Foursquare and Facebook are two social networks with quite different attributes (for now), so what do the lists of top brands on each platform look like? If you’re into spoilers, here it is: they’re pretty different.
According to Osnapz, a company that handles custom social media campaigns and applications, shows Zagat as the top brand on Foursquare, with 50,705 followers, trailed by MTV with 41,472 followers, VH1 with 31,644 followers, Bon Appetit Magazine with 30,776 followers and The New York Times with 39,340 followers.
TLC was sixth with 28,784 followers, followed by Thrillist with 27,610, The Wall Street Journal with 26,067, Lucky Magazine with 21,359 and Gossip Girl with 20,407.
According to Fan Page List, Foursquare’s top 10 brands has absolutely nothing in common with Facebook’s, which has Facebook as the top-ranked brand with 16.8 million fans, followed by Starbucks Coffee with 12.7 million fans, YouTube with 11.5 million fans, Coca-Cola with 10.7 million fans, Oreo with 8.7 million fans, Skittles with 8.6 million fans, Red Bull with 7.8 million fans, Victoria’s Secret with 6.3 million fans, Disney with 5.8 million fans and Windows Live Messenger with 5.5 million fans.
Fan Page List also ranks brands by Twitter followers. This list has Twitter at the top of the list with 3.5 million followers, ahead of CNN Breaking News with 3.3 million, New York Times with 2.5 million, Google with 2.4 million, The Onion with 2.3 million, E! Online with 2.3 million, TIME with 2.1 million, People Magazine with 2.1 million, Mashable with 2.1 million and the NBA with 2.0 million.
Of course, once Facebook dives into location-based waters, its list of popular brands might look a bit more similar to Foursquare’s.
Christopher Heine of ClickZ recently looked at five of the best and five of the worst campaign deals on Foursquare. One positive example is Ann Taylor, which offered 25 percent off purchases of non-sale apparel and accessories to mayors, and 15 percent off for Foursquare users who checked in five times to one of the company’s eight New York City stores. The company is set to roll out a national Foursquare campaign soon.
One of the worst was from Burger King, which offered a free coffee or soda with a qualifying sandwich purchase for Foursquare users who checked in three times to one of the fast-food locations in New York City and New Jersey. The promotion was too low-risk and too closely resembled a newspaper coupon. This was a display of “meekly dipping its tow in the location-based pool,” according to Heine.
Gap launched a quick-hit location-based campaign last weekend, when it offered a one-day-only mobile coupon for those on Foursquare who checked in to one of its retail locations throughout the country. The offer was also extended to Twitter and Facebook users, though the latter group had to physically print a coupon out, while the former group had to use a discount code at the cash register.
What made Gap’s effort unique was the one-day nature of its offer, according to Justin Montgomery at Mobile Marketing Watch.
As the location-based game matures and as more entrants (a la Facebook) establish themselves, consumers can expect to see more innovative and engaging campaigns.
Sources:
http://www.osnapz.com/FoursquareBrands.aspx
http://fanpagelist.com/category/brands/view/list/sort/fans/
http://www.clickz.com/clickz/news/1727824/the-best-worst-campaign-deals-foursquares-turf
http://www.mobilemarketingwatch.com/gap-uses-foursquare-for-unique-one-day-only-25-off-check-in-offer-8498/
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