohio (pop. 13,069), owner Tracy McPherson is struggling to find cost-effective ways to reach customers in her small town. After a promising start with Foursquare in 2010—when customers were checking-in and claiming specials at least a couple days a week—McPherson says interest in the app has waned, in part due to a lack of resources at the restaurant. She now relies on a mix of local ads, email newsletters, and successful beer and wine clubs to get new customers through the door.

Case Study: Neiman Marcus’ LBS Success in a High-End Bag Hunt

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A recent Foursquare event “tracked a tremendous lift in media coverage and positive commentary” for Neiman Marcus, according to Jean Scheidnes, who manages social media for the retailer. Here she talks about how the campaign worked and why it was so successful…

Case Study: Portland Salon Uses Scoutmob to Increase Exposure, Not Financial Risk

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As a new business owner in Portland, Ore., Robin Carlisle has relied heavily on local press and word-of-mouth to promote her salon, Holiday Hair Studio. She initially shied away from daily deal promotions out of fear that an influx of customers would overwhelm her studio, located inside a vintage trailer. She ultimately decided to give Scoutmob a try this past July, in part because the company was new to Portland . Carlisle felt confident that she would be able to use the promotion for exposure without taking on more financial risk than she could handle…

Case Study: Kansas Bar Leverages Twitter to Promote Foursquare Specials

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In an effort to market her business to deal-seeking customers without breaking Kansas’ strict liquor laws—which place limitations on the types of drink specials that bars can offer—Debbi Johanning has had to get creative. At The Sandbar in Lawrence, KS, which she and her husband David co-own, Johanning has offered free jukebox credits to people […]

Case Study: For Seattle Video Store, Print is Still King

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Remaining relevant is a challenge for any independent video store that has to compete with subscription-based companies like Netflix. Next Door Media, an ad network of hyperlocal sites, took on that challenge with Scarecrow Video in Seattle, adding its sites to the store’s traditional mix of weekly newspapers, free magazines, and public radio stations…

Case Study: The Benefit of Being First

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Amsterdam Falafelshop in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C., has been first with a handful of deals companies, including Scoutmob and LivingSocial Instant Deals when each rolled out. Now, it’s first with Google Offers. A seasoned deals customer, Amsterdam has not seen much differentiation among the companies. Their pitches are similar and their results are similar. Only their payments differ, slightly. “But we like to partner with people who are starting out. … Once you’ve been around for awhile, we don’t really need to help you. You’ve got your shit together.”

Case Study: Creating Loyalty Program on the Cheap Using Check-Ins

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The game dynamics of location-based services like SCVNGR aren’t just for consumers’ kicks. Fajitas & ‘Ritas proprietor Brad Fredericks in Boston, for one, has paired SCVNGR, as well as its spinoff service, LevelUp, with social advertising company LocalResponse to create a loyalty program that rewards customers for repeat visits. And if anyone’s counting, LevelUp is winning by at least a mile…

Case Study: Sports Authority Engages Customers With Location-Based Rewards

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Sports Authority wants customers to do more than just check-in on location-based apps. Vice President of E-commerce Clay Cowan says the national retailer’s goal is for customers to be actively engaged in the stores they’re visiting. Sports Authority has partnered with Shopkick and Foursquare to reward customers with gift cards and discounts for checking out specific products and using preferred credit cards, like American Express, to pay for purchases…

Case Study: Using Daily Deals to Target College Students

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What’s the best way to draw college students off campus and into nearby coffee shops and stores? Andrew Eigel, owner of gaming cafe Roxx Electrocafe, believes the answer is a combination of daily deal coupons, humorous sandwich boards, and well-placed QR codes that customers can use to redeem free drinks and other specials. The Cincinnati entrepreneur pitted Groupon against LivingSocial to see which one worked better. As it turned out, he needed them both.

Case Study: Attracting Tourists With LivingSocial ‘Adventures’

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Tahoe Paddle & Oar owner Phil Segal could not be happier with his experiences offering group coupons. He credits Groupon and LivingSocial Adventures, the daily deal company’s outdoor activities vertical, with helping him attract international tourists who may not otherwise know about his operation in Kings Beach, California (pop. 3,796). Segal says his company can afford to offer discounted rates because of the volume of new business daily deal companies bring in…

Case Study: P.F. Chang’s Jumps Into Location-Based Marketing

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P.F. Chang’s China Bistro is giving away free happy hour dishes to customers who checked-in on Foursquare, Facebook, and Yelp this summer as a way to promote its new Triple Happiness Happy Hours. Brand director Dan Drummond says location-based marketing was a no-brainer for the national restaurant chain…

Case Study: Tracking the Success of an Online Ad

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For Richard Stromberg, owner of Chicago Photography Classes, hyperlocal news sites and blogs have taken the place of traditional print publications. To track the effectiveness of his online ads, he uses printable coupons that new clients are encouraged to bring to class for discounted rates...

Case Study: Using Foursquare to Increase Foot Traffic

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How does the owner of a business with minimal signage and a hidden fourth-floor location encourage walk-in business? For Tom Elliot of Idea Greenhouse, a co-working office space for entrepreneurs and startups in Durham, New Hampshire (pop. 14,638), location-based services have been key. Elliot uses platforms like Foursquare, SCVNGR and Yelp to let people working in coffee shops know that a more attractive group workspace is available nearby.