3 Unique Marketing Strategies Inspired by Pokemon Go

You’re intrigued.

Sure, the explosive marketing popularity of Pokémon Go is sensational.

But the last thing you want to do is chase around for PokéStops, gyms and gamers.

You’re not into competing for social media attention using the Pokémon lure.

Ready for a twist?

Let’s take inspiration from the sales success of the artificial reality (AR) game, as mentioned in Business Insider, to fulfil your marketing potential.

AR games digitally superimpose an augmented reality onto our physical reality. These games stimulate us in numerous ways. They can also temporarily relieve pains we experience in our physical reality. Pokémon Go is the most famous example of an AR game.

Here are 3 effective marketing strategies and actionable steps that have been inspired by Pokémon Go.

1. Making ideal customers and real ones a close match

Pokémon Go offers many desirable features their customers want. These include playing a fun, innovative, creative, exciting, interesting, interactive, competitive, motivating, rewarding, social, adventurous, addictive, stimulating, mobile, exploratory game that uses exhilarating new tech – 3-D augmented reality.

The Pokémon company has studied their customers since the franchise began in 1996. They’ve had over 20 years to revise a profile of their ideal customers’ qualities.

Pokémon has a close match between qualities within a profile of their ideal customers and qualities their real customers have. This close match contributed to Pokémon Go’s wild marketing success.

Want wild future marketing success for your small business?

Image Source: HubSpot

Let’s create two profiles so you can attract more ideal customers, and repel others you never want as customers!

Actionable Step #1: Create two profiles: your avatar (ideal customers) and anti-avatar (undesirable customers)

• Create a simple table or graph
• Name your avatar and anti-avatar. (Choose a name you like and one you don’t like
• Write down 10 categories to compare your avatar and anti-avatar’s qualities
• Think of 2-3 qualities per category shared by your ideal audience of readers and customers., i.e. Parents who desire to help kids improve speech
• Think of 2-3 qualities per category shared by people you never want to work with, i.e. Parents who are hyper-critical

Here’s an avatar example you’re welcome to modify.

Jenn is my avatar (for my other business)			Gertrude is my anti-avatar
Categories	Qualities		Categories	Qualities
She says:	“No one understands my daughter.”		She says (complains):	“That won’t work.”
She does:	She hires a speech therapist.		She (annoyingly) does:	Very little therapy practice.
She thinks:	Her daughter needs her support.		She (critically) thinks:	Limited progress is the therapist’s fault.
She believes:	Her daughter will learn to speak clearly.		She believes:	Speaking problems can be outgrown.
She likes:	Making speech practice fun.		She doesn’t like:	Home practice suggestions.
She’s interested in:	Learning how to help her daughter.		She’s not interested in:	Being a practice partner.
Her situation is:	Money and time are limited.		Her situation is:	She’s overwhelmed raising kids.
She wants:	Her daughter to speak clearly.		She wants:	Nothing to do with speech therapy.
External need:	A program to teach effective practice.		External need:	Different practice partner.
Internal need:	Perceive she’s a good parent.		Internal need:	Perceive she’s right.

If you want wild marketing success for your business – this next tip is key! (Recall Pokémon’s triumph.)

Strive to close the gap between qualities for your avatar audience and your real customers.

2. Utilizing the marketing powers of gamification

With gamification, you capture reinforcing, fun and socializing benefits of a game in your marketing.

What’s one actionable gamification idea for your business?

Actionable Step #2: Plan an enticing online contest

Step 1. Decide the purpose based on your ideal audience’s obsession.

Example: My ideal audience desires for others to easily understand their kids’ speech.

One small step is learning ways to speech practice.

Step 2. Think of a motivating reward to persuade contest participation.

Example: My audience appreciates free stuff as raising high needs kids is costly. The winner receives $200 of speech games from Teacherspayteachers.com.

Step 3. Include appealing challenges that are fun, social, easy to do and beneficial.

Example:

• Contestants describe one fun, simple speech game on my Facebook page.
• Moms appreciate new game ideas, and sharing beneficial ideas.
• Bonus points come from increasing post engagement.

Your audience seeks human connection through games, such as contests.

Think of how a contest strengthens your relationships.

3. Provide multiple sources of stimulation

Check out these top benefits from Pokémon Go’s powerful features…

• Satisfies desires: stimulates our emotional, visual, auditory, kinesthetic, physical, social, mental, and even the sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) system
• Temporarily relieves pain by augmenting reality

Okay, you can’t yet augment your customer’s reality.

But you can stimulate their emotions and alter their perception of reality using… stories.

Actionable Step #3: Write a story as a series of emails or blogs using a story framework

Donald Miller discusses story-branding on Social Media Examiner and his Building Story-Brand podcast. Each of Donald’s 14 interviews focuses on one of his 7 story frame elements.

Image Source: HubSpot

Your avatar reader is your story’s hero – Write for the mindset of your ideal readers’ qualities.

The hero’s mini goal is the story’s theme – Completion is one step towards your readers’ biggest obsession.

Your story needs interesting twists – Include realistic problems experienced reaching the goal.

Appeal to your readers’ sensations and emotions:

• Use descriptive words they can practically sense. Describe what they see, hear and feel.
• Use metaphors to compare abstract ideas. For example, altering your perception refreshes your mind like mid-summer daylight.

Show how your character guides the hero to a solution.

• For example, become your hero’s virtual advocacy partner.
• Together, you conquer obstacles along the journey.

Give your readers bit-sized steps – Intrigue your readers to keep reading.

Hook their interest at the end of each blog or email.

Offer a choice of endings – Your readers choose to maintain their less than desirable reality OR alterperception of their reality – which includes your proposed solution.

This offer is a natural next step for solving their problem.

Your hero visualizes their success through the story, thanks to your offer.

Congratulations!

You’ve experienced the 2-D version of 3 effective marketing strategies.

Continue studying and getting to know your real audience. Expand and revise your avatar customer profile. As you narrow the avatar-real customer gap, your marketing will progress to sales victory.

Fuel your gaming creativity through fascinating AR gamification marketing.

Fuel your storytelling creativity with inspiration.

Share your gamification and storytelling powers with readers and customers. Their obsessions and your solutions are still abstract ideas.

Await your guided transformation into real world achievements.

Which strategy will you launch first?

Guest Author: Keri Vandongen guides heroes, like yourself through earning loyal customers. This sales journey enhances your empathetic communication and listening insights. Because communicating online can seem like mind-reading. Click for 3 scripts for strengthening trust through emails. 

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