Gotta Catch All The Customers: Pokémon Go for Small Business.

You’ve might have heard about the latest craze, Pokémon Go, even if you’re not sure what it all means. Maybe you’ve seen people wandering around parks and neighborhoods with their face buried in their phones. It has been hard to ignore the wave sweeping across the world. Pokémon Go has grown faster than dating apps like Tinder and more active users than Snapchat and is catching Twitter at an alarming rate. People are having a blast going on adventures to catch these small creatures and there is no end in sight.

If you have a small business like a restaurant, entertainment venue, retail location or any space that would benefit from more foot traffic, you should take notice. Pokémon Go is a huge opportunity for drawing huge amounts of foot traffic and sales with simple in-app purchases and a little guerrilla marketing.

To convert these virtual trappers into customer, you simply need to learn a little about the game.

Find out if your business is near a Gym or PokéStop

One of the easiest things a small business can do is find out if their establishment is a PokéStop or Gym or is located near one. Gyms and Stops are places where players of the game will congregate to play and interact with each other. These locations are very attractive because players can findPokémon, collect rewards, do battle and team up to defend their turf. Savvy businesses will promote their PokeStop and/or Gym on social media and through other marketing. How to find Pokémon Go’s gyms and PokéStops.

Pokémon Go Gym and PokéStop Location Guide

3 ways to capitalize on being in or near a PokéStop or Gym

1. Take it social media: Take screenshots on your device and post them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. Encourage your customers to share your posts with hashtags like #pokemongo or #pokemon even hashtag your product or service with the post #pizza #movies #beer and so on.
2. Freebies: Order customPokémon badges for your business, give out stickers or have custom smartphone cases made. All customized to promote your Gym or Pokéstop.
3. Create a leaderboard: Use a whiteboard or chalkboard to show who is currently in control of your gym. You can offer perks and bonuses to those in control of your gym.

Create a lure to attract players to your business.

Pokémon Go has a great paid feature that can attract new visitors to your business called a lure.

Lure raise the likelihood that Pokémon will spawn around the PokeStop where they are placed for 30 minutes. You might be thinking “Really this will attract customers?” but you have to realize that Pokémon are rarer than you might think. It is crazy what happens when a lure is dropped … I thought no way until I saw it for myself.

Dropping a lure is easy and affordable. It will cost a business a little over $1.00 per hour to have a lure at their location. I can’t think of many other marketing techniques that can be purchased for $1.00 per hour.

Here is how to make it happen.

• Install Pokémon Go on your mobile device iOS or Android
• Create an account
• Log in to the game
• Tap the red Pokeball at the bottom of the screen
• Select “Shop”
• Find the and tap the purple lure icon to purchase. The app will redirect you the app store’s payment screen.
• After you confirm the purchase, tap the red Pokeball again.
• Select “Items”
• Tap the lure to activate it.

You’re all set … watch to see traffic come.

If you made it this far, GREAT! I am sure you are still thinking I am nuts but remember sometimes it takes a little nuts to get an edge on your competition.

Feature image Copyright: warat42 / 123RF Stock Photo