Foursquare merchants can now share their business’s latest news with loyal customers on the location-based social network.

The new local updates feature enables merchants to connect with customers through posts that can include photos and feature specials, as well as can be easily shared to Facebook and Twitter.

According to Foursquare’s blog, local updates are “like being able to put the chalkboard where you write your daily specials in tons more places.” This is because the updates are displayed on business pages, are shown to fans, appear after a consumer checks in, and can be seen in Fourquare Explore.

However, local updates aren’t the only new merchant feature from Foursquare, because the company also updated some merchant tools within the redesigned merchant dashboard. The revamped tools enable merchants to better manage multiple locations by allowing them to choose specific locations that they want their updates to be shared from, as well as allow merchants to better measure their brand’s success with more robust analytics.

• Check out this local update from Luke's Lobster:

• Here are examples of the updated merchant tools: