How Foursquare Drives Success With Their Super User Program

As Victoria and Lizzy Kim, the Community and Support Coordinator, browsed and researched online community forum vendors, they made a list of possible choices and connected with each. But as it turned out, the search for the perfect vendor was easy; Vanilla Forums was selected as the vendor of choice as it was able to check off all the items on the Foursquare checklist.

Victoria and Lizzy were very pleased with the fact that Vanilla could integrate into the Foursquare credential system, which was a main item on their list when it came to forum functionality. The Vanilla Zendesk plugin worked seamlessly with their existing ticketing system, which meant less effort on their part when it came to escalating issues in the forum to their support team.

Additionally, they found that Vanilla had all the tools they needed to execute a top-tier Super User Program, and it was all included in the out-of-box price. The granular permissions and gamification were not only seen as central to the long-term success of their Super User Program, but also necessary to generate larger amounts of engagement across the board and increase customer experience.

Ultimately, they had found “the one,” and couldn’t have been happier with their decision.

Given that one of the primary functions of the Foursquare community was to elevate their Super Users through a dedicated Super User program, Foursquare was pleased to see immediate results—results that surpassed their expectations. From the day of the launch, they worked to leverage Vanilla’s granular permissions and ranking system; they implemented 10 levels in their ranking system, and with each level, they offered the user more abilities.

But it’s not just the ranking system and permissions that have contributed to the success of the Super User program. As Victoria explains, “what sets us apart from other similar communities is our transparency.” She continues, “by allowing our Super Users to connect with us in more meaningful ways, they take more pride in maintaining the database they helped to create.”

Today, there are more than 45,000 Super Users in the Foursquare community, which accounts for an approximate 15% boost since the launch.

“We saw a 15% boost in our Super Users and their contributions, which was amazing!”

The new Foursquare community, says Lizzy, was especially helpful in securing the engagement and participation of their international Super Fans, many of whom don’t speak English as a first language. She explains, “the forums are really the hub for our Super Users to communicate with us and one another, especially international users who might not be able to chat in real-time due to time-zone differences.” She continues, “the [community] ensures that they don’t miss out and can join in on the conversation whenever, wherever, and in their preferred language.”

The incredible results that the Foursquare community has had when it comes to Super Users is not only something that the community team has noticed, but also the whole organization. As Victoria explains, “I am easily able to demonstrate to internal stakeholders the incredible value [Super Users] generate by showing how their venue edits directly impact the experience for our entire community of users.” Moreover, this program has also allowed Victoria to designate Super Users and leverage their engagement to beta-test new features, which has had a positive impact on product development.

Additionally, the community results went beyond their Super User program and had an impact on their entire customer experience. Victoria concluded, “we have much better visibility into the community’s most pressing issues and can communicate with more transparency and frequency, improving the way we handle concerns and communicate changes.”

Sufficient to say, the decision to implement a Vanilla online community forum was the right choice; not only did they achieve all their intended Super User goals, but they also boosted their CX.