Traditional Advertising vs AR and VR, What’s Best for Your Business?
Why is it the best moment for businesses to go into augmented reality and virtual reality?
Advertising and marketing have grown tremendously over the years, from traditional tactics such as advertising boards, billboards, print ads, and leaflets to new-age digital ones. We all understand that digital marketing is all about knowing customers' wants and expectations so that firms may provide them with a positive user experience.
However, as the digital world evolves, so does the way businesses connect with their customers. With Internet penetration at an all-time high and technological advancement at an all-time high, it's no surprise that digital marketers are maximizing the use of emerging and immersive technologies like VR for their advertising campaigns.
According to Statista, the global virtual reality market is growing and is expected to surpass $12 billion by 2024, up from $5 billion in 2021. Within the next three years, the number of AR users is expected to nearly double to close to approximately two billion.
These technologies are clearly not only impacting digital marketing, but it also forever transforming the landscape. Let's look at how AR and VR will change the digital marketing landscape in 2022.
What is virtual reality marketing?
Contrary to AR, VR does not combine the actual and virtual worlds. Rather, virtual reality immerses them in an entirely new world. This can be accomplished through the use of visual aids such as 3D glasses, auditory tools such as headphones or speakers, or a combination of technologies. To build a new environment, VR frequently manipulates different sensory inputs.
In general, virtual reality takes a 360-degree strategy in a computer-generated atmosphere where customers may interact with. When someone rises up or bows down, their perspective shifts, just like it would in real life.
There are a number of practical VR apps in place that businesses can use to reach their target customers quickly and effectively. Simply stated, businesses with complicated services and products may utilize VR marketing to start breaking down the numerous components of their offering in ways that end-users can understand. As a result, they will be more likely to choose your brand over the competition, resulting in a direct increase in ROI.
What is augmented reality marketing?
Simply said, augmented reality gives digital marketers the ability to alter a stagnant entity. For example, a printed commercial or magazine cover can be transformed into a realistic 3D experience. AR is not the same as virtual reality. The latter works by entirely immersing the users in a simulated world, whereas AR augments and improves the world that the user would typically see using computerized overlays.
AR allows a firm to engage directly with its customers while also allowing them to virtually experience its items. For example, a furniture brand's AR marketing campaign will let customers view things from their displayed catalog as if they were set up inside their own homes. Furthermore, the system has the capability of adjusting the size of the objects to fit the proportions of the customers' rooms, allowing them to 'try-before-you-buy.'
How are augmented reality and virtual reality transforming digital marketing?
New technologies like augmented reality and virtual reality are the major disruptors to strike the marketing business. Without a doubt, they are transforming the digital marketing industry. By establishing a wow factor, AR and VR digital marketing initiatives serve to increase brand awareness.
For most people, connecting with a brand via AR/VR is still a fresh experience, therefore they are useful in generating awareness. One of the most interesting benefits they offer is the opportunity to combine digital marketing campaigns with customers' actual experiences in new and inventive ways. They connect digital and traditional channels. This enables a company to turn a static physical advertisement or brochure into a digital experience that may be linked to a digital marketing campaign.
Conclusion
By utilizing the possibilities of AR and VR, businesses may easily provide consumers with a fresh perspective. Users can review a large number of things in minutes to find the perfect fit, or they might experience the social impact of their purchases personally.
The best aspect is that such marketing strategies are accessible to even tiny enterprises. Businesses must adopt VR and AR digital marketing now if they want to survive and reach new heights.
-------------Rakesh R, Business Head and Director, of Deepsense Digital