Right now, there could be a Charizard lurking on your campus. That popular campus landmark? It just became a PokéStop.

[Tweet “There could be a Charizard on your campus. That campus landmark? Just became a PokéStop.”]

When students return to campus in less than a month, you’re bound to see packs of them wandering around, heads down and phones in hand. No need to call Rick Grimes – your students didn’t turn into zombies over the summer. But many of them have become Pokémon Trainers, inspired by the newest mobile game craze, Pokémon GO.

Pokémon GO 101  

In case you haven’t heard about the gaming app that’s been blamed for car accidents, dead body sightings and luring Canadians into the U.S., Pokémon GO is a new augmented reality game in which players (or Trainers) search for virtual Pokémon in the real world. Trainers explore their cities and towns looking for PokéStops where they can capture these tiny monsters on their smartphones’ touch screens. Then they hit the Gym to battle rival teams.

Pokémon GO has become the biggest mobile game in history since it launched on July 6, and it now has more active users than Twitter. And you probably guessed it – advertisers are jumping all over the new game hoping to scoop up ad space if and when it becomes available.

Do You See the Poké-tential?

Imagine if your school could leverage Pokémon GO’s mobile location data to serve targeted ads to prospective students. How might this impact your lead pool?

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Many schools aren’t waiting to gauge the game’s marketing potential – they’re simply joining in on the fun. Duke University discovered several Pokémon in its Lemur Center. Fortunately, Weedle was captured and no lemurs were harmed.

Other schools like American University are giving students maps of all the PokéStops on campus. In a news release, AU provides screen shots of recent Pokémon sightings, including some of the hottest Gyms and PokéStops students might pass on their way to class. Rumor has it that Goldeen and Paras like to hang out on the Quad.

On the Binghamton University blog, student Paige Miller details her Pokémon hunting expedition across the Binghamton U campus. She shares tips and tricks for catching the notoriously elusive creatures and discovers it’s not just students who are hooked on the game – even the assistant director for university union operations is a level 17 Pokémon GO master.

It’s GO Time (Well, Almost)

Though the game’s advertising future is unclear, we do know one thing: Pokémon GO could become a marketing goldmine. In fact, Pokémon GO’s developer recently announced that the game will soon accept sponsored partnerships to make certain locations show up more prominently. That’s right – you may have just discovered a new way to get more prospective students to visit your campus.

For now, we wait. And I know of a game you could download to pass the time.

[Tweet “Leads are like Pokémon – you’ve gotta catch ‘em all.”]

Leads are like Pokémon – you’ve gotta catch ‘em all. Here are some other articles to help guide your chase: Digital Advertising: Increasing Your Lead to Enrollment Rate, 5 Emails You Should Be Sending to Nurture Inquiries and An Introduction to Snapchat Sponsored Ad Opportunities.