Here’s what you need to know about Pokemon Go

• Players wander around in the real world to find Pokemon using their phone’s GPS
• Once they find a Pokemon, they can use their phone’s camera to catch it in a “Pokeball”
• Once they have strong enough Pokemon, they can battle their Pokemon at “gyms”
• Players need Pokeballs, potions, and revives in order to keep playing – these are found at Pokestops
• Gyms and Pokestops are associated with real-world locations – these cannot be changed (yet)

What you need to know as a business

• In just one week, the game has been downloaded 7.5 million times, and now has more active users than Twitter
• The game is completely free – so if you’re interested in using it for marketing purposes there’s no harm. Unless you get completely hooked, like me.
• Pokemon and Pokestops are more likely to be found in downtown areas, popular areas, malls, and areas with lots of college students
• Because users have to walk to collect Pokemon this means extra foot traffic for businesses
• Large groups of players are drawn to areas with lots of Pokestops (especially if a lure is placed). The most Pokemon Go players I’ve seen in the same area was about 80 people.

How to use Pokemon Go to market your business

• Lure modules are used at Pokestops to draw Pokemon to a specific location – if your business is located within range of a Pokestop, purchasing lures is a great way to way to bring in potential customers. (1 lure costs $1 but if purchased in bulk cost only $0.69 per lure)
• Let your customers know if your business is in range of a Pokestop – Posts on Facebook using the hashtag #PokemonGo are a great way to reach potential customers
• Pokestops are predetermined and can’t be changed – though it has been confirmed sponsored retail locations will be available in the future (Update: it looks like you can submit a request for your business, but it’s still a long ways off)
• Here’s another great article on how to get more business using Pokemon Go