How to Score Mega Points on Foursquare

Since the dawn of digital gaming, what has determined the winner and the loser is the score.  While location based social media application foursquare isn’t a game, it still has an addictive scoring system.

Today I’m going to talk about how to maximize your high scores each week so you can beat all your foursquare friends for online fame and …

If you don’t know what foursquare is, please see my recent article on Examiner.com about this newest player in the social media arena.  For everyone else, the user aspect is pretty simple; tell your friends where you are.  If you do, you earn points, profile badges and the biggest foursquare honor…a mayorship.

Foursquare points break down like this –

Check in to a new place – 5 points
Add a new venue – 5 points
Check in to a place you’ve been before – 1 point
Location multiplier for each place you go in a day – 1 point per location

So on a day I’m out doing business networking, the points would look something like this –

Check in at Paradise Bakery – 1 point
Check in at Buca di Beppo – 2 points…1 point for checking in and one point for it being my second check in.
If I go someplace else afterward, then points continue to get added.

This point system is compared to my foursquare friends who have checked in for the week and it now appears there are enough users in SLC to compare city wide.  (At least the top 100)

Certain people in my friend group “win” week in and week out (points reset every Sunday) because they are so social.  BUT, I have now found a way to outscore them.

How to outscore your friends on foursquare –

1.  Check in everywhere!  By putting together strings of check ins, you score more points for places you frequently visit.  I’ve put my home office on there…I know I shouldn’t…so I can check in when I leave and when I return.  While it’s only worth one point in the morning, it could be worth a lot more later in the day.

I forget to check in at gas stations and 7-11s, but I really should.  You get first time points and if you go to the same places enough, you could become the mayor.  I’ve been focusing on remembering this.

2.  Add new places!  This is a point gold mine because you get 5 for adding, 5 for checking in the first time and the multiplier.  It also encourages people to try new places.

3.  Try new places!  We all have our habits and patterns, but by trying new places we can expand our horizons and get massive foursquare points.  Bonus if you have to add it as well.

When I first learned about foursquare I never, ever thought it would get to this point, but I’m a junky!  It’s fun to check in and find out about local establishments.  Plus it’s addictive.

By using these tactics, I’ve been able to go from a perennial middle of the pack foursquare friend to a pack leader…even when I don’t check in as much as my other friends.

That is the psychology of a foursquare user.  How can marketers leverage it?  I’ll be speaking on that very subject May 6th for the Social Media Club of Utah Valley.