Foursquare For Book Publishers

2010 was the year where everyone called location-based social networking "the next big thing.” 2011 has so far resulted in… well, not a lot. Not to say that sites like Foursquare and Gowalla aren’t doing amazing things or that the growth on these sites hasn’t been huge. They are and they have.But what’s the angle? How can niche communities and specific industries be using these tools to gather momentum? How can, for instance, publishers use location-based networks to sell books, create new communities and encourage readership participation?Last year, Kelly Leonard, Executive Director of Online Marketing for Hachette Book Group, tweeted that these sites are “still new enough that experimentation opportunities abound” and that we’re only limited by our imagination.Yen Cheong, Assistant Director of Publicity for Viking and Penguin Books, added that perhaps location-based services could be used to build book tours. While it still remains to be seen if publishers will open up to these tools, Foursquare announced that they were “closing in on 725k users & 22 million checkins” in March of last year.Just as businesses see a huge advantage to interacting with potential and existing customers (and naysayers) on Twitter, so too will they experience the same advantages on Foursquare, but with even more incentives and a plethora of data at their fingertips.“Overall, I think it’s definitely the ‘new thing.’  It’s the new way to connect,” says Kate Rados, Director of Digital Initiatives for Chelsea Green Publishing. “Publishers are going to have to get very creative to find a way they can use location-based services to connect with their readers. Libraries and bookstores are the ones with the most immediate opportunity here: create special tips, offers for people who check in, rally around events, etc.”“I use FourSquare,” Rados continued. “I tried Gowalla for a week and, while it was very pretty, I didn’t love it.  I do appreciate their ‘trips’ feature and I think (to Kelly Leonard’s point) Authors/Publishers can create some pretty great plot-themed trips via the service. But with every social media platform, the big rule applies:  if you’re not at least trying it out, you’re already missing the boat.”Stephanie Anderson, manager of the independent bookstore WORD Brooklyn, said they’ve given Foursquare a shot, but have so far only experienced mild success. “Personally,” she says, “I’ve noticed that most folks I know don’t use it. I feel like I am constantly explaining it. So it clearly hasn’t hit any sort of tipping point even here in Brooklyn.”In Pasadena, CA, Vroman’s Bookstore has planned to give discounts to frequent visitors as well as the “Mayor” – the Foursquare honorific for the user who checks in at a particular location the most often. Patrick Brown, Vroman’s former webmaster, believes location-based networks are “one of the few social technologies to encourage visits to bricks-and-mortar businesses.”At the moment, as Rados noted, it does look like bookstores have the most to gain from applications like Foursquare because they're relatively easy to use and don't require a ton of innovation to incorporate into a marketing program. Rewarding frequent customers is a proven way to encourage people to return, and encourages them to share their visits with their friends.As for authors and publishers, Anderson offered a suggestion: “One of the ideas I’ve seen bounced around on Twitter that I find intriguing is one of these systems being used to check in to intangibles—for example, checking into THE GONE-AWAY WORLD. Almost a mash-up of Goodreads and Glue, but I don’t think it could happen at the moment.”Do you think this idea has potential? Which books or other services would be ideal for promoting this way? Post originally published by Digital Book World.