Until recently, companies interested in creating a Foursquare page had to fill out an Excel spreadsheet, and then submit it to the Foursquare business development team. They would then have to wait for approval, and all the submitted information to be entered before the brand page would come to life.
Now, creating a Foursquare page is an automated process, making it easier for anyone to create a page. A page is a great way for organizations to promote their business, and it's free!
Before you start creating a Foursquare page, make sure you have a Foursquare account and your organization's Twitter account information handy.
To begin, you will need to visit foursquare.com/create_page. Your Foursquare page will use the same name as your organization's Twitter name, so you will have to link your Page to your Twitter account. Click on the Create a Page button to be redirected to Twitter, where you will authorize Foursquare to access your Twitter account.
Once you have allowed Foursquare access to your Twitter account, you will be sent back to the Foursquare Web site where you can begin setting up your page. If for some reason you aren't taken directly to the Settings section of your new Foursquare page, you can access it two different ways.
At the bottom of your personal Foursquare account Settings, you will now see a Managed Pages section. Click on the name of the Page you wish to take control of.
A quicker way of changing between your Foursquare account and Foursquare page is located at the top of any Foursquare page once you are logged in. Click on the Page Management link and then select the page you would like to control.
One thing you will notice after taking control of a page is that there will be a yellow bar across the top of your screen, alerting you to the fact that you are editing a page.
Once you have control of a page, click on Settings to edit the profile. The first option you will see is the ability to link your page to Twitter or Facebook. You already linked the page to Twitter, so now make sure to connect it to your Facebook page if you have one. If you don't want check-ins made by your page to go to Twitter or Facebook, uncheck the respective boxes.
Next, fill out your profile information. Make sure to upload both a picture and a banner (860x130 pixels), as both are required before Foursquare will add you to its Page Gallery. Click Save Changes once you have finished entering the profile information.
If you would like to give more than one person permission to manage the page, you can do that by entering the requested information under the Managers section.
As previously mentioned, there are certain steps that Foursquare requires a Page to take before the Page will be listed in the Page Gallery.
As a page, you can search for venues and leave tips that you feel are relevant to help promote your organization from the Web site or on a smartphone (you can also check in as a page from the Web site or the mobile site). Once you have left the required five tips, return to the Settings screen for your page and check the box to list your page in the gallery.
You can add your page URL to any promotional material you regularly place Facebook or Twitter information on.
A Foursquare page has the potential to become a social media staple in a world where companies and individuals are using social media tools to get their name in front of as many people as possible.