How to increase engagement and get more people pinning offers, events and content?

[Al@PinSwarm]

Hello fellow business owners and entrepreneurs, I hope this message finds you well. I am currently working on a local advertising platform called PinSwarm.com and I was wondering if any of you have heard of it yet or perhaps you would like to play with it for your business?

The concept behind PinSwarm is to connect businesses live with their local audience by sharing special offers, upcoming events, and the latest local content on an interactive map.

We offer free daily usage, pins expire after 24 hours with the option to extend and validate pins for 10p/day or £2/month.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the concept and if you have any suggestions for potential partners or people I should reach out to to try and get some activity.

Thank you in advance for your input and I look forward to hearing from you!

Also, does this landing page pin make sense to you? Would it inspire you to try the service? https://www.pinswarm.com/pin/761d75e4-37fe-43b3-8211-3183e109d6be

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

Hello fellow business owners and entrepreneurs, I hope this message finds you well. I am currently working on a local advertising platform called PinSwarm.com and I was wondering if any of you have heard of it yet or perhaps you would like to play with it for your business?

The concept behind PinSwarm is to connect businesses live with their local audience by sharing special offers, upcoming events, and the latest local content on an interactive map.

We offer free daily usage, pins expire after 24 hours with the option to extend and validate pins for 10p/day or £2/month.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the concept and if you have any suggestions for potential partners or people I should reach out to to try and get some activity.

Thank you in advance for your input and I look forward to hearing from you!

Also, does this landing page pin make sense to you? Would it inspire you to try the service? https://www.pinswarm.com/pin/761d75e4-37fe-43b3-8211-3183e109d6be

Heard of it, yes as you posted a similar thread on here in September last year and we've not heard from you since!

 

[fisicx]

Sorry to say but it’s no better than when you last asked for a review. It’s still awkward to use and devoid of pins. Tried to add a pin on my phone and just gave up, trying to put the pin on the right place proved almost impossible.

 

[Al@PinSwarm]

Sorry to say but it’s no better than when you last asked for a review. It’s still awkward to use and devoid of pins. Tried to add a pin on my phone and just gave up, trying to put the pin on the right place proved almost impossible.

So zooming to your street and tapping the screen didn't work for you? It really should be that simple, maybe I'm not making it obvious enough

Getting lots of pins added, but not many recurring yet because of the classic chicken and egg issue. I can flood the map with scraped data, but I am trying to do it organically and it's a slow process!

 

[Al@PinSwarm]

Heard of it, yes as you posted a similar thread on here in September last year and we've not heard from you since!

Indeed.. made lots of improvements since then. I let it sit for a while while I seek investment and a strategy. Lots going on locally in Worcestershire next month when I launch, but appreciate feedback from the wise sages at UKBF

I really wanted to chat in the startup forum, but have been moved here for some reason.

Wishing you a stress free and successful day.

 

[fisicx]

So zooming to your street and tapping the screen didn't work for you? It really should be that simple, maybe I'm not making it obvious enough

It’s not easy on a phone. I have an address but you can’t enter an address on the form. As was explained before, you could make the process so much simpler.

 

[UKSBD]

It's like you are trying to combine everything in to one.

Rather than having the add a pin and the pinned items in the same place can you not split it in to two?

Rather than having one page for a map of the world can you have a URL for each town?

Have it by town and you might find someone to manage the town for you, promote it and add the pins

 

[Al@PinSwarm]

At the bottom right is a locate-me button... it should zoom straight to your location.

Oh I see, you want to add a pin to a location where you are not currently located? Yes that requires searching in the box, then zooming in to street level. Perhaps I should automate that final zoom so you can clearly see the street you searched for. Will fix that. Thank you

 

[Al@PinSwarm]

It's like you are trying to combine everything in to one.

Rather than having the add a pin and the pinned items in the same place can you not split it in to two?

Rather than having one page for a map of the world can you have a URL for each town?

Have it by town and you might find someone to manage the town for you, promote it and add the pins

That's a great idea, I'll look at how I can implement that cleanly. Thanks, I appreciate the feedback.

