Foursquare for Brands without Physical Locations - Click here http://bit.ly/haudia for full article

Foursquare is a highly popular location-based social service. Users install a Foursquare app on their mobile device and "check in" at places they visit. These could be schools, restaurants, grocery stores, train stations or even major intersections. These check-ins are published to a user's friends, both so people who are in the same place at the same time can find one another and also so people can find interesting recommendations based on what their friends are doing.
This has turned out to be a great application for businesses to market themselves, and Foursquare users tend to appreciate the timely and relevant information about local companies. For example, a business may offer a 10 percent discount to a user who has checked in at their business. Not only does this encourage people to check in and make a purchase, but it provides free advertising. Users who check in at nearby locations are notified of a "special nearby". That also helps drive business.
However, since Foursquare is deeply rooted in location-based services, it has been difficult for companies without physical locations to establish themselves on the site. If a user is having a Coke, for example, they can't check in as drinking the soda. Now, Foursquare is offering mechanisms to participate and gain users' attention, even if you don't have a physical address, by creating pages on the site. The pages provide information about the business and show a new feed provided by the brand instead of a history of check-ins, as are shown on user pages. Users can follow brands, which has many of the same effects as friending a fellow Foursquare-er. Brands can list places that offer their products or relate to their brand. They can also post tips at locations, just like regular users, and these tips will be seen by anyone who follows the brand when they check in.But why would users want to follow a brand? Is it worth it just to see updates from that company? For many, it isn't, but there is a feature that will bring a lot of visitors to a brand: the ability to offer custom badges. Badges are one of the top motivators on Foursquare, and brands that offer them will attract users by adding to their badge inventory and giving something new to strive for.