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The Function of AR (Augmented Reality) In the Marketing of Goods and Services

A few years ago, marketing classes looked like newspaper ads. Boring, mundane, verbose, and template based. People were taught that the only way to make an impact is to go big, run a full-page newspaper ad, or rely on TV ads. With the advancement of technology, marketing changed, and the Mad Men era of conventional marketing took a nosedive. Soon, social media marketing took the lead position, and people stuck with expensive conventional marketing strategies ran out of business. Now, marketing is going through another transition, thanks to augmented reality.

Since marketing has shifted, consumers are now becoming more brand-driven, looking for things they want to buy, and services they want. Augmented reality offers you the opportunity to be in the spotlight and offers you the creative edge so your consumer can feel what he is getting. This adds a sense of reliability because your user gets what he sees. Augmented reality is gaining more power, going viral, attracting more people, digitalizing the advertisement experience, and enhancing the overall experience.

Thinking about augmented reality without high-speed internet means you will be stuck in an episode of Black Mirror, waiting for a disaster. This is why more internet companies are investing in building an infrastructure that can complement the needs of augmented reality, offering blazing-fast internets like Astound Broadband Powered by Grande, and exceptional download and upload speeds. Hence, you get to experience everything in real time. This is an ideal internet service for people living in Texas because they have the best service and outstanding response times in the region.

How AR (Augmented Reality) Marketing Is Better?

The idea behind augmented reality marketing is to offer a reality-based experience fortified with communication and content in a realistic setting. AR offers you an environment where there is a physical experience involved along with an immersive, 3-D physical environment, so the user gets to see the brand value along with its applicability. Now, by using AR Marketing, businesses get to personalize the experience of each user, attracting more people and pulling a huge crowd. This was impossible in other cases; blame it on the limitations, added cost, and one message for all notions. Business experts believe that AR marketing is the future, and the industry is expected to reach 88.4 billion dollars by 2026. Moreover, it will show exceptional growth in the healthcare sector with a more than 35% growth rate.

Brands now want to jump out of the digital bubble and step into Augmented Reality to market their business. The best thing about the AR marketing is that there are no billboards, magazines, or rental screens involved. The potential consumer now gets to see all the advertisements by using wearable devices, phones, and AR-based gadgets. Experts believe this is changing the world of marketing and setting it free from the shackles of limited space for advertisement. Moreover, AR is bringing the approach that there is no ideal buyer persona for targeting. Instead, everyone is your potential customer if you use the right technique and advertisement.

Why Brands Are Pushing For AR Marketing?

AR offers the experience that the conversational marketing style lacks. Customers get to be in their comfort zone, and still experience the marketing in the best possible way. Even in the case of an actual store, AR marketing offers a real experience so; the brand can reduce the in-store inventory. For E-commerce stores and fast fashion brands, this is a game changer. Technically, brands do not have to make things in bulk; instead, they can just make a few prototypes displayed at the physical stores, and then maintain the supply according to demand. This offers a competitive edge to the brands; they no longer have to invest in warehouse maintenance and cuts down the carbon footprint by reducing waste.

Similarly, the customer gets to try dozens of virtual items, and know how it feels on them, and what will suit them better. This enables the customer to make an informed decision and keeps them away from impulsive buying, eventually leading to a win-win situation for everyone.

Where Augmented Reality Marketing Is Taking the Lead?

If you are considering AR-based marketing for your brand already, you need to take a back step and evaluate what you are getting into. For incorporating AR-based marketing for your brand, there is an extensive coding and designing process, you need to go through. Moreover, there is a data integration process and a QA process that follows as well. However, there are also dedicated software development kits available that come with all the essential tools.

  • Beauty Industry

The beauty industry is using AR Marketing for helping people to try on things before they buy something. Companies like Sephora are now offering virtual brand try-on processes.

Recently Amazon has invested heavily in the AR marketing industry to improve its sales. Amazon is now offering a virtual reality try-on experience, so customers get to use things before they make a purchase. As the first augmented experience, Amazon has launched a hair salon in Brushfield, London. The customers get to test their hairstyles and hair colors via augmented reality before they opt for services.

  • Paint and Decor Companies

Interior decor-based companies and paint companies like Asian paints and deluxe are using AR-based technology to help with color choice.  Customers get to virtually try what would look good in their homes and what they enjoy more.

  • Personal Marketing 

Companies are pushing for a paperless marketing experience via AR to reduce carbon emissions. This is replacing business cards with QR codes, 3D business catalogs, and more. All the marketing is done by using just the camera phone, which also reduces the advertisement cost.

  • Food Industry 

Big fast-food brands like burger king and Starbucks are using AR marketing to draw in more customers. Now, by scanning the code, the user is directed to the nearest branch where he or she can get a discount or free food.

Wrap Up

AR marketing is taking the business world by storm and it is high time for businesses to take full advantage of this marketing style. The above-mentioned ideas will help you understand how AR marketing can benefit your business.

About author

Richa Pathak is Founder & Editor at SEM Updates – The Digital Marketing Magazine. She is an emerging digital marketing influencer, a creative consultant & a corporate trainer. With a decade of experience in working with B2C & B2B brands across the globe, she is also a featured author in top-10 marketing magazines globally. She offers various consulting, training, & mentorship programs to share her knowledge. Richa's principle - Plan, Execute, Learn, Implement, Repeat! Digital marketing is Richa's passion & love. She is an innovator & wants to explore more, learn more, try different tools, hacks with various campaigns. She loves reading non-fiction books and does nature photography.
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