rebeccakeen.com

Confession: my guilty pleasure and my true love are cupcakes. I go to great lengths to find the perfect cupcake, no matter which city I am in. In my quest to find the perfect cupcake shop, I search the web for all the local cupcake shops, read reviews and just recently started to turn to my trusty iPhone to use one of my location-based apps.

There is no denying that location-based apps are dominating the social space right now and are changing people’s approach to finding items or businesses. These apps are a simple way for business to build discovery and drive customer loyalty.  These interactions prove mutually beneficial: apps like foursquare allow local businesses to post specials and review data on check-in behavior and users can give tips, read reviews and redeem offers. Thanks to foursquare and businesses posting specials for check-ins, I have redeemed several discounts for free cupcakes, coffee and ice cream. I find myself visiting more local businesses to take advantage of specials they post via foursquare.

My increased reliance on these apps has highlighted areas that warrant further exploration. For example, I would love to see location-based apps recommend business or services based on my check-in behavior. Behavioral targeting would be a great way to facilitate new discoveries based on a user’s past behavior.

A recent Forrester report pointed out that adoption of foursquare and other location based apps is still too low to warrant strategies from major marketers. That may be the case, but adoption will likely increase with the recent Facebook Places launch and it’s time for big marketers to pay attention. With more and more people using foursquare and Gowalla and new location-based applications hitting the market, including Facebook Places, where is the future headed? Share your thoughts below (and any tips you have on the best cupcake shops in your city).

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