What is Augmented Reality?
September 20, 2018 / in Articles, Digital, digital media, Internet Marketing, SEO / by Nicole Wagner
Brands are always looking for newer and better ways to engage with audiences, especially since audiences are expecting much more out of their brand experiences. It’s why augmented reality is beginning to be leveraged by brands more and more. What is augmented reality? It’s a way to enhance real-world experiences using digital techniques. This, of course, is a simplified answer to the question “what is augmented reality?” To get a better understanding of what augmented reality is, the following are a few examples of how it can be leveraged to improve your marketing efforts:
Augmented Reality As Storytelling
Augmented reality provides the opportunity for more immersive storytelling. You could even implement game-like features, which would allow your audience to directly engage with the story you’re telling.
Virtual Tours
You can use augmented reality to provide customers with virtual tours of your physical location so that they don’t have to leave their homes but still provide a more immersive experience when shopping for products or services.
Three-Dimensional Thinking
Ads are typically displayed in 2-D; however, with augmented reality, viewers could see display ads in their peripheral vision instead of just in front of them due to the higher pixel/display size ratio AR boasts over 2-D monitors.
Experiencing Products In An E-Commerce Environment
Companies like IKEA are using augmented reality to give customers a chance to see how their products look in their home environment. This allows customers to get a better idea of whether the product is right for them without having to go to a physical store.
Creative Social Media Tool
Many social channels are implementing augmented reality to make their platforms more engaging. For example, Snapchat allows the use of filters that can be used on your phone’s camera to add everything from floral headbands to dog ears to the pictures you take of yourself. Finding a way to improve your social media experience in such a way will help make your brand more engaging.
Product Trials
Augmented reality can allow customers to test out your product without ever taking it home with them. For example, you could show them the full real-life dimensions of the product if it’s not on display. You could also test out how the product might work. For example, Sephora created an app that allowed customers to use their smartphone’s camera to see how certain types of makeup would look on their face.
Interactive Ads
Augmented reality can help make your ads interactive in all kinds of ways. For example, you could allow customers to scan your ad in order to receive free digital goods. You can also allow audiences to see things only when they interact with the ad using their smartphone. The possibilities are limitless.
When asking “what is augmented reality?” it’s a lot easier to understand once you see some examples of how it’s used. It should also be easy to understand how augmented reality can be implemented as a way to improve customer engagement, thereby improving their brand experience.
The landscape of the Internet is ever changing and Nicole has the energy and aptitude to keep Stevens & Tate Marketing out in front of the pack. She leads an enthusiastic team in strategic planning, development, search engine marketing, online promotions and advertising for the web.
