When sending out local updates, first consider your goals:

• Are you looking to draw more people into your store? At a certain time of day?
• Do you want to promote or sell more of a particular product?
• Want to entice new customers to try your business for the first time?
• Hoping to get your loyal customers to drop back in?

Once you’ve established your goal, design an update that will help you accomplish it. For instance, if you’re trying to promote a specific product, craft an update that shows it off.

And when you’re creating your update, remember to:

1) Show some personality
Updates are a great way to show off your brand’s overall personality. Keep your tone friendly and on-brand.

2) Be timely
People use Foursquare when they’re out and about, so tell them about things that could be relevant to them right now. Run a cafe? When it’s cold and rainy outside, snap a photo to remind people about your hot cocoa. Or if you run a bookstore, let customers know when their favorite author is in town for a reading.

3) Don’t forget the photos
Whether you’ve got a new muffin flavor or a pretty new window display, photos will make your update stand out. You can include up to three pictures (horizontal works best).

4) Keep it short, easy to digest, and enticing
Use updates to give people a compelling reason to come back to your business (write them as if you’re writing a tweet).

5) Share your update to Facebook and Twitter
Easily share your update with all your social media audiences at once.