How a $1,000 Spend on FourSquare Netted McDonalds a 33% Increase in Traffic.

September 17, 2010 3 Comments

Mashable reports that a FourSquare promotion McDonalds conducted in April got the fast food monster a 33% one day traffic increase…just by giving patrons a chance to win gift certificates by checking in on FourSquare. Pretty impressive, especially considering the chains customers are pre-teens, teens and busy moms. I’d say most men abandon McDonalds when they acquire a taste for real meat. I haven’t been in a McDonalds in months and I try never to eat there. Still, impressive that such a massive mass media consumer is experimenting with cutting-edge social techniques. And, good to see the promotions are working, even with such a relatively small installed base (FourSquare has just over 3 million users, according to this Mashable post). Look for location-based marketing to increase…and with it, location based spam…just like in the movie, Minority Report, where the Tom Cruise character is bombarded with useless pitches as he strolls through a shopping mall.

Filed under Advertising, Digital Marketing, Digtial Media, Mobile Marketing Tagged with FourSquare, Location Marketing, Mobile Marketing

About Scott Cone
A husband to a loving, lovely wife. Father to six great kids and two grand kids. I'm a marketing, advertising and promotion professional with a keen interest in big ideas, all things digital and especially how mobile is changing all aspects of communication and marketing. I play guitar and sing, write music, write screenplays, act, scuba dive, weight lift, ski and enjoy Christian apologetics, logic, evolution versus intelligent design and the basis for morals, values and ethics.

3 Responses to How a $1,000 Spend on FourSquare Netted McDonalds a 333 Increase in Traffic.

Omarr Cantu says:

September 28, 2010 at 11:32 am

I used to represent McDonald’s in the Southeast and was based out of the Orlando office. Those are some impressive numbers. Even though I am no longer representing that client, I still read up on them. It’s like they say in the business, “You’ll always have ketchup in your veins.” I am a non-traditional marketing specialist also and really appreciate the post! Non-Traditional Marketing Mash

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- Scott Cone says:
  
  September 28, 2010 at 7:09 pm
  
  Thanks for commenting Omar. Which QSR do you think is doing the best job of harnessing the power of social and new digital media realities?
  
  Reply
Omarr Cantu says:

September 29, 2010 at 12:25 pm

As far as QSR’s are concerned, I really dont think that any are taking full advantage of social media. Having worked with several QSR brands I have found that most are not willing to take any action on an emerging medium without hard statistics. Seeing that McDonald’s corporate was willing to experiment, no matter the findings, with Foursquare is refreshing.

To get a better idea of the success of the promotion will not be able to visible until McDonald’s releases the numbers in comparison to comp sales for the year prior.

As for Mid-tier restaurants, Denny’s and TGI Friday’s are doing a phenomenal job of using multiple mediums such as outdoor, web, sms, and social media to successfully push a promotion.

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