Augment, digitalize, and market!
That, my friend, is the contemporary business model of an online business summed up in three words.
The use of augmented and virtual reality begun from digital marketing. But you already know how seamlessly it has seeped into all functions of an online business.
If you are looking for another tool to maximize sales and increase brand awareness, augmented and virtual reality is your best bet.
Why?
Because there’s a 100% chance that all your consumers and potential consumers own mobile devices.
That’s where your business offering should be accessible.
Gone are the days when manufacturers and suppliers dictated the market. Now, consumers are king. If they are tech-savvy, your business has to up its game as well. How? Let’s enlighten you.
To give you context, let’s begin with the basics. What’s augmented reality? It’s the addition of digital elements to a live view. If you’re an avid Snapchat user, you know what’s being talked bout.
Catch that Pikachuuu…It is right there on the road.
Got where I am getting with it?
Do you remember catching those Pokémon’s? Oh, I can’t forget that game ever! It’s another example of augmented reality.
So, what’s virtual reality? Isn’t it the same thing? No. Virtual reality is the creation of a totally simulated experience, fading out the real world around you. It is being used in Healthcare, education, gaming industry, fashion industry and many others.
Now, you know the difference. While augmented reality is just an extension of the physical reality, virtual reality is a replacement. Makes sense, right?
1. Stepping Up Business Presentations
Imagine sitting in a conference room and witnessing flyers, brochures, and typical PowerPoint presentations being presented by salespersons from different vendors.
Now, let’s, add a high point to your day and introduce a salesman bringing in a digital device and showcasing a 360-degree look at his/her offering.
The deal is set, right? Definitely, augmented and virtual reality has the power to lock business to business deals in no time. With such an innovative interaction, customers and vendors can experience the procurement up close and personal.
No wonder customer expectations are rising every day. How will you match them? By realistically improving your systems and services, you might be able to do that without paying a tremendous sales force.
2. Creating Undying Brand Hype
Consumers might forget the product you brought to their table, but they’ll never forget the experience for a lifetime. To create a persona of your brand, why not employ some indirect marketing techniques? Use augmented and virtual reality in this realm as well.
You were using augmented and virtual reality for digital marketing, right? Go deeper into the consumer’s psyche and ingrain your brand indirectly. Throw an augmented reality campaign around and see your competitors taking notes.
To show you how it’s done, let’s take Pepsi’s example. Pepsi hosted a virtual window alongside the bus station wall.
Waiting had never been so fun.
Users witnessed tigers, UFOs, robots, and what not- all in augmented reality.
3. Upping The Branding Game
Are you tired of looking at mainstream business cards and brochures?
Now is time to augment your branding tools by aiding them with a virtual component.
Yes, you heard it right. Now, you can send your branding material on mobile devices with unreal features.
Freeing up from paper materials will be not only aesthetically pleasing but also functionally productive. Now, you can give users more information and avenues to contact you. For example, a scanned card opening up an informational video.
All in all, virtual and augmented reality is your escape from static text to motion business content. Also, your clients don’t have to run for links. Give them everything on their fingertips.
4. Ditching Brick And Mortar Stores
Working with geographically remote clients?
Give them an augmented or virtual tour around your premises. They deserve to have a digital experience around your store.
What’s new?
Clients can click on their favorite area or products for more details or a zoomed-in view. A supplemental AR-enabled piece of content is welcomed in all geographies and all industries. Give it a try!
To see this in action, let’s consider Starbucks’ example. Starbucks arranged a supplement to its physical coffee site in the form of an augmented reality tour. No wonder many other businesses were quick to jump on this bandwagon.
5. Alternating The Free Samples
Isn’t free sampling too mainstream and costly? It’s time you get a new sampling technique for your business. The retail industry is already embracing virtual and augmented reality for this leg of the business.
Clients just love to try on makeup, clothing, and other personal and home care before making the purchase. We all take test drives before buying a car, no? Give your target market a chance to interact with your product before they pay for it.
Why augmented and virtual sampling over tangible ones? Because it saves your finances from going into fitting rooms and other unsuccessful sale attempts. Needless to say, remove sales strategies that cost more than they reap.
6. Marketing On-The-Go
All of us are always running out of time, right?
The same is the case with your target market. They want all of their things on-the-go. With on-the-go food, clothes, and all other business solutions, why leave marketing solutions behind?
Marketing using Facebook, YouTube, and other social media handles is cheaper and more effective. Audiences are more likely to see your communications on mobile devices than any other medium. And communications ideally convert into sales.
Hence, a sales strategy or a marketing campaign is incomplete without a virtual or augmented reality finish to it. This tool has a history of successful branding.
Then, why leave this table unturned?
7. Wave Bye To Stocking And Shelving
Yes, retail therapy has changed forms, and it’s time that your online business also mends its ways. It is now testified via shopper experiences and testimonials that shoppers no longer want to walk down long supermarket trails to find their desirables.
