I have been in the process of revamping my presentation from Barcamp Conway on The GeoSocial Shakedown for Barcamp Jonesboro this upcoming weekend and I figured I would do an accompanying blog post to go along w/ the presentation. Please keep in mind that this technology is still in it’s very infancy so a lot of these notes may become outdated rather quickly.  Since I am revamping my initial presentation I will likely post a link to my updated slide share once I am finished editing it.

The purpose for this presentation is to explain GeoSocial Networking and highlight two of the most popular location based applications on the market today; Gowalla and Foursquare, and show how they are being used by many of today’s leading consumer brands as an integral part of their interactive marketing campaigns.

What is GeoSocial Networking?

GeoSocial Networking allows users to interact, relative to their location, using wireless devices such as smart phones, with their established network of friends. ex. Facebook, Twitter, Gowalla, Foursquare, etc.  GeoSocial uses established or crowdsourced coordinates for events, locations, buildings, and landmarks as check in locations. Some GeoSocial applications that support crowd sourcing may allow it’s members to create locations on the go.

In some networks, users can also share location specific reviews and tips for future visitors to a venue or location that they feel to be relevant. This primarily exists on Foursquare at the moment but there is evidence that other networks are beginning to see the value for these location based notations and may soon incorporate this functionality into future releases.

GeoSocial Networks like Gowalla & Foursquare have social networks within themselves but also interact very well with external networks like Twitter & Facebook. Several GeoSocial Networks like Gowalla and Foursquare already have a built in gaming aspect to keep their applications fun and appealing to their user base.  For instance, Gowalla has virtual swag, trip pins, and Foursquare has mayorship competitions for users that like to oust their friends at a particular venue.

Many brands have also started to work with these Geosocial Networks to offer up tangible prizes for users based on varying levels of involvement. Some recent examples include Tom’s Shoes, Eyefi, and Levi’s which require very little effort…

Some Popular GeoSocial Networking Applications…

New GeoSocial Applications are being launched quite frequently but some of the pioneers in the industry include: Brightkite, Fire Eagle, Gbanga, Google Latitude, Loopt, MyTown, Hotlist, Scvngr, Socialight, Waze, and Yelp. The two leading applications today are Foursquare & Gowalla.  Facebook also has to be considered a leader as well in this niche but since their network is so broad already and most users don’t understand Places yet I don’t consider it a player yet.  Let’s take a closer look at the leaders and examine their market shares…

Foursquare: is the most widely used GeoSocial Application at this time, but my prediction is that Gowalla will one day close in on them.  Foursquare is located in New York and was founded by: Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai. Foursquare allows users to connect with friends and check in at locations.  Foursquare users are awarded points and badges.  Loyal visitors to an establishment might be crowned as mayor. Users can also create private to-do lists for a venue for themselves or they can create a public tip that is shared with everyone who checks in at that venue.  Foursquare presently have over 500k users as of March 2010 and has apps for iPhone, Android, webOS, Windows Phone 7 and BlackBerry.  Foursquare recently partnered with Zagat, New York Times, and Conde Nast to offer various promotions.  Fourquare currently has three levels of superuser status, each with varying levels of control to edit locations.

Gowalla is located in Austin, Texas and was founded by: Josh Williams.  Users connect with friends and check in at locations. As a reward users will sometimes receive items for checking in.  Inside the Gowalla network, featured spots have custom icons or stamps that are highly collected by avid Gowalla users. Users can drop items at a location and become a founder of that location. Trips can be added by users by grouping locations together, users who complete these trips are awarded pins. Gowalla presently has over 150k users as of March 2010 and they have apps for iPhone, Android, webOS, Windows Phone 7 and BlackBerry.   Gowalla recently partnered with CNN, National Geographic, Tom’s Shoes, and Eye-fi to produce various promotions to their users. Gowalla has an elevated user level called Street Team Elite that can modify location data and add additional content about a venue. In December 2009, Gowalla had raised $8.4m in venture capital…

Market Share (Gowalla –vs- Foursquare)

Presently Foursquare has an impressive lead over Gowalla in terms of their user base and the number of checkins each network sees but Gowalla’s userbase seems to be more passionate and dedicated.  While Foursquare may appeal to the masses right now it’s appeal to the hardcore geosocial user might not be as favorable due to it’s overall flakiness.

I like to tell people that they should look at Foursquare as the Myspace of GeoSocial and look at Gowalla as the Facebook.  One day Foursquare will realize that Gowalla’s steady plotting and careful development and planning for their product might have been a slower approach but it will pay dividends by the time Geosocial hits the mainstream.

