Pokémon Go fever has gripped the world in its thrall again!!!
If you’re one among the people for whom the concept of Pokémon Go is still alien, then you’re probably in coma since a month now. A franchise that you supposed dead was given a dose of life by discovering an abode in the pockets as well as the hearts of humankind.
Pokémon Go, an augmented-reality game like no other has become a viral sensation on all social media platforms in a very short span of time. But how has this seemingly niche game skyrocketed to such bewildering popularity?
Most of it comes down to a small amount of clever marketing concepts, all of which can help innovative marketers like you. Dive into some of the lessons from this astounding hit in order to get prepared for the next big thing in the future.Here we list 10 important lessons for you all Inbound Marketing Crazies:
1. Interaction
All hail augmented reality!
The monumental growth in Pokémon Go popularity lies in the innovation of its interactive interface, which resonates with the taste of the consumers to inspire engagement. Every second person you meet is talking about the game.
Why, you ask?
Because Pokémon Go’s engagement is an amalgam of nostalgia, adventure, physical activity and social play, i.e., delighting user’s all senses. Similarly, interaction is the staple of inbound marketing content. It must be so powerful that it gives the user immediate and tailored results they care about.
2. Achieving Vogue
How many ads did you witness for Pokémon Go launch?
None, right?
The virality of Pokémon Go can also be attributed to the phenomenon of “Fear of Missing Out”. This happens when people do things because they feel others are having better experiences than them in certain ways. When Pokémon Go became the major talk-topic, and soon a trend, it was almost impossible for everybody not to get involved. Social media was all flooded with posts about how amazing the game is and the unique user experiences. Word-of-mouth did all the marketing for Pokémon Go. The marketing lesson here is to develop a product/service so amazing and unique that audience can’t ignore!
It's exponentially more effective to have 100 really passionate fans that love your brand than having 10,000 “fans” who signed up just to win a free iPad from you. And those 100 will also do your marketing for free.
3. Repurposing Old Successful Content
Pokémon is monumental and a victorious franchise with over 20 years of chronicles. So it is not surprising to see that teenagers who grew up in the Pokémon birth era are playing the game yet again with the same passion. But how did Nintendo do that?
Here, the smart move by Nintendo was to go back to its successful evergreen subject i.e., Pokémon, refurbishing it with the technological upgrades and making it available for the teenagers of all decades since 1990s.
The lesson here is that, repurposing content need not be a drag. A fresh approach or a new twist with an intent to create magic is all that it takes. The Cinderella film stands testimony. Read how to "Repurpose Content the Cinderella Way"
4. Launch Small (and Scarce)
Pokémon Go was launched only in 4 countries initially, namely, U.S, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. There are two marketing lessons here! First, when you launch small, you’ve a lot of room to do testing and refining of the product/service. Also, if it is your first product, it would give an idea how it is perceived in the market. Secondly, restricted launch garners the idea of scarcity and excitement among the people is generated. Scarcity calls for demand, the news goes viral, and ultimately the product market itself! So, launching small and cautiously is any day a good idea than launching big and recklessly !
5. Distribution
Timing is important when you launch or distribute your content on social media. With Pokémon Go, the timing couldn’t be more perfect. The game was made available to the users just after the summer started when the kids and people were out, basking in the sun and enjoying the festivities of the much awaited season. The game may not have been a success, had it been launched in winters.
Therefore, identify a good timing and make the most of the opportunity it presents. Because at the end of the day, timing is merely a function of striking a balance between supply and demand and accomplishing your engagement goal.
6. Go Mobile
Many a times, there are speculations as to what type of technology / device would engage the consumer more. It is an important criteria in inbound marketing from the targeting and awareness perspective. Just look at Pokemon Go.
Pokémon never had a major smartphone game for its users but their years of effort paid off in uncorking two decades of childish memories. And the application became the favorite by finding its space on almost all smartphones.
That says what, Marketers? Target your audience at a platform which is handy! And the mobile, certainly, is a wild place, where the digital and the physical worlds co-exists!
7. Evolve
Pokémon Go opened up a new set of doors for any audiences on-the-go by creating an evolutionary amalgam of digital space and physical world. The amazing Pokémon Go experience used the smartphone camera, GPS, social media connections, and mapped data in a way that is frictionless. Coming from an era of coded interface to the virtual reality of modern times, Pokémon Go seems to be making itself very comfortable in the gaming word. Therefore, marketers must also be mindful of all advancements in their business. Success isn’t overnight. Keep learning and keep evolving. It all adds up!
8. Create Stand-Alone Experiences
According to this column in the Detroit Free Press, Nintendo never tried to win by having the best graphics, sound, animation or visual design. Instead, they pour every ounce of their resources and creativity into making a wildly better experience for their customers. They focused on looking for new ways to craft memorable experiences. Likewise, have such an inbound marketing approach that opens a new set of doors which nobody came across until now. Be courageous like an explorer to go out of your way (and of course beyond customer’s expectations). It will work its magic!
9. Social Proof
Social proof is a necessity in modern times. We don’t make purchase decisions unless someone else has audited it first. We don’t even notice a product or a business unless we discover someone talking about it.
Same is the case with Pokémon Go: Social proof is evident! By making the game easy by design to share screenshots of augmented reality scenes, it taps into the omnipresent photo sharing behaviors as a means of expanding its reach. Wherever you are, you come across people playing Pokémon Go and talking about it. According to data from Adobe, the number of social media mentions of Pokémon Go came to over 3.1 million in the first six days from the launch, i.e., twice the rate of Amazon.com’s Prime day.
10. Enlarge your Horizons
If you strive to become a good social media marketer, enlarge your experience points just like in Pokémon Go. With the ever changing social media, there’s a lot of room to experiment with the campaigns, platforms, engagement and so on.
Social media platform is as such that the more you drive yourself to increase an engaged audience, the better you will become at your task. People usually don’t know what they need, until you offer them something they’ve been missing out. But before they realise, as marketers you need to be courageous to explore if the exploration lead to something interesting and worth trying. In Pokémon Go, the exploration element is to find different interesting characters, each of which came with certain awards!
