4 Ways AR Helps Generate Leads

Competition in today’s markets is fierce. Thus, it’s imperative to use all the tools and technologies available to you if you really want to get ahead of the competition. The question is, which of these emerging trends should you incorporate into your business?

This article will focus specifically on augmented reality marketing. How can you use this technology to generate leads? And how can it improve customer satisfaction and experience?

What is augmented reality?

Also known as AR, augmented reality is a technology that superimposes computer-generated objects into the physical environment.

The most popular example of AR in action is the mobile game Pokemon Go by Niantic, where computer-generated objects (in the form of pocket monsters) are superimposed into the physical environment.

Don’t think that it can only be utilized in gaming, though. AR actually has a lot of applications, especially in marketing.

How AR can help generate leads?

Here are just some of the ways augmented reality can help generate leads:

1.    Allow potential customers to try your product

Time is money, not just for you but for your customers as well. This is the reason why productivity and similar topics are constantly trending in business and self-help circles. Now, imagine wasting not just money, but your time on a product that failed to live up to its promise. Annoying, right?

This is one of the reasons why capturing leads can be so hard these days. No one is willing to waste resources on a product that they don’t know much about.

Fortunately, augmented reality can reduce this friction by allowing you to provide customers a free trial of your product. The best thing about it is you won’t even have to invest in samples and demo giveaways anymore. All you need is to provide your customers access to a digital version of your product.

This is what brands like L’Oreal and Ikea have done in their respective mobile applications. Customers of L’Oreal only need to take a selfie of themselves and they can already check how L’Oreal’s products will look on them. Meanwhile, the Ikea app allows customers to see how their furniture will look in their space with the digital image of the item and their mobile camera.

2.    Guide potential customers around a location

Those who don’t offer actual products like event organizers and tourism companies can offer tours around their space instead.

Augmented reality combined with virtual reality can offer digital tours of physical locations without having the need to bring their customers there. Some companies also allow customers to scan objects and see how they’ll look in a particular space. The latter feature is great for event companies that offer booths and display spaces to their clients.

3.    Provide a unique experience as an opt-in

Do your email campaigns need a little help in attracting new subscribers? Marketing experts swear by providing opt-in perks and freebies that customers will find worthy in exchange for their personal information.

While ebooks, printable worksheets and other digital products can prove effective, why not take your opt-in a little bit further by providing an AR experience instead?

The candy brand, PEZ, is a good example. They have done this by placing a special QR code in their packaging. Scanning it will then take their customers to the various AR games and experiences they’ve prepared beforehand.

4.    Pique people’s interest around your brand

In relation to the previous point, providing AR experiences is a great way to get your brand noticed.

It’s inherent in people to gravitate towards new and trendy things. Whether that’s a new style of clothing or the latest technologies. We also have an innate fear of missing out. In fact, this is the main premise of the “social proof” phenomenon.

Forget about capturing leads – the customers themselves will line up to provide you with their details if you have an irresistible AR experience to offer them in exchange.

As an added bonus, you can also leverage this to generate user-generated content一digital marketing’s equivalent for “word-of-mouth”.

How can AR improve customer satisfaction and experience

There are certainly other ways to utilize this game-changing technology in your business other than the methods we have provided above. Here are a few more ideas on how to use AR, this time focusing on improving customer satisfaction and experience:

• Improve customer service training: Training your customer service staff is easy if you only have a handful of products and services that they should familiarize themselves with. The real challenge begins if you have a wide range of products and services that can exceed an average person’s capacity to learn within a few months of training. Certain products also require actual hands-on experience to understand how it truly works. This is the reason why Lowe’s, the home improvement retailer, uses AR technology to equip their support team with the expertise needed to provide better customer assistance.
• Add value to your products: Maximize your customer’s experience with your products by incorporating AR technology into your packaging. PEZ, as mentioned above, is a good example. The condiment brand, Heinz, is another when they have included a code that their customers can scan to access a collection of recipes that people can try with their classic tomato ketchup.
• Offer interactive user manuals: Finally, you can use AR to lessen the workload of your customer staff altogether by providing interactive user manuals. The car company, Mercedes, for instance, offers an AR-equipped virtual assistant that can scan a part of their vehicle and have its functionality explained. It can also help further diagnose common issues and provide suggestions on how to fix them.

Conclusion

Augmented reality is the future. Don’t let your company fall behind. This technology hasn’t even reached its full potential yet. Think of all its potential applications, not just in capturing leads and improving your marketing campaigns, but also in increasing your customer’s experience and satisfaction.