Ads that reach individuals who are interested in your type of business and ready to make a purchase right now – seems too good to be true, right? Maybe not with Foursquare’s new promoted updates. Though the company released ads for large chains last year, they have just recently begun honing ads for local businesses, beginning with the New York pilot in June. Now they have finally opened them up to all local businesses. At Technology Therapy, we’re here to inform and educate about new digital marketing tools, and we will not disappoint in this case. So let’s get right to it!

What Are Foursquare Promoted Updates?

Fourquare Promoted Updates are ads that display on the platform for users in the area of the promoted businesses, particularly if they are already searching for such businesses. For example, say you are craving a burger, but you’re looking to try someplace new, so you open Foursquare and search for “Burger.” You may see a promoted update from a local restaurant that serves burgers.

While the geotargeting is similar to that provided by Facebook ads, Foursquare offers several additional benefits:

• Targeting Active Local Customers:

  Users on this platform have shown an interest in local businesses and are often ready to buy when they perform their searches.

• Measuring ROI:

  Business owners can measure the ROI of these ads very clearly. Foursquare provides them with not only the number of users who have seen their ads and clicked on them, but also the number of individuals who actually visited their physical location, as the whole point of Foursquare is for users to “check in” to the places they visit.

• Budget Control:

  Foursquare allows business owners to set their own budgets, allowing businesses of all sizes to take advantage of these ads. Additionally, this makes it easy for business owners to test the tool with a modest budget to ensure that it is right for their companies before investing more funds.

Who Should Use Foursquare Ads?

These ads should be reserved for local businesses with brick and mortar locations that customers can actually visit. Restaurants, cafés, retail stores, salons, and spas are all examples of businesses that can absolutely benefit from sponsored updates on this platform.

How to Use Foursquare Ads

Setting up these ads is quite simple. First, a business owner must visit business.foursquare.com/ads. Next he or she will be prompted to find (or add their business). Once they’ve chosen their business, they simply need to upload a photo for their ad, which can focus on a special offer or a customer tip. Finally, business owners will set their budgets and their ads will be ready to display to local customers.