8.5 million reasons to diversify your web marketing!

Posted: Apr 26, 2011
Author: WordJack Media

In the lead up to "foursquare day" on the 4/16 (yes, 4-squared is 16, so there you go), I read this article in Mashable about Mayor Bloomberg proclaiming an official foursquare day in the home of the amazing startup.

But one stat at the bottom absolutely jumped off the page at me: 1 million foursquare users a year ago, has climbed to 8.5 million today! Not only is that incredible growth by anyone's standards, but this boost came in the year that facebook places was introduced and people started checking in to local places on facebook, and posting that "news" to their wall.

I had anticipated facebook places to signal the death of foursquare but I clearly could not have been more incorrect. Perhaps facebook just paved the way for a new type of activity where people check in for specials, badges and for fun! But it's clear there will be no single winner in any of this.

So what does this mean for web marketing? I think the point is clear - diversify! Gone are the days for using a single channel to try to engage with your customers and potential customers. For a small business, marketing on the web means ensuring they are professionally represented and engaging with their clients on foursquare, facebook, twitter, yelp and more!