 

[Deleted member 352941]

I couldn't navigate back to the home page and didn't quite grasp what the purpose is. Is it an app that people use to find local businesses? But instead of adding 'plumber Cambridge to Google search, they'd hit Cambridge on the map and hope a plumber popped up? It seems a bit random and I'm uncertain as to how useful it would be for a consumer.

If I have misunderstood, it's likely consumer will too, so some clarity and better navigation tools are required.

 

[Al@PinSwarm]

I couldn't navigate back to the home page and didn't quite grasp what the purpose is. Is it an app that people use to find local businesses? But instead of adding 'plumber Cambridge to Google search, they'd hit Cambridge on the map and hope a plumber popped up? It seems a bit random and I'm uncertain as to how useful it would be for a consumer.

If I have misunderstood, it's likely consumer will too, so some clarity and better navigation tools are required.

The intention is to show live special offers, upcoming events and the latest local social media content. It's similar to Google Maps yes.. but instead of static content, it is live daily content from businesses, community groups and local influencers.

People in local communities will hopefully one day be able to fire up the app, and see everything happening around them today.. live and fresh. A busker outside the shopping centre, a 2-for-1 offer at the pizza shop, a coffee morning at the Church hall, a Go-Pro from a mountain biker on the local hills....

Thanks for the feedback. I will consider how to make this more clear. Indeed.. it is a web app... like Google Maps, there is no homepage.. I hoped to make it so obvious that one isn't required

 

[UKSBD]

People in local communities will hopefully one day be able to fire up the app, and see everything happening around them today.. live and fresh. A busker outside the shopping centre, a 2-for-1 offer at the pizza shop, a coffee morning at the Church hall, a Go-Pro from a mountain biker on the local hills....

To do that better you need separate URL's for areas.
If the landing page is a lot smaller and has a few pins, it will appear busier and more chance of people using it.

 

[UKSBD]

Is it based on the same system The Queen's Green Canopy uses?

 

[fisicx]

At the bottom right is a locate-me button... it should zoom straight to your location.

Oh I see, you want to add a pin to a location where you are not currently located? Yes that requires searching in the box, then zooming in to street level. Perhaps I should automate that final zoom so you can clearly see the street you searched for. Will fix that. Thank you

Or just let me enter a location in a text box.

Using the map on a phone really isn't easy. Especially as it has a whole load of datapoints that aren't needed. For example a triangle for every bump and hillock, bustops and so on.

But you still have the problem of a long form to fill in each time I want to add a pin. You could make this so much simpler.

And why does it keep showing me locations outside the UK?

And if I click on an event caption it asks me If I want to add a pin

 

[Al@PinSwarm]

Or just let me enter a location in a text box.

Using the map on a phone really isn't easy. Espacially as it has a whole load of datapoints that aren't needed. Foe example a triangle for every bump and hillock, bustops and so on.

But you still have the problem of a long form to fill in each time I want to add a pin. You could make this so much simpler.

There is a search box right at the top that allows you to search for any street in the world and zoom to it. Is that not showing for you?

The form asks for a category, title, description and URL.... how can I make that any simpler? It is just 4 things..?

 

[NickGrogan]

A busker outside the shopping centre, a 2-for-1 offer at the pizza shop, a coffee morning at the Church hall, a Go-Pro from a mountain biker on the local hills....

Why would I, or anyone else want to know about all these things? 1 or 2 might be of interest, but not all.

How is this different from any of the whats on type sites? Apart from being harder to use?

 

[Al@PinSwarm]

Why would I, or anyone else want to know about all these things? 1 or 2 might be of interest, but not all.

How is this different from any of the whats on type sites? Apart from being harder to use?

You might be bored and looking for something to do, perhaps with your children at the weekend? There are plenty of websites with static business listings, and event platforms like Google Events and Eventbrite, but nothing that shows you whats happening immediately around you today... on your street.... many platforms are not "hyperlocal".

It would be especially useful when you are on holiday, to discover everything happening around you today. Remember, pins only last for 24h then vanish to keep the map fresh.. they can be extended for 10p/day.. so if a pub has a band playing, they can promote this a few days in advance for less than 50p to their local community.

