<h3>A starter’s guide to understanding the buzz</h3>
In this brief guide, we will shed some light on the fastest-growing sector of social media.

I like to think that I’m an early adopter of technology – but truth be told – I like to see if things have the staying power to outlast the initial excitement. One of my criteria is: do they add enough value to my everyday life aside from just being new. I joined two of the front-running location-based social networks last month (Foursquare and Gowalla). With about 4 weeks under my belt, I wanted to share what I’ve learned both from a branding and marketing perspective and a consumer perspective.

First – a little background on location-based services. If you have a smart-phone, you have access to applications that use GPS in order to locate your device and provide location-based insight. The two main categories are:

<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Social Review Sites:</span> These provide consumer reviews of the places nearby.
Yelp
WHERE
Geodelic
Tell me where

<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Social Check-in Site:</span> These allow users to check-in, post pictures, status updates, etc.
Facebook – new feature
Foursquare
Gowalla
Blockchalk
BrightKite
Whrrl
MyTown
<h3>As a user – this is what you need to know</h3>
● Cool application for seeing where your friends are

A couple quick scenarios: Say, I’m at a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre and I check-in. My friend, Mathew, is also at the concert and he sees that I checked-in. He calls me up and we meet-up after the concert to grab a beer at our favorite neighborhood bar.

I’m visiting a new city where my friend Sherri lives. I know she has good taste in vegetarian restaurants – so I check her profile to see what restaurants she’s checked into recently.

● Not as creepy as you might think. Sites like <a href="http://www.pleaserobme.com/">www.pleaserobme.com</a> DO bring up some great points about over-sharing, but just keep your contacts to people you consider friends in real life.

● Get rewarded. Some retailers give special perks to loyal Foursquare, Gowalla, etc users. You are seen as their brand advocate.
<h3>As a marketer – here are the opportunities:</h3>
● Gain a loyal following of consumers who are “on the go”

● Influence their purchase when they are close to the register

● Offer up a special for all check-ins

● Offer an extra-special discount or freebie for the “Mayor”

● Learn more about your patrons (which locations and when the check-in)

Hope that helps as a brief introduction. As of June 2010, Foursquare reported that it had 1.6 million users. Plus, with Facebook’s new location-based tagging – I think it’s safe to say that this new sector of social media is here to stay (at least until the next big thing).

Consider location-based services as a part of your overall online presence. Brand Iron can help you leverage this new trend to drive revenue with a very specific (and growing) target audience.