Check-Ins and Chatter
Last week my colleague emailed me an interesting article on The Economics of Privacy Pricing by Steve Lohr. It presents an interesting idea that “‘When [we] have privacy, [we] value it more…But when the starting point is that we feel we don’t have privacy, we value privacy far less.’”
Here I’d like to pose a question–is your idea of privacy how limited or exposed your social profiles are? Between Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter, mobile advertising, and Google collecting all of our logistical information to pour into demographic reports…if we do have privacy, does it have the same connotation as it did before the Facebook privacy issues, before adding your location to Tweets, before checking in with Foursquare? And what does this movement towards less privacy mean for marketers?
Good news, my friends! The possibilities are now endless (not that they weren’t before, but location opens up a lot of opportunities). Companies can now collect actionable data for marketing. We can determine consumer behavior based on things like Foursquare check-ins, Tweets, Facebook “likes,” and we can use that information to shape our strategy to target specific audiences.
We can use things like check-ins to draw consumers into stores, bars, restaurants, etc. For example, just yesterday I was on my way to a meeting with our CEO and Foursquare aficionado when he discovered, upon checking in, that there was a free pint nearby with your first check-in to that particular restaurant. Needless to say they gained a customer!
Thinking back to the days where Facebook didn’t have fan pages, before Twitter, let alone before location check-ins I realized how far we have come and how great our ability now is to really zero in on conversations surrounding the brands for which we market. The fact that we have tools to monitor the dialogue and sentiment around any given topic is pure gold for not only customer service but also determining how to approach an audience.
Have you joined the conversation yet? Email us at askjar@thejargroup.com to find out how we can help!
