Gotta Catch ‘Em All: Seven Ways Pokémon Go Can Lure Customers to Your Food Truck

Whether they want to deride it or praise it, everyone is talking about Pokemon Go. Libraries, city halls, and museums are suddenly surrounded by eager pokepeople searching for pokeitems, pokemon, and pokeglory.

Here is what food vendors need to know about Pokemon: Pokemon Go could help you make more money. Here are a few ways food vendors can take advantage of Pokemon Go.

1. Go where the Pokemon Go! Even if you aren’t a Pokemon fan, download the game (it’s free!). You’ll be able to see where the Pokemon stops and gyms are that are attracting so much buzz, and you’ll know where to set up shop.
2. If you go to a Pokestop, you can do even more to attract customers and increase feelings of appreciation. If you pay a few dollars for a lure module at lunchtime, you could attract not only Pokemon but crowds of eager Pokemon hunters. A thirty-minute Pokemon lure costs only $0.99, so for $4.00, you could have a lunchtime of foot traffic. Note: Lures can only be set at Pokestops.
3. You can also add an additional spark to your social media channels with Pokemon Go. Consider offering small discounts to customers who catch rare Pokemon while standing in line at your truck, trailer, or cart.
4. Make sure you use your social media channels to let potential customers in your area know when you are going to have your Pokemon lures out. You might post something like: “Come by at 12:15, and we will be throwing out a lure.”
5. Set up three tips jars, one yellow, one blue, one red, and encourage your customers to leave tips in the tip jar of their team’s color.
6. If you are near a Pokemon gym, you can draw in customers with a little competition. Post a sign or a white board celebrating the team and the trainer in control of the gym and offer discounts or a free menu item to anyone who can defeat that trainer.
7. Take screen shots of rare Pokemon that you catch at your food truck and share them on Facebook. Let people know that if they spend their lunch at your food truck, they fill get great food and some great additions to their deck.