Download - Location, location, location - Kristal
Foursquare and TourismUtilising location based social media in
domestic tourism
Kristal Ireland – Head of Digital at Welcome to Yorkshire
@kristalsmile
Welcome to Yorkshire Take Over Yorkshire on Foursquare
In September 2010 WTY became the 1st tourist board in Europe to have an official branded page on Foursquare
How did we do it?
Pretty simple - we asked nicely › One of my team made contact directly with
Foursquare in the States and filled in their application form online
› Within a couple of weeks our application was approved and off we went
How did we do it?
Once our branded page was live the fun began› Several of our team spent their own time
loading up our profile with tips of things to do at major venues around Yorkshire
Popular venues
Popular Venues
Why did we do it?
We like to innovate!
Its free!
It was a great way to build our brand on social media
Why did we do it?
› We have over 9,500 followers on Foursquare
› We are all over Foursquare in Yorkshire so our brand message appears on users mobiles at check-in
How did we amplify it?
We trained over 1000 WTY members on social media over 3 months in 2010
Alongside training on Twitter and Facebook we gave specific training to businesses on how to claim and promote their venues on Foursquare
How did we amplify it?
We realised pretty early on that it wasn't about us
Success was based on building a community around Yorkshire on Foursquare
Getting Yorkshire businesses to embrace the technology was key
How did we amplify it? We created a Tumblr account and got our
members to send us in pictures of their window clings
How did we amplify it?
We gave support to many members who wanted to give it a try
Foursquare in the States were great help and sent us a box of window clings
How did we amplify it?
We had lots of businesses putting specials on, including:› Free brownies after 5 check-ins› 50% of entry on Foursquare check-in› Free coffee/tea in museum cafes› Free attraction visitor guides
The Future?
Recent research done by Beyond Agency at the Social Loco Conference this year suggested that many users have privacy concerns about location based apps
Only 17% of social media users surveyed use social location apps
63% of those that are doing are engaging with big brands
The Future?US based research puts Facebook Places firmly out front in the mass consumer market for check-ins
The winning format?
I think it is too soon to tell! Facebook needs to greatly improve its
functionality and commerciality for smaller businesses using deals for it to be viable
Location may be a flash in the pan???!!! Could only be used by niche online early adopters?
We need to look to the 14-20 yr old demographic for success rates