This post on Hubspot was brilliant for showing an out-of-the-box use of Foursquare by throwing a Swarm Badge party.

For those of you who aren’t yet riding the Foursquare wave, the Swarm badge is a big deal. It’s one of the hardest badges to get because 50 people all have to be checked in to the same location at the same time.

Joe, the restaurant owner written about in the post, clearly understands both social media and the right way to use it. He recognized something his clientele wanted, and he found a way to help them get it while also promoting his business.

That’s a clear example of Givers Gain! And it shows that social media is more than a time-wasting fad. People ask me all the time if you can really get business from social media. Joe certainly demonstrated that you can.

But, like with any other sound marketing technique, you have to understand it and how to work it. It’s not enough anymore to blast your brand. You have to engage your audience to understand what they want. Providing them with a “special offer” is good. But it’s not enough either.

Tomorrow I’m going to discuss why engaging with your market is so important. And, of course, I’ll provide some ways to engage.

Oh, and I really want a Swarm Badge too. Know any restaurants who need help with their social media strategy? Send ‘em my way, and I’ll help them get set up in social media so they can throw their own party. I’ll invite my Foursquare friends, and we can all get our badge.

Tags: Giving, Relationship building, sales, social media

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at 1:02 pm and is filed under social media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.