The use of AR to Gain a Competitive Advantage

In the contemporary era, AR has evolved into much more than just a marketing tool. It offers interactive experience allowing users to superimpose visuals, music, and other elements into the practical environment.

It is reported that in the year 2020, about 15% of the American population used AR every month while this percentage is expected to grow exponentially over the years. GlobalData reports that the next decade will witness a 22-fold growth in AR revenue from $ 7 billion to about $ 152 billion.

It is wise for marketers to adopt such new marketing trends in order to gain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

Why AR Marketing?

AR and other immersive marketing techniques are excellent for attracting and interacting with both potential and current clients.

According to studies, using augmented reality (AR) may increase brand recognition by as much as 70%. In addition, another study shows that an AR experience's typical dwell duration is 75 seconds, which is four times longer than a film.

The reason behind this is that AR experiences have a special capacity to arouse interest in individuals.

Customers are more inclined to purchase your goods after interacting with AR material. In actuality, conversion rates for AR advertisements range from 20% to 80%.

How to make the best use of AR Marketing

AR can serve as an optimal addition to your marketing campaigns. Here are some of the ways through which you can use AR to gain a competitive advantage in the crowded marketplace.

1. Social Campaigns:  

A whopping 90% of consumers make purchases from brands they follow on social media. Therefore, it is essential for businesses to be present on the social media sites where their clients are.

The majority of people are tired with the subpar material on social media hence what corporations post online is immensely critical in this era.

Brands should cease cross-posting dull content and wasting their marketing money on irrelevant advertisements if they want to connect with their audience on a deeper level. Instead, they should concentrate on augmented reality, particularly in light of the constant increase in social network AR users.

The increasing use of AR has enabled the creation of interactive effects on various social media apps such as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Some of the popular AR effects and filters include:

• AR Effects: Incorporates interactive 3D objects in the environment of the user.
• Virtual Try-on: They are interactive games wherein the user can participate using facial gestures or just by tapping on their devices.
• Face filters: Allows users to incorporate virtual objects or elements to their background or face. For instance, virtually try-on of products or makeup,  sunglasses, etc.

2. Social Media Competitions

Social media contests are a simple method for marketers to get users to share branded augmented reality effects with their following, attract new clients, and increase audience engagement.

It has been shown that companies that hold Instagram contests expand 70% more quickly. For instance, Instagram contest-related posts garner 3.5 more likes and 64 times as many comments as regular posts. Different competitions using AR effects may include:

• Mini-games: The competition here is between various users on the basic of their performance in a specific mini-game.
• Augmented World Effects: It includes the placement of a 3D version of product in space and then sharing its photo with the brand.
• Selfies: It is the most conventional method and involves selfies using the AR filter of the brand.

3. TikTok

TikTok differs from other social media platforms in terms of how businesses may utilize augmented reality to advertise there. The two primary elements that marketers need to be aware of are Hashtag Challenges and Branded Effects.

• Branded Effects: It enables businesses to design and distribute unique effects, such as filters, entertaining games, and other features, which viewers can subsequently overlay on their own videos.
• Hashtag challenges: They are an optimal method to advertise a branded effect as they require TikTokers to create videos using the effect and share them with others.

4. Google Swirl display ads

A 3D ad style called Swirl enables marketers to integrate 3D product models in their advertising. Customers may engage with the advertised goods virtually as if it were in front of them, not behind a screen.

Customers may rotate the product to examine it from various angles, zoom in and out to see the product's intricacies, and even extend the advertisement to interact with it more effectively.

5. Augmented Billboards

Magazine advertisements, posters, and billboards do not necessarily have to be boring. Instead, businesses may use an image tracker effect to add augmented reality (AR) to their marketing materials.

Users may begin an augmented reality (AR) experience by scanning a specific picture in an advertisement that has been modified with an image tracker.

As an alternative, companies may print a QR code on their billboards that customers can scan to start an augmented reality experience. 

Thus, it is evident from the above 5 options that AR effects can be employed in modern day marketing in a number of ways to gain competitive advantage.

 How to launch an augmented reality marketing campaign