Foursquare Improves, Expands Information For Businesses

Foursquare is going after local businesses and major brands with an improved and expanded content section that explains how they can take advantage of Foursquare’s platform. (Announced via Twitter about an hour ago.)

The company’s business outreach has been somewhat scattershot in the past, but the new Foursquare for Business makes a much more compelling case for big and small business owners. There are separate sections for venue owners and brands, each with a step-by-step guide to what Foursquare offers to help reach customers.

Venue owners get information about creating special offers, claiming their Foursquare business page, and the analytics that Foursquare offers once a venue has been claimed. It’s very detailed, even explaining to business owners some recommended ways to track special offer redemptions at the register.

Brands have a new area just for them where they learn how to create a Foursquare page, add tips to it and — for the first time, I believe — what the criteria are for getting a Foursquare Partner Badge.

All in all, it’s a much more cohesive and marketable sales pitch for Foursquare and should go far in converting business owners into active Foursquare participants. It’s not unlike Twitter’s recent upgrade of its business-targeted content.

Foursquare also recently upgraded the actual business/venue profile pages, giving business owners new URL and Description fields to add depth to those pages.