Use Pokémon Go for Marketing Your Business

What in the World is Pokémon Go?!

Here’s the deal. Pokémon Go is a wildly popular game that has been released by Nintendo. It’s primarily played on smartphones. Those who play Pokémon Go are called “Trainers.” The trainers are essentially required to walk around and actually get some exercise in, if they want to level up their characters and progress in the game. Wikipedia has an excellent description about Pokémon Go, and you can read more about the game play, customization options and other aspects to the game there. The main purpose of this post is to explain what Pokémon Go is, and to get you thinking about using Pokémon Go for marketing your business.

How Popular is Pokémon Go?

This popular game has shattered several records and is continuing to grow. Check out these stats:

• In the United States, iOS users are playing Pokémon Go 30 minutes per day. To put this into perspective, Facebook users are reported to only spend 22 minutes per day on Facebook. These stats can be found by this Pokémon Go article by FORUTNE.
• Remember the crazy popular games called Candy Crush and Angry Birds 2? Both of those games combined had 4 million downloads during their first week, after being launched. According to the same article by FORTUNE, Pokémon Go had 7.2 million downloads during their first week!!
• FORTUNE also reports that since it launched (July 5, 2016) Pokémon Go has had 40 million downloads, between the App Store and Google Play. Not only have there been 40 million downloads, but there has been “more than $45 million in net revenue worldwide.”
• In a Pokémon Go article by TechCrunch, the author announced that Pokémon Go passed Twitter, in terms of the number of daily users. This was on July 13, 2016.

Read these jaw-dropping stats about Pokémon Go! Click To Tweet

You get the idea. This new mobile gaming sensation is taking the world by storm! And I don’t mean it figuratively when I say “the world.” This article by CNET has a list of the various countries where Pokémon Go has been released, and that list is ever-growing.

Are you enjoying this post? If so, be sure to subscribe for occasional email updates from our team!

 

What Impact Does Pokémon Go have on Your Marketing?

Pokémon Go can have a huge impact on your business. This is true because the game is inspiring millions of people [potential customers] to get out of their houses, cars and favorite places to lounge around, and actually walk in popular retail corridors. Many of the more popular destinations and hangout spots in this game are in areas that have high foot-traffic. At the moment, I’m sitting in Fosko Coffee Barre, which is my favorite spot for coffee in downtown Pensacola, Florida. This coffee place has embraced the Pokémon Go rage and has acknowledged it by placing a sign outside to draw traffic in for a drink. I guarantee you, anyone who plays Pokémon Go and sees that sign is going to suddenly notice Fosko, which they may have never noticed in the past. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people stop and read the sign, and notice Fosko, while I’ve been sitting here writing this blog post.

It’s amazing how many times you’ll pass something and never see it. But once that place catches your attention, you will notice them more in the future. Now here is my question for you: “How can you get the attention of Pokémon Go players in your area? And, if you got them to walk through your doors, how would you convert them into actual customers?”

Coffee shop in downtown Pensacola, Florida gets attention from Pokémon Go players Click To Tweet

A Few Ideas on How to Use Pokémon Go for Marketing

Here are a few things you could do, to help boost your business. These are just ideas off the top of my head, but hopefully they can help get your creative juices going.

• Set a sign outside your shop to make Pokémon Trainers take notice of you.
• Create your own Pokémon Go account and drop “Lure Modules” during a certain time-frame. Lure modules are items that can be used in the game, and they help all Pokémon trainers progress in the game for 30 minutes. If you drop these lure modules, and then promote it on your social media, and in front of your store, you can encourage players to come inside. What you do with the trainers, once they walk through your doors, that’s up to you.
• Offer a special discount to anyone who comes in and shows you that they’re playing Pokémon Go.
• Trainers are always trying to increase their level. Give special offers based on the level of the trainer. For example, levels 1-5 get a buy one get one free scoop of ice cream. Players level 6-10 get buy one get two scoops of ice cream for free.
• Offer a contest for the most creative picture submitted. Without going into great detail, I’ll just say that those who play Pokémon Go can take some pretty funny pictures through the app. Encourage them to submit funny pics to you. Then, the best one gets a free ______. Check out some entertaining pictures that have already been shared on Pinterest. I have a few of them embedded at the end of this post.

Ideas for using Pokémon Go for your marketing Click To Tweet

Closing Thoughts

I don’t believe for a second that Pokémon Go is just a fad that’s going to pass by in a few months from now. I think it’ll continue to grow. And even if I’m wrong, it’s still really big now. You should seriously consider using Pokémon Go for marketing your business. If you can capitalize on this new game that has captivated the world, then you should try to do so! Take advantage of this opportunity before your competitors do. Download the game for yourself, so you understand exactly what it is and how it works. It maybe doesn’t have great marketing applications for every business. It’s value will likely depend a good deal on your industry and your location. However, you should at least see if you have the opportunity to exponentially boost the foot-traffic for your business.

If you need help with your marketing, I would love to have a conversation with you. If you’re interested in having that conversation, please click the button below so we can connect. Also, if you found this post to be interesting or helpful, PLEASE share it!

Use Pokémon Go for Marketing Your Business Click To Tweet

Below are just a few of the example Pokémon Go pictures that have been taken. Click my name below to view more.

[pin_board url="https://www.pinterest.com/joshuajlyons/funny-pok%C3%A9mon-go/"]