Twitter-Foursquare Partnership Will Allow for Better Location Targeting

Twitter is going to add Foursquare location data to its arsenal, a move that could help brands serve more relevant ads to resonate with their target audience.

The social platform will soon collaborate with Foursquare to enable users to tag a physical location such as a landmark or a restaurant in their tweets. The precise location tagging functionality will be available for both Android and iOS devices and Twitter users can opt to turn off the location feature in their settings.

Coming soon! We’re working with @foursquare so you can tag specific locations in Tweets: https://t.co/MwlLz5Pfvq pic.twitter.com/jATzXvbuV6

— Twitter (@twitter) March 23, 2015

The Twitter-Foursquare partnership is not a surprise for Ron Schott, director of professional services at Simply Measured, a social analytics provider. “This is a great partnership, and one that Foursquare probably really needs,” he says. “Slow user growth on [Foursquare] could be bolstered by increased usage of Foursquare location data in tweets.”

But perhaps the most important factor, Schott continues, is that Twitter users will be able to explore social conversations and posts around a specific location they are interested in; and Twitter marketers will be able to serve more relevant ads to engage with their target audience.

“[The partnership] brings another dimension to potential advertising targeting if brands could perhaps target Twitter users who had tweeted at a Chipotle location in the past 10 days with an offer for a product or service,” he explains. “By adding actual location data into the ad targeting mix, brands will now be able to get more granular with their targeting, meaning more impactful and relevant ads.”

Derek Browers, vice president of products at digital marketing platform MomentFeed, agrees that tweets with specific locations are more beneficial to brands.

“[Foursquare data] makes tweets far more valuable than the general noise that occurs around the brand, because the customer has raised their hand and said I had an experience with this place where you do business,” Browers says.

He adds that brands should become more careful to make their local listings on Foursquare accurate, as those data points are reaching “millions of users across a variety of platforms,” which now includes Twitter.

“[Accurate Foursquare data] not only increases the likelihood of consumer search and discovery, but it makes it much easier for customers to share their experiences with their friends and connections [on Twitter],” Browers notes.

What do you think of this move? Let us know in the comments below!

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