Foursquare announced that they’re building on the successful partnership they’ve had with American Express for several years. Foursquare users can now check in to participating businesses and activate a discount with Mastercard, VISA and debit cards as well as American Express. Foursquare users “simply sync their card to their Foursquare account, check in, and pay.”
The new feature is initially available at over 6,500 Burger King restaurants across the U.S. Foursquare users should open their mobile app and sync up their card, then check in and use the app to pay the next time they’re in a Burger King or other participating business.
As a Foursquare user and business customer, you’ll need to connect a credit card to your Foursquare account through the app on your smart phone. Once you do that, when you visit a participating business, you will be able to pay your bill through the Foursquare app.
So, how do you get your business involved?
As yet, according to Foursquare support, they’re only working with a select group of partners. As the program gets rolled out, it will be opened to more and more businesses. In order to prepare, there are two things you need to do.
If you haven’t already, make sure that you have a Foursquare account and have set up your business location. You may need to claim the location and verify ownership if other people have already been checking in.
Next, start to use Specials. Set up one or more Specials so that you’re familiar with how they work and, more importantly, your customers get used to you having Specials they can unlock. If you create great Specials, your customers will not only appreciate them, they’ll share them with their friends and help promote your business to their social networks.
If you have any other questions on how you can use Foursquare to promote your business, please let me know in the comments below, or contact me directly!
Foursquare buttons courtesy of nan palmero, Flickr.