Taking advantage of trends online and in real life can set your company and brand apart from the competition almost instantaneously. Take for example the Twitter trend, don’t you wish your company jumped on that bandwagon in 2006?  #ThrowbackThursday is another trend that businesses are starting to finally use in conjunction with their social media campaigns. Fast forward to last week, this past weekend, and today….let’s talk Pokémon GO!

What is Pokémon GO? The real quick, kinda n00b explanation of it is…Pokémon GO is a mobile app version of a card game & cartoon that was popular when I was in high school. I was never a fan to be honest, but now I kinda am. I personally love how it incorporates real world locations & is getting people outside. The goal is to catch the Pokémon, evolve them, battle at gyms etc…at least that’s how I see it. There are places called Poké Stops that are chocked full of extra pokéballs and other goodies. These stops can be huge for businesses if they are one or are near one. The can use “lure modules” to increase the number of Pokémon seen at that location…where there’s a lure, there’s usually a crowd.

OK so there’s my brief and possibly semi-incorrect cliff notes on what Pokémon GO is, let’s talk a few strategies you can incorporate to tap into the trending craze.

1. Let the Pokémon “endorse” your business, products, and/or services like Intensity Academy has done with their Chai Chipotle Chup.

2. If your business is a Poké Stop you can use lure modules to increase Pokémon sightings and announce in local Pokémon GO groups.

3. Encourage people to come and hunt Pokémon at your business with an incentive.

4. Host or partake in a “Poké Crawl” where there are set Poké Stops already lined up. Once again, encourage people to come in and stay a while if it makes sense for your business. Encourage social shares with giveaways, contests, and promotions.

I know there are a hundred, if not a thousand, more ideas…trust me, I have a ton right now, but ultimately the point of this entire article is to encourage you to take advantage of something positively trending right now. Use it to your advantage and have fun with it.

I’d love to hear of any awesome Pokémon GO promotions you’ve done or seen so please share them in the comments below.

Look who decided to pop up while I was typing this up!

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