Hence, it is sound to say that you can downsize your inventory levels and find better uses for all that tied-up capital. Instead of buying a large godown and showroom and stuffing it with tons of inventory, just resort to an e-commerce model instead.
Use virtual and augmented reality to list and showcase all your variety online. Let customers browse through the details and variants of all SKUs and choose online. Meet their needs as and when they order. Makes sense?
Fun fact: According to a survey, 71% of shoppers prefer to buy from a business that employs AR.
8. Pioneer Augmented Reality Applications
You must be overwhelmed with augmented and virtual reality applications springing up left, right, and center? This is self-explanatory evidence of online businesses realizing the benefits of augmented and virtual reality.
Convinced, right?
A good example of this is the introduction of augmented reality applications from Facebook. These applications allow individuals to try on products like accessories, watches, and other wearables to see how they look wearing a specific piece.
Who wouldn’t love to do that?
With a simple device camera, these applications work wonders. Buyers are liberated to try on thousands of articles on themselves before making a wise choice. You know how risky it is to buy sunglasses without trying them, right?
9. Advocate Hygiene And Health
The world is more concerned about hygiene than ever before. Your online business should definitely acquire this brand proposition by using digital testers.
How does this work?
You’ll know in a bit.
To visualize this, imagine a makeup kiosk where a tester is being applied to all the interested buyers to ensure that it is their perfect fit. The customers willingly want to model the product on their skin to see if the shade is the right one.
Hence, players like Sephora and L’Oreal are partnering with augmented and virtual reality curators for the provision of digital testers whose applicators don’t need to touch everyone’s skin.
How thoughtful and dreamy is that?
10. Cut Down Non-Value-Adding Fitting Rooms
We all dread the compact and plain trail rooms, don’t we?
Be the change by featuring virtual trial rooms at your store. Because no matter what you do, you just can’t afford to not have on at all.
How would this help? Your customers will no longer have to carry loads of stuff to the room to try and test. You could also save your store staff from doing repetitive and non-value adding tasks like re-shelving the tried articles.
Moreover, customers are no longer limited to the variety available at a particular branch. They can try on products from different branches without having to carry them to a physical fitting store. Augmented reality and virtual reality provide an inter-branch fitting room.
So impressive.
11. Host A Virtual Help Desk
Are your customers information-hungry? Augmented and virtual reality is here to fill their appetite through tailored and detailed information outlets. There are several limitations on a physical helpdesk that can be overcome by digitization.
Let’s consider StubHub- a ticket selling company that lets buyers visualize their seats and stadium-view before choosing. A three-dimensional view of the Super Bowl stadium is only a dream come true for sports lovers.
If you have come across this seat selection process at a cinema or similar venue, you know how challenging this decision is. Make life easier for you and your business clientele. Help them as you care!
12. Augmented Manual Interface
Are you tired of your customers, throwing away your product manuals, and bombarding your customer representatives with questions? Why not try some augmented and virtual reality here? For a cherry on-the-top, pair the manual with an artificially intelligent assistant.
Want to see a living example? Let’s see how Hyundai and Mercedes did it. They made their manual guides so real that it is unreal to witness something so visually interactive. Now, let’s talk about the add-on.
Mercedes also provided an “Ask Mercedes” option along. This feature is the epitome of virtual reality and artificial intelligence. The interface answers all sorts of queries that you might have.
How convenient is that?
13. Engage And Earn
Who doesn’t like having fun?
Anyone, eh?
The same applies to millennials and Gen Zs, who never let go of a fun opportunity. To see your business engagement activities skyrocketing, all you need is the injection of virtual elements.
YouTube content creators can endorse this fact. Many businesses have also made big bucks by offering some virtual reality content on their YouTube channels. But dollar bills are not all! Your campaign is bound to stand out from the crowd.
The comments, critique, and appreciation of virtual reality campaigns keep the conversation going much longer after the campaign ends. Such word of mouth is the kind of boost that your business needs to clear the clutter and win.
14. Meet With Substance
If you are a business owner, there’s no doubt you dread boring meetings. Let’s bring virtual and augmented reality to our meeting rooms as well.
How?
By throwing basic prototypes out of the window.
Usually, meetings are just an exchange of talks with no technical discussion. Having a virtually real prototype set up in the conference room, you can inspect the subject’s minutest details. From a higher-level overview to a component-wise break-up, the attendees can have it all.
Such a close interaction builds trust between the meeting participants that there are information symmetry and full disclosure about what they’re signing up for. With such a solid foundation, there’s more generous room for discussion. This level of professionalism is too high to handle.
Final Word
Before this read, you might have only assumed virtual and augmented reality in fun and games. You now know a whole new front of it in the business arena. Don’t let it go in vain for your online business’s sake.
The decades to come are tough for online businesses. Only innovators will survive. If you are forward-looking, there’s no way you are not investing in this magical space. The early ventures have received promising results. Jump right in and explore all sorts of possibilities.
A business opportunity is knocking your door.
Go and answer.
Here is wishing you a tech-savvy entrepreneurial journey!
