Augmented reality (AR) is a blend or virtual objects in real-world settings. Thanks to advancements in technology and smartphones, this has become a useful tool in digital marketing.

AR gives you real-time merging of reality and digital. For example, the mobile game Pokémon Go used AR to put the Pokémon on your screen in the real world. The wild popularity of that game allowed people to truly see the potential in AR, leading to other companies looking into adopting it.

While this can be a major tool to help your digital marketing strategy, it is important to keep in mind that you shouldn’t develop AR just for the sake of having it; like with other aspects of marketing, if it feels too forced or it doesn’t feel worthwhile to your customer base, it’s not going to succeed.

If you’re debating getting AR for your company, it’s important to truly think about your company and your brand, because AR isn’t going to work for every brand.

You don’t necessarily need an app to use AR for your brand either. You can set up your website to have an interactive AR feature on it, you just need to make sure it’s mobile compatible. Not every company needs an app, and some mobile users prefer to use a website instead of installing apps for every company they interact with in some way. Using AR on your website can also be more cost-effective than developing and maintaining an app.

To use AR effectively, it should give users a meaningful interaction relevant to your brand and play an important role in communication. When applied effectively, AR has the ability to capture attention for at least 85 seconds and increase interactions by 20 percent.

Here are a few ways you can use AR to boost your digital marketing and advertising.

 STORYTELLING

In advertisements, the goal is often to tell some sort of story. Using AR allows you to tell this story in a much deeper way, truly bringing users into the experience, sometimes in a game-like way. If you can connect your brand story to AR, your customers can get a better understanding of your brand, boosting engagement and brand affinity.

This is a unique opportunity to allow customers to show customers the inner workings of a brand, in a way that runs much deeper than a social media account. Showing them this glimpse into the brand can leave customers with a better impression of what your company stands for, and help boost both brand awareness and brand loyalty.

VIRTUAL TOURS IN PHYSICAL STORES

When looking to buy or rent a house or apartment, some realtors offer virtual tours of the property, so you don’t have to physically go in to look at the place. This is a convenient concept for realty, but some companies have taken this one step further, by letting you have an interactive tour of a store you’re physically in.

While it may sound odd to give a virtual tour while standing in a physical store, this is a good way to get customers to spend more time in the shop and look at more things than they ordinarily would. You can use the AR tour to teach your customers more about your brand, and even make a game of it. Adding in an option to try on clothes through the AR instead of going into a fitting room is another fun function that may spark interest in your customers.

TRY IT ON WHEN SHOPPING ONLINE

One of the big perks for using AR in an online store is that you can set it up, so your customers can see how something will look before they order it. There’s nothing worse than ordering a new couch online, only to find that it just doesn’t work in your living room. Some companies, including IKEA, have brought AR into their company so you can use it to see exactly how a piece of furniture will look in your room before you buy it. Clothing and makeup companies have added AR, so customers can get an idea of how something will look on them.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Using Snapchat and Instagram, along with other social media platforms, is another good way to use AR for marketing. You can add animation, creative filters, or interactions with objects or products that are linked to your brand. This can help improve brand awareness since you’re putting your brand into these AR apps.