I personally would find it interesting to see local content from businesses on a map view, local walks, footage from recent charity events, offers, community groups that are happening this afternoon... it would be fun to browse content on a local level. Maybe I'm the only person in the world who would like that.

 

[NickGrogan]

I might, but then I'd still want categories so I can search for things that I like and avoid the ones I don't.

The nearest event to me is a student night on Tuesdays. So it's not fresh either.

 

[Al@PinSwarm]

I might, but then I'd still want categories so I can search for things that I like and avoid the ones I don't.

The nearest event to me is a student night on Tuesdays. So it's not fresh either.

I know, I havn't fully launched it yet. This is a prototype, there will be more granular filtering in future if I can get some traction.. there is little point doing that yet while it is so quiet.

That was my original question in this thread, how to help solve the chicken and egg issue.. it's very hard to get people to pin on an empty map, and expensive to drive viewers when there is nothing to see. It's a tough issue to resolve, but if I can then I beleive there is a useful product.

 

[HFE Signs]

The concept is quite good and I can see potential for it. Would I use it? Not really sure I would. With something like this, it really is a 50/50. To market this nationally and get it well populated would need a budget in the hundreds of thousands. The success really depends on how well populated it is, anyone visiting and seeing no pins are not likely to come back. I wish you the best of luck it is a difficult task.

 

[UKSBD]

There are plenty of websites with static business listings, and event platforms like Google Events and Eventbrite, but nothing that shows you whats happening immediately around you today... on your street.... many platforms are not "hyperlocal".

I may be harping on about having separate URL's for area landing pages but if it is hyperlocal why a map and start point of the world?

 

[Al@PinSwarm]

I may be harping on about having separate URL's for area landing pages but if it is hyperlocal why a map and start point of the world?

The start point should be zoomed into your immediate local area - but that isn't working automatically right now, Hadn't noticed this before... will get it fixed! The reason I use a whole world map is so you can explore/browse content from your armchair in the evening, see content on a beach in Bali from this afternoon, or a walk in the Lake District uploaded to someone's Youtube channel and pinned... useful if you are on holiday looking for things to do, or even planning a trip in the future.

I will investigate URLs.. perhaps starting with the big cities in the UK. However, I really need to solve the chicken & egg issue first (or manually populate content myself) so there is something for visitirs to see

I am early retired from the sale of a tech business (www.textlocal.com) - all my children are at school so I have a lot of time (and cash), and trying to get the prototype perfect before spending too much on marketing which will be wasted.

 

[JamaC]

Good idea, this is definitely something I would have used on days out with the mrs and/or the kids when going to central London.

But it needs a lot if work, I wouldn't actally use at this point as it seems unfinished.

You need to spend the bulk of your time focusing the UX

 

[fisicx]

There is a search box right at the top that allows you to search for any street in the world and zoom to it. Is that not showing for you?

It's the whole world! That's half the problem. Needs to be local.

The form asks for a category, title, description and URL.... how can I make that any simpler? It is just 4 things..?

But then there are two more pages to fill in. Ending up with me having to create an account. Wouldn't it be much simpler to just left me add a URL. You can then use the schema data to populate the form. On completion you give me the option to create an account.

 

[fisicx]

Whilst I like the idea I can still find out what's going on locally via all sorts of websites and apps.

As @JamaC and others have alluded to the UX needs a lot more work. Even simple things like the event listing looks wrong - the title is squished up the left with report and follow taking up most of the space. People will be using phones for this. You need to do ALL your testing on a phone.

 

[fisicx]

see content on a beach in Bali from this afternoon, or a walk in the Lake District uploaded to someone's Youtube channel and pinned...

That's why we have YouTube...

However, I really need to solve the chicken & egg issue first (or manually populate content myself) so there is something for visitirs to see

Which is why you need to autopopulate. My suggestion of pulling data from the URL schema will make this a doddle.

 

[antropy]

Heard of it, yes as you posted a similar thread on here in September last year and we've not heard from you since!

