By Chris Lee

Geosocial networking –social networking based on location – has grown rapidly in the last year, increasing in adoption and functionality. Nonetheless, user numbers still remain small compared to other popular forms of social networking. For example, geosocial network Foursquare has a user base of just seven million, compared to more mainstream social networks such as Twitter (200 million) and Facebook (630 million), which launched its own geosocial network, Facebook Places, in May 2010.

Geosocial networks enable users to “check in” to locations, telling their friends about where they are, what they’re doing and also enable businesses to create offers to geosocial network users in their vicinity. Users can also leave reviews of those venues which they have checked into, providing an extra challenge – and opportunity – for marketers.

Beyond geosocial networks

According to Michael Ferguson, CEO of geosocial network Geomium, location-based social networking is rapidly expanding into the wider social networking sphere.

“To see the true picture of how far [geosocial networks] have come one needs to take a broader view of the market, not just mobile social networks.  In fact, many non-gaming apps have some type of geosocial functionality within them these days,” he told NMK. “We are still in the early stages of location-based marketing but we are already starting to see impressive results.  The fastest growing location-based marketing area using real-time locations are apps that provide local deals.”

Geosocial networking in action

One organisation using Facebook Places as part of its marketing is Visit Britain, whose mission is to attract more visitors to the United Kingdom. The organisation has established list of the “Top 50” most-visited locations in the UK based on check-ins of its quarter of a million-strong Facebook user base using Facebook Places.

“Geosocial networks are pushing through to the mainstream of digital marketing activity, by virtue of combining consumer behaviour with the constant publishing of users’ updates,” said James Ainsworth, Community Manager of marketing services company, Alterian. “While some view this as noise, it is hard to escape the proliferation of ‘Checking-in’ at locations and sharing this with a connected social network.

Ainsworth argues that marketers have realised is that geosocial networks provide a new layer of data tied into social networks which make it easier to segment audience data sets and to execute communication via the relevant platform.

Ainsworth believes that currently there is a level of disconnect between marketers taking advantage and the wider public actually making use of location-based services. While Foursquare may be the current darling of geosocial networking, it is struggling to make viable revenues from its current model, he said.

“Within the bubble of social media, there are a lot of users because it lends itself to the digital mindset,” Ainsworth added. “Ultimately, if mass adoption is to take place and for marketers to gain true value from how these services work, the habit of ‘Checking-in’ needs to go beyond the digitally engaged few and to make an offline connection too. McDonalds, Jimmy Choo and even independent small businesses have experienced great success with marketing via geosocial platforms. Essentially, there is tremendous opportunity for all.”