By Andrew Young, Founder and Director of The Pulse Rooms
For years, the tech world has been abuzz with excitement over the possibilities of immersive technologies, such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). From visualising furniture in your home to guiding surgeons through complex procedures.
Businesses of all shapes and sizes are now starting to sit up and pay attention to the applications as they seek new and novel ways to interact with their customers. At The Pulse Rooms, we design and develop immersive experiences that enhance your marketing strategy, leading to enhanced customer engagement, improved dwell times, and ultimately increased sales.
The benefits of integrating immersive technologies into your marketing strategy can be endless, but here are a few for starters.
Turn marketing materials from dull to dynamic
Unlike traditional marketing materials, which are usually text-heavy, AR can take essential information and create a highly visual and interactive experience for your customers. Imagine you’re preparing to launch a new product. Rather than sending out a lengthy brochure, why not enable your customers to view and interact with a digital replica of the product in their own homes or places of work? With the push of a button, customers worldwide can get instant access to an immersive product demonstration with an additional wow factor. Automotive manufacturers are ahead of the game, allowing people to place and customise life-sized versions of the latest model on their driveway.
Deliver engaging product demonstrations that drive sales
In the digital age, businesses must work even harder to capture people’s attention and drive them to take action. Particularly when it comes to exhibiting products at industry-specific events and expos. Immersive technologies like AR and VR are powerful tools to integrate into your stand. They not only grab people’s attention but also maximise your footprint. For businesses with physical products to show, it can be challenging to fit more than one or two on a standard exhibition stand. AR and VR can be used to easily deliver multiple product demonstrations in one go, reducing the costs and risks associated with transportation, for example. Prospective customers can quickly customise products to meet their needs, see key internal components at work through visual animations, and place their orders in one seamless process. All of these aspects can help to shorten the sales cycle.
Reward customers and improve dwell times with gamification
Kids and adults alike play games. Using game design elements within your immersive experiences can increase the amount of time a prospective customer spends engaging with your brand and your products. If done correctly, it can also boost your conversion rates as customers are more likely to respond to your call to action. Challenges, leaderboards, and rewards are simple and effective ways to gamify your content and win more sales. Top brands like Nike, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola all apply this principle.
Capture customer data to inform future business decision-making
AR and VR experiences can run across both mobile applications and web browsers. This means capturing insightful customer data that can inform future marketing campaigns or product design is even easier. Track how long a customer looks at a specific product feature through heatmaps or monitor individual user journeys across your 3D environment.
