If you’re anything like me,  when you hear  “social networking” you probably think of Facebook, Twitter and Myspace.  Accounts that you may or may not use to keep up with forgotten high school buddies, collect thumb-nailed friends you’ll never meet and keep track of exactly what your favorite celebrity is doing at any given moment.

For most business owners it’s been a struggle attempting to leverage social networking sites and an even greater challenge trying to measure their value.  Yes, the potential to reach a massive audience through Twitter and Facebook is undeniable, but are people listening? I can only speak for myself and those I associate with, but in my experience people won’t pay much attention to branded social networking. If a product or service isn’t extremely groundbreaking and VERY specific to someone’s tastes, they’ll  just ignore it.

This could soon change with a new kid on the scene called Foursquare. 

The basic premise of Foursquare is similar to Twitter; updates from a phone are sent out to all your subscribers to let them know what you’re up to.  The key difference is that Foursquare is location based; users ”check in” at various places to let their friends know what they are doing. Foursquare also uses a point system to reward its users with badges irreverently named things like “crunked”  for discovering new places or becoming the most frequent patron of a particular spot. Foursquare will even let you see tips people have left for the locale you’re checking into and suggest nearby spots you might enjoy.  Twitter on the other hand is primarily used to find out what Ashton Kutcher is having for lunch.

Foursquare essentially makes life into a game.

Who cares?

At AgencyWeb we’ve seen some potential in Foursquare. There are ways for business owners to leverage this service and to *gasp* measure its value!

The most obvious use for Foursquare is basically to do the Twitter thing. Start an account for your business, talk your customers into subscribing and then blast them with updates about sales, events, renovations, whatever. You might find that this annoys people however, and besides, it’s boring.

Try this: If someone becomes the most frequent patron of a specific spot on Foursquare they become the “mayor” of that spot. Why not offer a 5% discount to the mayor? Others may start coming through your door more often just to claim the title.

How about instating a “bring a friend” incentive. Perhaps you own a bar. You could have a Monday special where if someone brings five friends through the door with proof of the Foursquare message that got ‘em there, the one-person street team gets a couple of free drinks.

Use tips to your advantage too. Have a “secret” mixed drink. The only way to find out about it is to check in on Foursquare and receive the tip. This type of “game” will keep people coming back.

These are just the tip of the iceberg with Foursquare. Since it is specifically geared towards local communities, there are countless ways businesses can use the service to their advantage. I find myself checking in to spots I wouldn’t have even glanced at on Twitter or Facebook.

I guess my point is to keep an eye on this thing. If you like friends, and you leave your house occasionally, you’ll probably end up using Foursquare.

Just some advice from your friends over at AgencyWeb.