10 Ways Pokemon Go Can Help Your Small Business
Tips for small businesses in a world obsessed with Pokemon Go
By Lance Cookson and David Potsiadlo
UX Researcher & Prototyper Lance Cookson and Senior Product Designer David Potsiadlo are helping local businesses every day working on the Product Team at Main Street Hub. Using their expertise in product, design, games and social media, they offered some tips for small business owners to capitalize on the Pokemon Go craze.
As you’ve no doubt seen, Pokemon Go has become an unprecedented phenomenon since its launch last week. We’re here to help small business owners with everything they need to know about how this incredibly popular app can help connect you with current and potential customers.
Wait… what is Pokemon Go?
Pokemon Go is a new mobile phone game that’s exploded in popularity over the past week. Based on Nintendo’s successful Pokemon franchise, Pokemon Go invites players to collect creatures and items by exploring their own cities.
The game uses a combination of GPS (to determine a player’s location) and camera phone (to overlay imaginary Pokemon in the real world), which has been surprisingly successful in getting people to actually go outside and exercise (even here in Texas, where it’s been over 100 degrees daily).
Why should I care about this?
While you certainly don’t need to play Pokemon Go yourself, its current popularity is unprecedented, and therefore worth knowing how it can benefit your business. It currently boasts more daily active users than Twitter, and people are spending more time on it daily than Facebook.
More importantly, the game doesn’t just encourage players to go out into the real world to find Pokemon, it requires it. Understanding the basics of the game can help you attract these players (known as Pokemon Trainers) into your business and turn them into customers.
Without further ado, here are 10 ways that your business can benefit from the Pokemon Go craze:
1) Understand the need-to-know lingo
A Pokemon refers to one of the cute, little monsters players try to catch throughout the game. There are hundreds of them, some more rare than others. Pokemon randomly appear — and when one shows up, everyone playing will see it on their phone and try to capture it. This can actually make for some great shared social experiences!
Players (or “trainers”) will be attempting to catch Pokemon they find by tossing a Poke Ball at them. If you see people around the sidewalk with their phones out and swiping up — this is what they’re probably doing!
2) Know if there’s a Poke Stop near you
Real-world players will be flocking in droves to Poke Stops (or places where Pokemon are) located across their city — in the game, they’re shown as a blue cubes floating above certain locations of the real-world map:
If you happen to have a Poke Stop near you, you’re in luck — this can be a great way to entice customers to come to your store and spend time there looking for Pokemon.
If you don’t have Pokemon Go on your phone, ask customers or employees who have the game installed if there’s a nearby Poke Stop.
3) Post screenshots of Pokemon found in your store
If you do have Pokemon Go on your phone, one easy way to ride the wave of Pokemon Go’s popularity is to take a screenshot of one of the critters that appears in your store. This allows you to place your familiar store setting (or one of your products) within the picture — and from there, the sky’s the limit.
There’s a good chance customers will be playing Pokemon Go in your store — and posting about it to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. When they do — engage with them! Retweet, like or comment on their post.
This can be a great way to increase the reach of these posts on social media, reminding possible customers of your business.
4) Remind customers you have Wifi and outlets (if you do)
Pokemon Go sure can eat up players’ battery life, as well as their data usage — which can be at odds with players sitting down for long periods of play at your business. Consider reminding your fans and followers on social media that you have Wifi in your location, which could be a huge asset to keeping them in your store or restaurant to sit down and play, should they not get cellular service. It also may not hurt to remind them to bring a charger.
5) Include one of your products in a Pokemon Go game image
One creative, fun idea for your Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter page is to use the familiar Pokemon Go interface with one of your products in place of an actual Pokemon. If done well, this can be a very clever way to leverage the recognizability of that screen with the product you want to promote. Make sure you pair it with a witty caption!
Customers will recognize your business and products, and it will make them remember you. You can ask an employee who has the app if you don’t have it to help you create this kind of image.
6) Run special promotions with names inspired by Pokemon Go
Thinking about running a promotion? This is a great time to make it Pokemon-themed! It’ll go that extra mile to catch users’ eyes and join in the conversation about what they’re already talking about.
Even if you’re not offering products at a discount, displaying your awareness of Pokemon Go can help turn heads and convert possible customers.
7) Attract Pokemon and customers with a “lure” — if you’re near a Poke Stop
A lure refers to a power-up that attracts Pokemon to any Poke Stop for 30 minutes at a time. Each lure costs $1, but everyone nearby benefits from it. If your business is (or is next to a) Poke Stop, running a lure (and posting about it!) can be a fantastic way to get people in the door — and keep them around for a while.
If you do activate a lure, be sure to let your customers know!
8) Infuse your sidewalk marketing with recognizable Pokemon Go iconography
There’s plenty of creative ways you can let pedestrians and passers-by know your business is a great place to come in and set up shop for the day. Including the recognizable red and white Poke Ball symbol, for example, can be a subtle way to attract players to come inside.
9) Cater to one specific team…and be sure to rotate
Nearly all Pokemon Go players will have chosen one of three teams — red, blue or yellow (Valor, Mystic or Instinct — respectively). Players can be fiercely loyal to their teams, and running promotions aimed at any one team can be a nice draw. Just be sure to rotate which team you support, so no customers are left behind!
10) Check for nearby Pokemon Gyms
Gyms are where players engage in Pokemon battles (in other words, when one player’s Pokemon fight another player’s Pokemon), with the 3 different teams ultimately vying for control of the gym. Being near a gym (or being a gym) can be advantageous, as it will be a major attractor for players. If your business is in range of a gym, think about hosting an event, inviting players to try to take control of a gym. You could even incentivize the controlling team with discounts.
Even if players can’t battle for control of a gym in your business, being in close proximity still means a lot of foot traffic will be nearby. Use some of the other tips from this article to try and attract players looking for a place to take a break.
All of this may seem a little intimidating, but just showing an awareness of Pokemon Go can make your business stand out to the millions of people playing the game. One of the best ways to practice everything in this article is to check out the game itself. You can find it in your phone’s app store. If you’re interested in learning more about Pokemon Go and how it can help your small business, stay tuned for more resources like this.
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