Google Glasses wants you to see the world with your lenses like a pair of smart phone screens. The device shares real-time information if you look at any object of interest. Augmented reality and virtual reality are two technologies that will revolutionize digital retail. It is important to know more about them to use them to your advantage.
App filters from Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook are examples of aesthetic AR. These cute features have garnered attention for the three applications. If you replace the filters that add dog tongues and cat ears with information, then you have just entered a new ball game. It can spread instant awareness and content market with just a few sentences. Retailers can even offer a conversion option by presenting the price and a buy button.
The future of marketing with augmented reality is here. If you want to take advantage of the new medium, then these five factors can definitely happen once it becomes as widely used as smart phones.
How Augmented Reality Can Affect Sales Funnels in the Future
Interactive Consumer Experience
Google Glass and other similar devices will offer an interactive consumer experience. Aside from adding data snippets, designers will want you to keep using it. The glass devices will likely feature games and navigation applications. In fact, they might build features that allow you to “touch” certain objects visible through the glass to find “hidden” information.
One thing is guaranteed: it will be an interactive consumer experience. Augmented reality can be integrated with virtual technologies to provide demonstrations. It can happen like this: you “touch” a product you wish to try before you buy. The glass creates a 3D high-resolution equivalent of the device on the body part you are to wear or use the device. You can even zoom in to observe the smaller details.
VR already has the advantage in this arena. In fact, videogames are a great way to showcase “product tests.” For example, Electronic Arts’ Need for Speed franchise demonstrates the hypothetical performance of concept cars that can appear in the future.
Real Time Content
The interactive experience requires consistently-updated content. Because the data provided is not just in text form similar to Google’s search engine snippets, all businesses will need a designer to create a VR model of the product or service environment. They will also need to have their prices updated daily on a price comparison service (like Trivago or Amazon).
Content marketing will be fast paced. Businesses must focus on production speed and accuracy. Competitors will focus on using “bite-sized” landing pages that redirect to more informative pages.
Augmented reality will focus majority of its media to native advertising. However, it is still likely that photographs, videos, and interactive virtual content will play the biggest roles in its market.
Wider Influencer Marketing
Influencers have used social media to their advantage. Because they need to create a great following, they engage their communities with useful content. Some influencers entertain. Others provide useful information through reviews or fact-based opinions. Most of them also host a livestream where they chat with their community verbally. A number of them take this to the next level and create a massive meet-up with their followers.
Augmented reality can function similar to Facebook’s live function. People can “tune in” using the glasses of the influencer’s audience. If they do this, they become part of the meet-up from any location. Companies can do the same thing too, but influencers are likely to use AR to their advantage.
Improved Localized Advertising
New forms of analytics will emerge. In fact, some of them might be visibility metrics. This data will be the first to combine traditional and digital marketing. The advertisement’s actual visibility and number of content views will simultaneously be measured. It is reminiscent of billboard ad optimization with a digital content component.
Local advertisements in the form of print ads might take advantage of QR codes. Augmented reality devices, like smartphone cameras, will recognize these codes and unlock discounts or other content. However, it can inflate analytic data and content production. One side effect of this is the need for bigger data storages.
Search engines and social networks will likely use these information in providing quality results for manual searchers. They may use either the AR device’s voice-recognition features or their smartphones. As a result, SEO will still remain relevant for years to come.
Five-Second Funnels
Augmented reality’s focus on interactive, short content will also limit marketing funnel activities. In this light, the Awareness stage will likely come from listed suggestions when encountering a similar subject. Virtual reality integration will likely affect the speed of the Consideration stage. If you can try on clothing or using a product in a virtual environment, then you will strongly want to buy the product at once.
However, it will take a few more tests and studies before five-second funnels do not leave businesses crashed and burned. There is a risk associated with speedy marketing. The new difficulties brought by AR technologies are not insurmountable. However, being knowledgeable and prepared for their arrival is to the advantage of any business.