You should probably try to engage with the forum and help people sometimes rather than just popup whenever you want something from us.

Paul.

 

[Al@PinSwarm]

You should probably try to engage with the forum and help people sometimes rather than just popup whenever you want something from us.

Paul.

I do.. I have multiple accounts for different businesses... one dating back to 2004

 

[JamaC]

Companies will happily use your platform for advertising, especially in places that are more central/tourist like.

This app has a lot of potential. But as mentioned before, in order to make it successful you need to make sure its UX is top notch.

Once you have done that and have some decent traffic, you can approach bigger brands, who are then likely to take you more serious

You can do things like partnering with companies such as groupon, where you take a % from purchases made via your site, the options are many.

Pay someone to sort out your UX which includes user testing and keep tweaking till you get it right.

---

 

[Deleted member 352941]

The intention is to show live special offers, upcoming events and the latest local social media content. It's similar to Google Maps yes.. but instead of static content, it is live daily content from businesses, community groups and local influencers.

People in local communities will hopefully one day be able to fire up the app, and see everything happening around them today.. live and fresh. A busker outside the shopping centre, a 2-for-1 offer at the pizza shop, a coffee morning at the Church hall, a Go-Pro from a mountain biker on the local hills....

Thanks for the feedback. I will consider how to make this more clear. Indeed.. it is a web app... like Google Maps, there is no homepage.. I hoped to make it so obvious that one isn't required

How about this (assuming I understood your business model correctly now) :


Welcome to "PinSwarm", the app that connects you with the best local events, offers, and events in your community in real-time!

With Pinswarm, local businesses and community organisations can easily upload information about what's happening today, including events, promotions, and more. This means you'll always know what's going on in your neighborhood, whether you're looking for a fun night out or just want to stay informed about local events.

Simply open the app, and you'll see a map of your local area. All events, local business news and daily sales are marked on the map, so you can easily find what you're looking for. Plus, you can filter events by category, so you can quickly find the things that interest you.

Pinswarm is the perfect app for anyone who wants to stay connected with their community. Download it today and start exploring all the great things happening in your neighborhood.

 

[antropy]

I do.. I have multiple accounts for different businesses... one dating back to 2004

Ah yes makes sense.

Paul.

 

[fisicx]

How about this (assuming I understood your business model correctly now) :


Welcome to "PinSwarm", the app that connects you with the best local events, offers, and events in your community in real-time!

With Pinswarm, local businesses and community organisations can easily upload information about what's happening today, including events, promotions, and more. This means you'll always know what's going on in your neighborhood, whether you're looking for a fun night out or just want to stay informed about local events.

Simply open the app, and you'll see a map of your local area. All events, local business news and daily sales are marked on the map, so you can easily find what you're looking for. Plus, you can filter events by category, so you can quickly find the things that interest you.

Pinswarm is the perfect app for anyone who wants to stay connected with their community. Download it today and start exploring all the great things happening in your neighborhood.

Where would you publish this summary?

Also it’s a website not an app (yet).

 

[Al@PinSwarm]

That's why we have YouTube...


Which is why you need to autopopulate. My suggestion of pulling data from the URL schema will make this a doddle.

I'm not competing with Youtube.. or any event website. i am signposing the URLs to them on a map for locals to find. I have discovered several ways to improve (simplify further) the UI which will be implemented this weekend - thanks for the feedback, it is greatly appreciated.

 

[Al@PinSwarm]

Where would you publish this summary?

Also it’s a website not an app (yet).

Its a react PWA app.. if you "add to homescreen" it wil look very much like an app (fullscreen). it is all supposed to be super super lightweight and simple, apart from push notifications and visibility on the app stores i can't see any reason to make one yet.

I understand your comments about pulling content from he URLs - but my intention is not to host any content other than title/desc... the intention is to signpost people to the content to view it there. Youtube and TikToks get embedded automaticaly on the page.

 

[Al@PinSwarm]

How about this (assuming I understood your business model correctly now) :


Welcome to "PinSwarm", the app that connects you with the best local events, offers, and events in your community in real-time!

