6 Ways to Use Pokémon Go! For Apartment Marketing and Resident Retention

Do you find yourself going into businesses and asking strange questions that you didn’t used to ask, such as “are there any Pidgeys here?” Pokémon Go is a game app for your phone that has rapidly become a worldwide phenomenon! All of a sudden, people are traveling more, walking more, and even making new friends, all because of a little app that basically turns people into virtual bug collectors.

So how can you use this fun new game and international craze to your advantage when it comes to apartment marketing and resident retention? Apartment Dynamics has some ideas!

1. Take advantage if there is a Pokéstop or PokéGym set up at your community or nearby—You’re very lucky if your property is already a Pokéstop or PokéGym, but if it isn’t, you might want to try to see about making it one. Here is a helpful article on making that happen! If they aren’t taking applications, keep trying! It can be a great way to get people to come by your property.

2. Host Pokémonday community events—be sure to place lures at nearby Pokéstops, and mention any nearby gyms! Share photos of Pokémon sightings at your property. Serve snacks in the office and use it as an opportunity to connect with your existing residents and sign some new leases!

 3. Set up a lure module at your property or nearby—A lure module is a tool you can place at a Pokéstop to “lure” Pokémon to the stop. Everyone nearby will see the stop, which will have pink confetti around it if a lure has been placed there for 30 minutes. People have a better chance of catching more Pokémon and even some rare Pokémon by going to place where there is a lure module. You will get a couple of lures for free in the Pokémon Go app, but buying them is inexpensive and a great way to “lure” potential new residents to your property!

4. Advertise rare Pokémon spotted at your site—a friend of mine has a ton of Pokémon that live at her apartment complex! It’s crawling with Magikarp, Slowpoke, and Psyducks, but I have also found a Jigglypuff and Dratini there. Advertising the Pokémon that have been spotted at your property is just one more way to bring new people in! 

5. Encourage people to take pictures of Pokémon at your property to post on social media—Offer a chance to win a prize if people share their Pokémon sightings and tag your property. Take advantage of the free advertising! You can even use an app like Pokefy to insert Pokémon into your property pictures for marketing purposes. 

6. Promote exercise and fellowship in your community with Pokémon —one good thing about Pokémon Go is that it encourages you to get out and walk! For every 2K or 5K you walk, an egg will hatch with a new surprise Pokémon inside. If your community has a trail or a good place for walking, organize a 5K or 2K Pokewalk and then compare your hatchings! 

A good apartment community always looks for new opportunities to market to potential residents and makes an effort to keep their existing residents happy. Take advantage of this craze and set yourself apart from other communities by finding ways Pokémon Go can help you and your property!

Jessica Bowman is the social media coordinator for Living Well Spending Less and a cheerleader for Apartment Dynamics: Building Value Through Property Management, Dynamic Training, and Marketing Solutions. Her favorite Pokémon is Squirtle. You can find her sharing happy thoughts on her Tumblr page.