Inspiration from Foursquare 3.0 to reward your visitors

Posted: March 11th, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: People | Tags: , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Badge Galore
Photo by What What on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA)

Foursquare has proven pretty successful at making people do stuff they don’t really need to do. Checking in on Foursquare is like visiting a local museum or gallery: it will not save your life but it’s fun to do so once in a while. One reason, I think, Foursquare is popular is because of its reward system. In the recent 3.0 release a lot of new options have been added to earn points and be really cool.

I know a lot of places offer rewards to returning visitors, etc. Foursquare 3.0 takes this to the next level. Maybe among the many things they reward there’s one or two we could apply to the physical visitors of our museums.

  • First visit to a venue
    First times are always tricky: they determine if there will be a second or not. A good first impression rocks. Foursquare gives quite some points. A museum might give a special tour, flyer, or even a discount (as people do not yet know if it will be worth their money). “First time visitors enter for free. See if you will come again!”
  • Returning visitors
    Foursquare used to reward loyalty with turning you into a mayor and offering badges. Now they’re also handing out points for returning visits. My hairdresser does as well, with a nice discount if I come back within 4, 5 or 6 weeks. At museum, for instance a sign at the exit: “Don’t throw away your ticket, it’s worth a coffee next time you’re around.”
  • Welcome back
    One of the best new rewards in Foursquare 3.0 are the points awarded for returning after a long time (to playing the game, to a venue). It feels like Foursquare has personally waited for my return and that feels good. So, how about inviting people with old catalogues, flyers or tickets who are not friends or members to a special opening of a new exhibition? Read the rest of this entry »