Location App Loopt Looks for Future in Flash Deals. This post is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark as a new part of the Spark of Genius series that focuses on a new and innovative startup each day. Every Thursday, the program focuses on startups within the BizSpark program and what they're doing to grow. Launced in 2006, long before Foursquare and Gowalla were on the scene, Loopt's first mobile product allowed users to automatically share their locations with a list of friends as well as geo-tag locations with text and photos. Since then, the company's main app has developed into a checkin-style location-based service that allows users to see what friends are nearby, check where their friends have been, and access tips about places. The company has also launched two sub-apps: Loopt Mix helps connect nearby users, and Loopt Star was an experimental rewards app that has since been rolled into the main app.
That experience, Loopt has concluded, does not involve the checkin for its own sake. Automatic Checkins Facebook Places Integration. How Universities Can Win Big with Location-Based Apps. Dan Klamm is the Outreach & Marketing Coordinator at Syracuse University Career Services. This post was co-authored by Kelly Lux who is the Social Media Manager at Syracuse University's iSchool.
Connect with them on Twitter @DanKlamm and @KellyLux. Location-based apps aren't just for badges and discounts. Geolocation can have a real effect on education at the University level by building relationships with prospective students and families, engaging students with their course materials, and strengthening alumni bonds. Universities are always looking for ways to strengthen ties within their communities and many higher education institutions have already implemented social media plans to help them carry out that end.
Here, we explore some ways that universities can leverage location-based services with tips, advice, and some schools that have already successfully implemented them. Create a Special Visitor Experience Similarly, schools can leave tips that pertain to alumni. In May 2010, St. Social Point of Sale: The Holy Grail for Location-Based Marketers. Zachary Adam Cohen runs ZAC, Digital Agency, a boutique digital strategy firm in New York City, working with brands and businesses to re-equip themselves for success in the 21st century. He blogs regularly on topics such as social media, technology startups and the creative process behind digital strategy. He can be found on Twitter @ZacharyCohen.
Many have touted the latest advances in location-based technology, but the news is mostly disappointing for marketers, advertisers and digital gurus. Writing in the Times, Joshua Brustein pined: “Everything is in place for location-based social networking to be the next big thing. Tech companies are building the platforms, venture capitalists are providing the cash and marketers are eager to develop advertising. All that is missing are the people.” Brustein’s piece cites a Pew Research Center finding that only 4% of Internet-using American adults have also used location-based services. What’s Missing From the Location-Based Revolution? Geo-Location Marketing | The Fight Against Destructive Spin.