All about: AR advertising

From the success of Pokémon Go back in the days of summer 2016 augmented reality (AR) has now established itself in marketing mainstream.

Thanks to its unparalleled ability to bridge the digital and physical worlds, AR heralds a revolution in how consumers interact with brands. One main advantage of AR advertising is that they help to create a certain emotional connection with customers because they are interactive and realistic- and that makes consumers feel like they’re engaging in part of something.  This builds an emotional connection, whilst increasing brand awareness and encouraging customers to make purchases.

Another benefit is a possibility of virtual try-ons. Consumers can try on many different items with AR (glasses, shoes, clothing, jewellery, watches), without leaving their homes. This makes it powerful tool for driving sales and increasing revenue.

Furthermore, Shopify has found that consumers are 94% more likely to buy a product if they see it in AR or 3D, which promises increased e-commerce conversion. Put that together with the ability to turn brand flagships or local activations into digital/physical campaigns that have the capacity to transform ads into dynamic, interactive experiences- well, it makes AR a powerful marketing aid for every type of brand.

This is further backed by findings from Vibrant Media- 67% of advertising agencies are already using AR

And nowadays, AR campaigns are becoming easier than ever to execute because of native tools from the likes of Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.

Like with any campaign format, before embarking on any technical decision-making, marketers need to establish their purpose and interrogate why AR is the best way to achieve their aim, whether that’s telling a brand’s story, educating consumers on how best to use or assemble a product, or as a try-on element of social commerce. Jumping on the train isn’t enough if there isn’t enough context or background behind the reasoning, and audiences will sense that.

Additionally,  don’t let AR becoming a gimmick by making sure it is the best way to animate the story being told. And it’s critical that marketers plot exactly how users will interact with AR activations, from whether to choose tap functionality over swipe functionality, face tracking or image tracking, or even location-based triggers over image markers.

Marketers attempting complex AR experiences should always involve an AR specialist programmer who will be able to create bespoke extras such as gamification or geolocation targeting for fully personalised user experiences.

AR advertising is set to become even more popular as Statista forecasts that AR market size worldwide will increase from roughly 3.5 billion in 2017 to more than 198 billion in 2025.