How Your Business Can Profit with Pokemon GO

Last week, thousands of businesses across the country discovered they had become part of Pokemon GO, a new mobile game that combines real world locations with catching and battling Pokemon. Pokemon GO players travel to local landmarks and places of interest, which often include local businesses and restaurants. Reactions to the sudden uptick in business ranged from bemused to annoyance, but Pokemon GO does represent a unique opportunity for some businesses, especially those that rely on walk up traffic, to make money.

Believe it or not, businesses can actually "lure" potential customers to their location using Pokemon GO. If your business is home to a PokeStop, you can seed them with Lure Modules, an in game item that attracts Pokemon to the PokeStop. When a Lure Module is activated, all nearby players can see it on their map, so they can head to the lure and take advantage of the increased amount of Pokemon in an area.

If your business is the site of a PokeStop or has a PokeStop nearby, you can easily keep the Lure Modules up and running during the business day. Lure Modules last 30 minutes a piece and can be purchased individually or in sets of eight. By spending about $20, you can purchase enough Lure Modules to bring potential clients in all day.

Pokemon Gyms are a little trickier to manage. Unlike PokeStops, players on three seperate teams battle for control of Pokemon Gyms. Teams will often trade control of gyms several times in a day and Pokemon GO encourages teammates to congregate and battle together at a gym at the same time in order to strengthen or weaken it. We've seen a few retail businesses with Pokemon Gyms offer a modest discount to whichever team controls their location, which encourages players to keep an eye on your business location and stop by when their team is finally in control.

Some businesses are also more general discounts for players that catch a Pokemon on site, or have a rare Pokemon they can show off. While there's a risk that players will linger to catch a Pokemon, the game encourages players to walk around town so any Pokemon GO loiterers will likely be only a minor inconvenience.

Not every business will be able to benefit from Pokemon GO and some may find the increased traffic to be a nuisance. If you don't want your business to be a part of Pokemon GO, you can submit a request on Niantic Labs site to remove your location from the game.

Nintendo (the owner of the Pokemon franchise) is making millions of dollars a day off this app, so why shouldn't your business? With a little bit of marketing and timely engagement, you can use Pokemon GO to attract and interact with clients in a fun, lighthearted way.

Let us know if you've used Pokemon GO to bring customers into your business in the comments below!