- Category: March 2013 - Social Media Marketing
Pingspot Limited released its new mobile app that allows users to record and share their favorite businesses with Facebook friends, besides discovering great places recommended by people they trust.
The company recognized a need for a comprehensive business ratings directory in Hong Kong several years ago, but then decided to spend time creating an even more useful and powerful concept that could be applied globally.
Pingspot’s clear mission is to help people discover great businesses:
The beauty of simplicity
The app concept is uniquely simple and injects a breath of fresh air into the world of reviews, ratings and recommendations: users "ping" great businesses they want to recommend, and follow friends or other users they care to see pings from. Every ping is a recommendation of a great business - there are no star ratings, no bad businesses and no lengthy user reviews. There are also no anonymous or fake users - a Facebook account is required to register, so you know exactly who is behind each ping. The result is an app that has eliminated the problem of "noise" that is common on many ratings/reviews websites and apps.
This simplicity extends into design, where the app has a distinctly minimalist feel. The News Feed is particularly clean, ensuring that users can easily interpret content, socialize with friends about discoveries and either ping businesses or save them as a "To-Do" for future reference.
Local focus and global reach
Users can ping any business, located anywhere in the world, from any location. The app has millions of business listings worldwide already, and allows users to add businesses that may be missing. As explained by Winston Wu, founder of Pingspot, "Our goal is to aggregate all of your and your friends' favorite businesses, from all over the world, into a single app for you to access at your fingertips at any time. The native app design allows users to very quickly ping, search for, and socialize about great businesses anywhere. Whether you are in Hong Kong looking for a good restaurant, bar or shop nearby, or in need of suggestions for an upcoming trip abroad, Pingspot can provide you with recommendations you can trust."
Ping, share, play!
For each business pinged, users can write a short tip of up to 140 characters besides uploading a photo. Pings are shared with people following you, as well as optionally to Facebook or to in-app communities called Groups. Users can also give "credit" to the friend who introduced them to that business, which gives that friend additional "Rings" to boost their credibility in the app. In addition to "Rings", there are several other game features that ensure a fun, social and engaging user experience.
The Pingspot App is available for free from the App Store, or at appstore.com/pingspot.