With Pinswarm, local businesses and community organisations can easily upload information about what's happening today, including events, promotions, and more. This means you'll always know what's going on in your neighborhood, whether you're looking for a fun night out or just want to stay informed about local events.

Simply open the app, and you'll see a map of your local area. All events, local business news and daily sales are marked on the map, so you can easily find what you're looking for. Plus, you can filter events by category, so you can quickly find the things that interest you.

Pinswarm is the perfect app for anyone who wants to stay connected with their community. Download it today and start exploring all the great things happening in your neighborhood.

Love that - and appreciated, it reads really well and you are excellent at writing. The "about us" pin changes almost hour by hour and your variant will be addded into the testing pot (along with lots of new variants inspired by ChatGTP!) ... here is where i land most PPC traffic... https://www.pinswarm.com/pin/761d75e4-37fe-43b3-8211-3183e109d6be

 

[Al@PinSwarm]

Why would I, or anyone else want to know about all these things? 1 or 2 might be of interest, but not all.

How is this different from any of the whats on type sites? Apart from being harder to use?

It isn't replicating those sites.. its signposting to them from a map. It couldn't be easier use.. the visitor simply views the map, automatically geolocates (which was happing automatically, but has fallen over and bizarrely defaults to London.. fixing now..).. and they can see pins for events, offers, content and local commmunity groups around their immediate location. The pins are links/signposts to the content. Hope that makes sense.

 

[Al@PinSwarm]

Companies will happily use your platform for advertising, especially in places that are more central/tourist like.

This app has a lot of potential. But as mentioned before, in order to make it successful you need to make sure its UX is top notch.

Once you have done that and have some decent traffic, you can approach bigger brands, who are then likely to take you more serious

You can do things like partnering with companies such as groupon, where you take a % from purchases made via your site, the options are many.

Pay someone to sort out your UX which includes user testing and keep tweaking till you get it right.

---

Thanks, yes.. I am more of a self taught PHP guy. UI isn't my forte, which is why i have tried to make it so super simple... i see a handful of "quick win" UI improvements right now, which will be done over the weekend to streamline and further simplify the process. It is supposed to be suoer simple (like Twitter), really lightweight.. simply signposting locals to URLs, which are added for free daily.. or extended for 10p/day with a percentage going to charity.

Have a whole plan for the big brands ready to go, but I want to get some critical mass first to properly show the value before approaching them. I'll get there I'm sure.... founding a business, perfecting the experience and holding onto the vision is a slog!

 

[Deleted member 352941]

Where would you publish this summary?

Also it’s a website not an app (yet).

I'd expect to see it on the customer landing page (app, website, whatever) so people like me who visited the site had a clue what it was, I didn't when I visited it.

A user will spend 1.5 seconds on a site before deciding they don't know what it is for and clicking away, literally 1.5 seconds, so the objective needs to be instantly clear.

 

[fisicx]

I'd expect to see it on the customer landing page (app, website, whatever) so people like me who visited the site had a clue what it was, I didn't when I visited it.

A user will spend 1.5 seconds on a site before deciding they don't know what it is for and clicking away, literally 1.5 seconds, so the objective needs to be instantly clear.

Ok. But you said to open the app. Which doesn’t make sense as they are already using the app.

If your marketing is right there is no need to have a long description as they will already know what to expect when they land on the site.

 

[fisicx]

It isn't replicating those sites.. it’s signposting to them from a map. It couldn't be easier use.. the visitor simply views the map, automatically geolocates (which was happing automatically, but has fallen over and bizarrely defaults to London.. fixing now..).. and they can see pins for events, offers, content and local commmunity groups around their immediate location. The pins are links/signposts to the content. Hope that makes sense.

Except is doesn’t lead directly to the content. It opens a new page and from there they link to the event.

the intention is to signpost people to the content to view it there. Youtube and TikToks get embedded automaticaly on the page.

I looked at an event and there was a long chunk of content, random images and an embedded video. Couldn’t see a link to the event/website.

I want to see an event click/touch and go directly to the appropriate website. That’s how I expect this to work.