People will study why Pokemon Go became such a hit all over the world in the past week, it’s already installed on twice as many phones as Tinder, it’s getting twice the engagement levels as Snapchat and it’s surpassing number of people using Twitter. So what is it? Firstly, its an app. Its a game, like angry birds or any other. What makes Pokemon Go different, is that is uses Augmented Reality (it augments the Pokemon character) exploration game (on top of real world places. There in lies the clue to where we are going with this. We’ve already jokingly mentioned how this new game could make users more active in Dubai, but it could also be a genius sales tool for some clever businesses. 

As Pokemon Go users wander around Dubai, here are 5 ways you can turn them into customers

1. Find Our Where Your Business Is In The Pokemon Go Map

There are essentially two things a user does on Pokemon Go. They battle it out at ‘Gyms’ and team up to defend their turf, on in the Dubai case may be, their sand-patch, and they also visit ‘Shops’ to collect rewards. 

You need to figure out if you are a ‘Pokeshop’ or a ‘Gym’. The map was developed by the company who built Pokemon Go, Niantic, who are 33% owned by Nintendo. They actually created the map over the past three years for a game called Ingress. So, install the Ingress map on your phone and you’ll find where you are there. 

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2. Buy some Lures and get customers for only $1.19 / 4.37 AED per hour

You have to purchase Lures first. So, for $100 / 367.30 AED you get 14,500 Pokecoins. You can then buy an eight-pack of Lures for 680 Pokecoins. So, 14,500 Pokecoins / 680 = 21 eight-packs of lures(21 * 8)/2 = 84 hours. $100/84 hours = $1.19 per hour.

To buy them, follow these steps

• Tap the red Pokeball at the bottom of your HUD Tap “Shop” 
• Scroll down and tap the purple, box-shaped Lures to purchase
• Re-direct to your app store’s payment system 
• Once back in-app, tap the red Pokeball again, then tap “Items” Tap the purple Lure to activate!

3. Throwdown a Lure and watch customers flock to your store

A lure is an object you can place, that users of Pokemon Go will track down to get rewards. They will stay near a Pokeshop on the map for 30 minutes. You do need to purchase lures but the results are evident. This Reddit thread explains.

4. Get your business near a gym

There are gym days the spawn epic battles and lots of people. People are trying to take control of the gym for either team Mystic, Valor, or Instinct. They are easy to find, so get mobile and get your business near a gym either with promotions, flyers, sample products or get selling in a van! Follow where the Pokemon roam and go there. This is tricky enough to do in Dubai, but and it’s a bit hot for much outdoor roaming, but it’s worth exploring. 

5. Social Media the crap out of it!

Get social! Take pics and snaps, share them all over your channels. Let your followers know you are taking part! 

You could run a competition like this 

• Tell users you’ll pay for their Incense in return for some screenshots of any rare Pokemon that pop up in the vicinity of your shop.
• Have them upload the picture and tag you on social media, so that their followers know about you too.
• Promote the fact that you’re rewarding users who find rare Pokemon at your business.

Also, run Facebook ads to target people by Location, such as Dubai Marina and Business Bay or where ever your business is. If you have a small shop in Ibn Battua Mall for example, you could run an add for people in the area with Pokemon Go creative to attract them to play near your store. 

Just taught our @DTOWNMcKinney merchants how to use #PokemonGo to market their small business. #downtownmckinney

— Aaron Werner (@aaronwerner) July 12, 2016

Who knows where this will be in a few months, but it’s blowing up right now and smart businesses could take advantage.