Early on in the GeoSocial Wars Foursquare was able to pick up a lot of it’s userbase because of their avialability on multiple platforms (Android, Blackberry, etc.), once Gowalla released their application on these platforms the gap started to narrow.

I anticipate another way that Gowalla can close the gap on Foursquare would be for them to increase the visbility of their business components and tools.  The more brand involvement they can get, the more users they will attract once the word gets out.

Business Implications / Applications for GeoSocial

Geosocial adoption by Businesses and Brands has been slow initially but as the industry continues to evolve, this should all change.  Currently on the Gowalla network established businesses or locations can track visitors pretty easily.  An example can be found below for a coffee shop that has seen 92 users check in over 224 Times.  If you look closely at the graphic below, you will also notice that this business provides a 10% off promotion in tandem.

For the owner of this business, it’s fairly easy to figure out who his customers are using this service.  They also have access to how many visits a user has made to a particular location, this helps to pinpoint who your frequent fliers or best customers are.

Promotional Opportunities & Contests for Businesses & Brands w/ Geosocial…

Users can participate almost effortlessly in various promotions and contests via GeoSocial.  Some recent examples include Tom’s Shoes, where users could win 1 of 1000 pairs of Tom’s shoes, an AT&T smartphone or notebook, or a trip to Argentina.  All users had to do to participate was to check in at electronic and clothing stores for a chance to be entered.

Some other practical applications for geosocial include discounts for mayors or users with multiple checkins, custom icons for branding are also available inside the Gowalla network. Brands can also increase awareness of their products by utilizing giveaways to users.

Starbucks Loyalty Rewards with Foursquare offers mayors a $1 discount on a Frappucino. The special greets users with this message: “As mayor of this store, enjoy $1 off a NEW however-you-want-it Frappuccino blended beverage. Any size, any flavor. Offer valid until 6/28.”

The opportunities for businesses and brands to leverage Geosocial are limitless, I have just shared a few that I know to have been successful campaigns.  For most small business owners with limited advertising capital, the need to think out of the box is critical to maximizing your efforts and getting the most bang for your buck.  Geosocial, in tandem with a social network campaign might provide the most bang for your marketing dollar.

Event Promotion w/ Geosocial – Toadsuck Daze

This past year we worked with Gowalla to establish a custom event stamp for the 2010 Toad Suck Daze festival. Festival goers on the Gowalla social network had the opportunity to check in at the live event, which was a 12hr span of time, to receive a limited edition custom event stamp for the festival.

We scheduled a tweetup in the square that morning for everyone to check in and get their stamp.  We had users drive from as far as Little Rock and Hot Springs just to get their event stamp.  The rest of the festivals festivities were secondary to them.

For coordinators of larger events, conferences, and meetings, exposure on these geosocial networks might be an effective way to increase visibility for your event as well as boosting attendance.

What’s Fueling the GeoSocial Craze?

Several factors are fueling the Geosocial craze right now. The top factor would have to be the incrase of smartphone usage today.  Blackberry, Palm, Android, and the Iphone are only continuing to surpass analysts predictions and will soon dominate how content is delivered.  Emerging device markets such as the pad, or tablet, are also fueling user base growth in the geosocial realm. The iPad already has beautiful apps specifically designed for it by Foursquare & Gowalla.

The gaming aspect of some networks is also attracting users in search of swag, tangible prizes, discounts, product or venue reviews, and mayorships. There are also several functional geosocial applications like Waze that in addition to network also provide turn by turn directions much like a Garmin or tom-tom unit.

The Facebook Factor…

Facebook recently unveiled Facebook Places to it’s user base, the worlds largest social network.  Facebook’s motivation for getting into Geosocial has very little to do with going after Foursquare or Gowalla and more to do with the fact they see a huge revenue potential from business advertising.  Initially, it appears that the Facebook business model for places resembles that of Yelp more than anything else.

In a message to businesses, Facebook recently spinned places this way:

Places creates a presence for your business’s physical store locations- encouraging your customers to share that they’ve visited your business by “checking in” to your Place. When your customer checks into your Place, these check-in stories can generate powerful, organic impressions in friends’ News Feeds, extending your brand’s reach to new customers.

If Facebook’s sole motivation is to monetize the map, like we all suspect, then that might lend some credibility to their initial statements that they were going to be working closely with existing Geosocial networks to incorporate them into Places as well.  In fact, Facebook went as far as having representatives from Foursquare, Loopt, Gowalla, and several others on stage with them during the Places launch.

What becomes of Facebook’s Geosocial Presence remains to be seen but with the worlds largest social network, they could easily become a major player overnight.

Questions / Comments:

Once finished w/ the presentation I always open the floor up to questions, if you have any questions or would like to add something  I might have overlooked, simply leave a comment below…