Tired of checking in? Look closer to home.
Lately I’ve been seeing some downturn in the enthusiasm for location based services on Twitter, and will admit I myself have been using them less. I would say the reason I’ve heard most often cited is, “I don’t get anything out of them.”
It’s a valid criticism. The major players, Foursquare and Gowalla, don’t have a lot of representation or penetration outside of a few major cities. “But I know lots of people using them” I hear you saying. And you’d be right. Lots of smartphone users are buzzing about, checking in and shouting their locations.
What you’re not seeing however, is reciprocity from local businesses. Sure there is some social value in knowing your buddy Brian likes the cafe downtown, or Susan hit that new club on Saturday. But social currency is as valuable to a user as it’s cost–nothing. Users won’t be fully engaged until they can reap some real value–read kickbacks–from their check-ins.
It’s pretty obvious the flip side of your check-in, the establishment your patronizing, gets some valuable data out of the deal. Whether it’s some feedback, check-in stats, or the creme de la creme–word of mouth advertising–it’s clear the business reaps some value from your check-in. So what’s in it for us, the patrons, the users?
Foursquare and Gowalla aren’t national companies that can work deals with vendors in your town or mine. They can provide the technology, but must leave it up to a business to offer some sort of coupon, freebie, or offer. They’re so far removed from Smalltown USA they’d need immense marketing to get locals on-board.
Enter Triout, the hyper-local location based service centered on the Triangle region of North Carolina. Triout is doing what the “big boys” can’t: putting the value back in your check-in. Because Triout is focused on one community, it can develop strong ties to both sides of the check-in. I know from watching Triout grow that they’re doing just that, working on getting businesses to join Triout while improving the user experience.
While not a scientific survey, from my use of Foursquare and Triout around the Triangle, it’s clear Triout is winning. I’ve counted dozens of Triout users getting meal discounts and freebies, as opposed to the paltry one or two reports of free French fries with Foursquare.
While I can’t speak for the Triout guys, it appears they get the value argument. Recently they rolled out Triout for businesses, giving local merchants the tools they need to get in the location game. I can only assume they’ll continue to market the service locally, thus bringing more value to the platform and more importantly, its users.
Some people write-off Triout as a copycat, but as you can see, it’s not as much about the technology as the community. In the future, there may be Triout-like services all over the country, with each community building one tailored to their location. The big guys with their slick interfaces would probably be best served licensing their services as customizable frameworks that would allow any community to build there own hyper-local service.
So where does this leave the check-in weary user? Holding on tight. Just sit back and relax for a bit, no need to write them off yet. Location-based services are just ramping up, and local ones such as Triout are primed to deliver value for your check-in.