How to Generate a Hysterical Buzz Like Pokémon Go With Your Mobile App

Every business’ aim is to “go viral”. Even though it is never guaranteed. But knowing the key ingredients to the arcane recipe of generating frenzy may transform your business!

Remember how Pokémon Go ruled the lives of millenials and Gen Z the instant it launched? In fact, the app-based game managed to make it to the national dailies and primetimes! There were score more than 100 million as recorded in August 2017, Google Play market alone.

Let’s see what made the game Pokémon Go what is is.

Personalised User Experience Is EVERYTHING.

Every user wants to feel special. To make your app outshine other apps in the market, just good UX and performance is not enough. There has to be addition of “X-Factor” to get where you wish to be. Pokémon Go leveraged GPS and camera feature of the smartphone device to deliver tailored UX. The importance of tailored UX cannot be underlined enough-- this is exactly how people feel special.

The way interface of the Pokémon Go changes depending upon the landscape you are presently located at. If you are around any water body, you can catch water pokémon. If you are in a garden, you can catch grass pokémon. On top of that, the entire map of the Pokéland is tailored according to the map of your location.

Who would not obsess over such a game!

Leverage Technology To Step Up User Engagement.

Just stop and think about how interactive UX can change the way users engage with your content. Today, the aim is to get user to spend most time with your brand anyhow. Pokémon Go leveraged the technology of augmented reality. Other companies like Ikea is doing the same to reimagine the way people purchase furniture. There are other upcoming technologies like hologram effect, virtual reality to step up the way users engage with your content.

Use Science, Target The Biological Hormones.

Technology has the power to stimulate parts of the brain which may get people addicted to your app. This hormone is known as Dopamine. It gets released in little quantities by the brain whenever it feels it achieved something. Dopamine motivates the user to do the same thing again to feel ecstatic. Some psychologists extend this idea to FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) syndrome where people would try to push their limits to stay up to date with current happenings. This fear drives people to spend more time on your app.

Reward Users To Generate MORE Dopamine.

Who does not like to get rewarded for the efforts they have put in? If you reward your users for activities they do on your app, chances are that they will spend more time on your app. The more time they spend, the more dopamine is generated by the brain. It results into a vicious cycle which gets people addicted to something. The key is to reward the users in terms of points or coins or any other strategy.

Give Opportunities To Your Users To Generate Content.

Even though adding value to your app is of prime importance, allowing your users to capture that value and share it across various channels may prove to be a game changing for your business. Generating content can be in form of screenshot, tweet, blog, comment, text, anything as a matter of fact. As long as your users are spreading good words about their experience with your app, you are unstoppable. The moment they stop, the frenzy will start to fade away.

“Going viral” is an art, there is no sure shot formula to achieve it. In this post, the question of how to generate a buzz was answered. We hope this blog helped you to understand the nuances of going viral and gave you a vision about user-centric strategies.


Written by Niharika Singh