The Art of the Check-In as a Social Media Branding Tool

"Erik: What defines a check-in, and why do you believe there’s an art to understanding how to use it? Caroline: So, checking in, in the world of social media, provides a very similar foundation as all of social media. It’s about defining yourself. So, if I back up for a second, think about the profile picture. What do you use as your profile picture? And how does that specifically define you to all of your friends? Well, checking in, it answers three questions: Where am I? What am I watching? What brands am I buying? So those are the three levels of checking in right now, things that we can do right now. Well first of all [laughs] you probably answer the question in only specific instances. So, for example, when I’m at Intelligentsia, I always check in. When I’m at the grocery store, not really. When I’m at work, not really. And by the way, if you’re one of those people that checks into work [laughs] it is wrong! Put a stop to it, we know where you work. I know where you live too. So, what I mean by that is, the place defines the person in a specific way. If I check into Intelligentsia, or my other favorite coffee shop, that defines me as a specific type of person. Same with brands, are you going to check in to toilet bowl cleaner? No, you probably wouldn’t. We all buy toilet bowl cleaner, we clean our toilets. Whereas, if you just bought some amazing Nike kicks, you would check in. If that was something that you could do, yes you would. Same with TV – I love the Jersey Shore – do I check in on GetGlue that I’m watching Jersey Shore? … Maybe sometimes. But, I do check in to Boardwalk Empire all the time. Again, why? Why? These are things that we are using to personally define ourselves. And the check in is just like all of social. It’s about me, and who I want others to see when they see me."