AR in Marketing

Augmented reality (AR) is the integration of digital information with the user’s environment, in real time. Unlike virtual reality – which creates an artificial world – augmented reality uses the existing environment and adds new information on top of it. So how is AR used in marketing?

AR is one of the newer forms of strategies adopted by companies who use it to combine elements of print and online advertising. While it is still too early to determine the tangible benefits of using AR in marketing, many companies view AR as an ideal way of delivering persuasive messages to a technological-minded audience due to the following factors:

Personalisation – When you use AR in marketing, you can allow your customers to upload their own content in order to create a personalised form of media that is marketed at them specifically.

Novelty – Since AR is fairly new on the technology front, customers still feel driven to be an early adopter of the ‘latest thing’.

Socialisation – Customers can share their personalised content with their friends and family. Thus creating viral augmented reality marketing.

Accessible – AR enables customers to create their own multimedia product, even if they don’t have the technical skills.

Augmented reality applications are written on 3D programmes that allow the developer to tie digital information in the computer to a “marker” in the real world. When the AR app receives the information from the marker, it begins to execute the marker’s code in order to layer the correct image or images. In order for a customer to view an AR image, he or she will need a smartphone with a global positioning system (GPS) to pinpoint the user’s location and detect device orientation.

The most important aspect of AR marketing campaigns is the ability to extract valuable data, including who is viewing the ads. You will also be able to track what users are interested in, combined with their details and movements. This allows you to shift campaigns in order to target your niche market.

There is a great opportunity for local businesses to grow by using AR in marketing. Augmented reality can inject a fun element into in an everyday product. It adds a sense of excitement to the process which appeals to a greater number of customers. This is the aim of marketing.