What is happening now with augmented reality and what is expected?

As technology evolves, marketing does too. And one of these advances is augmented reality, that has given a 360-degree turn to marketing strategies.

What is an augmented reality?

It’s a technique that consists in the combination of the real world with the virtual world, many people would even say that it’s an improved version of reality.

Thanks to augmented reality we can enrich our visual experience and communication with our environment.

That’s why many companies have decided to use it and provide the consumer with a different experience by combining reality with images and virtual objects to interact in real time.

This new form of interaction provides a better user experience with the brand, which also promotes loyalty and a more creative way of differentiation.

Benefits of augmented reality

Taking into consideration, the augmented reality in marketing strategies can bring us many benefits such as:

1. Differentiation of the competition

Currently, augmented reality is something innovative. So the few companies using this technology are generating a lot of expectation and of course, they will be able to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

2. Custom image

This technology facilitates the creation of more personal and exclusive messages for customers. Which is an incredible tool of relational marketing, seeking to generate messages able to awake feelings to users.

When we manage to surprise, it’s when consumers share it with others, and this helps to increase the visibility and reputation of a company. 

3. User experience

Currently, consumers are overwhelmed by all the information they receive so they are blocking it, but the augmented reality allows transmitting experiences in a more dynamic, fun, and original way. This allows the consumer not to saturate and evade the brand.

These are some of the benefits that augmented reality can bring even when it’s in a very early stage. For this reason, it’s difficult to explain exactly the advantages it will bring us in the future.

It’s important to have clear that augmented reality and virtual reality are two different concepts, and we should not confuse them.

Virtual reality requires a completely virtual environment and augmented reality uses its existing natural environment and simply overlap virtual information on it. Both virtual and real worlds coexist harmoniously but they are different.

In order to integrate augmented reality within the marketing strategies of our company, we must take into account the following recommendations:

1. Provide added value to customers

With some applications of augmented reality, we can see online catalogs and products in 3D. It’s something that attracts attention but after a while it gets bored. Why? Because it doesn’t bring any value to customers.

It’s important to develop applications able to provide information to users or provide useful content they cannot find on another channel.

2. Take into account the user’s geolocation

When an augmented reality application is developed we must take into account where our clients are located, that information will allow us to answer questions such as: what information do they need? Why do they need it? And we’ll be more objective.

3. Provide relevant information

This useful information should allow the user to interact with third parties, and provide them with the necessary information, such as where to purchase the product, and making resources available to help them make decisions.

4. Get to “socialize” augmented reality

For the visibility and reputation of a company, it’s important that the consumers can share their personal experience with their friends and qualify it.

5. Important social interaction in real time

Now thanks to the great “social commerce” applications, it’s possible to maintain a conversation through the television and a video chat, for example, buying a dress or another product and being able to show it to friends in real time.

6. Know the news

Augmented reality is a technology in the initial phase and will be subject to numerous changes. For this, it’s recommended to be alert to the latest news (which evolve very fast) to put them at the service of customers.

We cannot doubt that one of the characteristics of marketing is renovation. Both offline advertising and online advertising have become repetitive and may even become boring to lose originality, and as a solution, virtual reality has appeared to give a breath to what is already overexploited.

It’s about looking for actions that attract the attention of consumers.

In this aspect, artificial intelligence, augmented reality and virtual reality, will have a fundamental role in changing the way of marketing campaigns.