new truths

From our perspective, North Shore Bank sees Foursquare not only as a tool to encourage people to stop into our branches, but as a way to help us increase brand awareness and position the bank within a growing local online community. Listening and connecting with people within our communities is a big part of who we are as an institution, as it has been since our inception. Foursquare is simply one more communication avenue we’re exploring.

We don’t see Mayorship specials as the end-all/be-all of Foursquare promotions. However, the promotion we ran earlier has already paid for itself, just from the positive reception and potential new business opportunities.

So far the tools that have been released by Foursquare have allowed us to monitor the check-in activity at our 40+ offices. Going forward we would like to craft additional promotions, including offers like restaurants are able to do now. Another intriguing feature is the ability to post tips and to-dos on our venue pages as a way to drive traffic and introduce the bank’s convenient services, like nearby ATMs, to people on-the-go.

You offer many good points and ideas here, some of which we are exploring. Fourquare and other location-based social networks offer us a chance to bring online conversations face-to-face, where personal relationships remain a critical part of doing business.