Creepy or Cool? Check-in at the Ram Restaurant & Brewery

Location is certainly still social media’s latest darling and its finally starting to get the attention of even relatively small businesses. Last time I checked in, this is what happened:

A couple Saturdays ago I officially made my pilgrimage back to Seattle. Yet again my dad and uncle were the lucky ones who got to help haul me and my plastic storage bins down one set of stairs, 200 miles up the freeway, and back up another 4 flights of stairs.

After an exhausting day, we decided a nice, juicy burger would hit the spot. We went down to U-Village and ordered up our feast at the Ram Restaurant and Brewery. As we waited I took a second to check-in via Foursquare and posted a small note along with it saying, ‘Burgers with dad and Uncle John. Nom nom nom.’ (Those are eating noises)

Didn’t think about it much after that, checking in is slowly becoming a habit, but two days later I got a tweet from the Ram asking if I enjoyed my burger. I haven’t replied yet, but I thought that it was an excellent example of a business spending its time in the right place thanks to location, even if I didn’t know exactly what to say, I’ll remember that they gave me special attention last time I went there. They obviously have someone to manage their social media presence and that person picked up on my post. Recognizing my patronage while also soliciting more interaction was a nice touch.

They also know its not wasted effort, if I am physically checking-in to a location, chances are I am in a position to come back againat some point. How great is this for business right? We as consumers are self-segmenting ourselves and broadcasting exactly where we are! You don’t have to wonder where your target market is anymore, they are telling you.

Keep an eye out for people checking in around you or your business and don’t forget about the great twitterhood site we wrote about before to help you get a handle on what is really going on around you in the increasing mobile, physical flow of social media. Checkin’ in, checkin’ in!