Marketers 'Check in' for Social Sales

Author:

Dianna Dilworth

Source:

A “check-in” through social media sends up a sort of social-status fl are alerting your friends and any hangers-on to not only your whereabouts but also your preferred locales, whether that's the Barneys Co-Op sale or the corner Starbucks. Marketers hope that consumers will check in for another reason: discounts and preferred treatment.

The Del Mar Racetrack in California hopes that the introduction of Foursquare this summer will help extend its brand among younger audiences that might not have grown up with horse racing. Throughout the season, which runs from July 21 through September 8, the racetrack will reward consumers who check-in at the track. The Foursquare initiative follows other social media efforts by the track to reach a younger and more female audience through new Facebook and Twitter channels.

“Our objective is to convert online communities into real track attendees,” says Craig Dado, senior VP of marketing at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. “It is easy to say that you like something on Facebook, but it is another thing to come in and contribute to the business.”

Marketers with physical locations are especially finding that ...