Its no secret that restaurants are one of the top industries that must take a look at all of the location based marketing tools available today. Some of the more commonly used location based apps that consumers are utilizing to get their rewards are Foursquare, Yelp, Gowalla, and Facebook Places. Making your customers feel special is the number one way to find new customers, get noticed, and keep them faithful to you for a long time to come. How can checking in help with generating and keeping business? A number of ways. Here is one scenario...

There is a growing trend in this economy about buying locally to support your community. This is a great idea and national companies can benefit from it as well. After all, even a national chain employs local people in any given community, pays local taxes and supports local causes. There are some great online applications to reach people and engage them locally while existing nationally. Location based tools will have to be part of your marketing arsenal if you are to remain competitive and inspire brand loyalty.