Using Pokemon Go a Step Further at Your Business

Millennials comprise a trillion-dollar buying demographic, and this reality has left many businesses scrambling to figure out how to to sell to them. Last year, I attended more than 10 small business conferences, and without fail all of them highlighted sessions with the title:

"How to Reach Millennials"

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every single one of these sessions will tell you the same thing: You reach millennials by being where they are.

Obviously, I'm over simplifying the ever changing landscape of platform specific content curation, social-to-sales-funnel conversion, and building brand following/reputation. However, the gist is that simple: Be where they are. 

Where are they today? Playing Pokemon Go. Of the 65,000,000 users, over 40% are above the age of 25! These are not children, they are your businesses future.

What makes Pokemon Go different is that being "where they are" can be where you are! The augmented reality means this game is played in the real world through their phone.  

An easy way to take advantage of this as a small businesses is by using "Lures" to attract Pokemon Go players to your location. Walter Chen has a great article in Inc. sharing step-by-step how you can use Pokemon Go to boost your sales for less that $1.20/hr.

Absolutely you need to do this! But I want you to think more long term than the Pokemon Go pandemic. They're in your store, with their smartphone in hand. This is everything.

Pokemon might have gotten them in the door, but you now have the opportunity to build a relationship and  their loyalty. If your brand Instagram game is strong, use this to get some tags and follows. If you Facebook, get the follow, but more importantly get a review. Peer reviews are one of the most influential factors in a millennial's buying decision, so point them towards Yelp, Facebook, Google, TripAdvisor, etc.

If your businesses depends on recurring customers or is appointment-based, use the opportunity to connect with them directly through text message. This will guarantee you the ability to reach them in the future. 

They're holding their phones when they walk in the door. They're already excited because your lure is on. Jump on this energy and encourage them to connect with your brand! 

P.S. I'm a level 12 #TeamValor