Foursquare’s newest tool, Attribution, allows the social and location platform to measure the foot traffic generated by digital ads. As a result, ads can now be connected to physical store visits.
Users must be willing to leave their location-sharing feature on at all times for the tool to be effective and accurate.
By comparing the behavior of those exposed to digital advertising to those who are not, the new tool is able to provide some very interesting data. And while Foursquare isn’t the first platform to measure location visits, they believe their tool yields the most accurate data.
Attribution Powered by Foursquare has already been tested by numerous retail and restaurant businesses over the past several months. TGI Friday’s, for instance, used the new tool to determine whether the ads increased restaurant visits compared to a similar-sized group that did not see the ad.
Foursquare’s plan is to use the technology on all digital ads across the web and mobile, on sites like Yahoo and AOL, as well as various mobile app ad networks. The technology was also tested on Flipboard, which ultimately noticed a 12% incremental lift due to the campaign.
In the past, retailers would have to wait weeks for credit card data to sync with campaigns to judge the performance of the ads. This new technology allows businesses to track conversions without anyone having to open the app. Foursquare actually tracks every store people physically visit, which also provides additional data for the company to leverage.
With more than 50 million Foursquare users worldwide—and 1.3 million of them already involved in the new study—Attribution has already seen exciting results. We’ll be interested to see how things progress once the tool gains popularity, but what do you think? As a user, are you feel comfortable leaving your location-sharing on at all times?
Colleen Pagnani
Digital & Operations Coordinator, Liqui-Site
An integral member of the Liqui-Site team since 2015, Colleen handles content research and development, reporting, and assists with both operational and new business development initiatives. She's also responsible for the coordination of Liqui-Site's Work To Do Good™ volunteer efforts.
