AR in Marketing Is Here: Here’s What You Need to Know

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Have you tried on sunglasses virtually using your phone app to see if they suit you or not? How about trying on apparel, shoes, or makeup? These are all advances in marketing—the AR marketing!

Augmented Reality is being widely used in marketing nowadays, and it has improved the customer experience to a whole new level. Let’s dive deeper into the concept of AR Marketing, the possibilities, and the future.

Augmented Reality And Its Marketing Influence

AR (Augmented Reality) adds digital content (like images, videos, and experiences) onto the real physical world. You can simply get a glimpse of AR by typing ‘Lion’ in Google search and clicking on 3D. This will show an AR video of a life-sized lion up close in your space. AR merges the real and digital worlds, making our understanding of reality easier. AR in marketing and advertising engages and increases the user experience by making it more personal and fun.

Benefits Of Integrating AR In Marketing

In the field of marketing, AR offers creative solutions to improve customer interactions, promote brand loyalty, and result in real, measurable benefits. Here are some notable benefits:

• Improve Customer Experience

AR delivers customer experience by providing engaging and interactive experiences. Imagine being able to virtually try out sneakers or a specific shade of lipstick. You wouldn’t have to visit a physical store to choose a product. You can just virtually try them on at home in your comfort zone. 

• Boosting Brand Awareness And Recognition

In this age of advertisements and media, AR can make your brand stand out. Each magical experience leaves the customer talking more and more about their experiences, products, and the brand. This will get people talking, and your brand gets promotion!

• Personalized Experiences

Each AR interaction feels personal. With AR, you can try out apparel, footwear, and makeup, and even visualize how a sofa will look in your living room. 

• Advanced Conversion Rates

Product demos and interactive try-ons increase confidence and eliminate confusion as you make purchases. These interactive AR ads will result in more satisfactory experiences and therefore increase the conversion.

• Improved Data Collection and Insights

While you are having fun interactions with the quirky AR campaigns, the brands are gathering information about customer behavior and preferences. The more you share your experiences, and the more people interact, the more insights are gathered on a large scale. These can be used for improving their marketing strategies and solutions, and eventually leading to more satisfied customers and more sales. 

Brands That Nailed AR Marketing

Here are some noteworthy AR brand experiences:

1. Sephora’s Virtual Artist

Sephora’s makeup app helps you try out different makeup products by scanning your face. The Sephora App uses face recognition and AR overlays for this feature. You can experiment with a wide range of eyeshadows, lip colors, false lashes, and so on. This has improved customer confidence and reduced product returns considerably. 

2. AR Movie Posters By AMC Theatres

The AMC Theatres app allows its users to scan 25 movie posters to learn more about the film, behind the scenes, and buying tickets. If the movie tickets are not available yet, they are given an option to save the film and will be alerted once the tickets are on sale. This AR experience increased the app downloads and overall user experience.

3. Taco Bell’s Instagram AR Filter

Taco Bell used an Instagram filter named Cheese Zombie - which can be downloaded from Taco Bell’s Instagram page. This filter lets you transform into a cheese zombie. They added this feature as a part of the campaign that introduced three cheesy products in India, and it was backed up by India’s top comedians. 

4. Netflix X Stranger Things

Netflix made immersive AR experiences and Instagram and Snapchat filters that allowed Stranger Things fans to enter a world of the show. They could enter through a portal and walk through an AR door. This resulted in more people getting to know about the Netflix series and more viewers. 

5. Pepsi Max Bus Shelter Campaign

Pepsi, for their launch of Pepsi Max, used an AR campaign to transform a bus shelter display into a window that displayed fictional scenarios in the real world. The campaign was a huge success, and the sales for Pepsi Max were up to 35% (YoY) in the month the campaign went live. 

AR And Its Future In Marketing

In short, AR is completely altering how businesses interact with their clientele. With their enhanced user experiences, AR campaigns are generating more buzz and thereby driving sales. As a result of ongoing technological developments,  businesses and startups can leverage AR’s potential to lead the market. AR campaigns will be more affordable and less complicated in the future, making them easier to access.

AR is just one part of a larger shift in how brands engage customers—Virtual Reality (VR) is also playing a growing role in immersive marketing experiences. Together, these technologies are reshaping how we shop, explore, and connect with products. For a deeper dive into how companies are using both AR and VR in their campaigns, check out the full blog.

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