AR is taking up a presence in a business’s marketing cycles.
“When we get to [the augmented reality] world, a lot of the things we think about as physical objects today, like a TV for displaying an image, will actually just be $1 apps in an AR app store.” — Mark Zuckerberg
If you have Snapchat or Instagram on your phone, you are already using it, but did you know what it was called. Augmented reality, in laymen’s terms, is a technological advancement where digital content is added onto a live camera feed, making that digital content look like it is part of the physical world.
A computerized vision understands the world through the camera feed and allows relevant content to what a user is looking at, and makes it looks realistic. We can see the National Geographic bring dinosaurs to life with an AR experience, and what a pleasure it was to the eyes.
It is not just that even students are taking over distance education with AR. Imagine how good it would be when it is in almost every management. And that dream is more likely going to come true.
Ways B2B Businesses Have Been Using Augmented Reality in Their Marketing
Product Launches
Everything begins with the product or the service. So does the utilization of AR in B2B. You most probably saw it coming. Construction companies make evaluations and test different spacing solutions before buying one.
Another great example of that is Cisco. Cisco launched a product and service catalog that relies entirely on new technology. It included interactive content, through which their customer could interact with products in 3D, rotate them, explore features, and learn about all of the advantages.
Personalization
Personalization is essential when it comes to B2B. Not that much when it comes to B2C. But B2B has the phenomenon of going around becoming a long-term business partner, someone to trust and rely on.
In B2C, a business can always find another relevant customer, but it is a longer and more tedious process in B2B. And this is why personalization has become essential in this industry.
Through AR, it is possible to rearrange every single product to the customer’s environmental needs and make it fit. By this, it can match needs and expectations right where they are.
Training and Trails
Training and trials are part of every B2B purchase, and it will not be a surprise to have some technological advancement here too.
Trial and error though, a commonly followed business activity is not very cheap, and not all businesses can afford to lose. Some manufacturing companies have been using AR in their marketing procedure to skip that loss.
Decreasing the Sales Cycle Span
Shortening a sales cycle is now a trend among B2B marketers, as they have more to focus on. A sales cycle consists of the staff meeting clients multiple times, which costs time and resources.
Now that we saw B2B business using AR in their marketing cycles, we can also find that industry giants are leveraging the technology.
Facebook and Apple are serious about augmented reality. There is no doubt. Here is what they did with augmented reality in their business.
Apple released its ARkit 2.0, an SDK for developing AR apps.
Facebook introduced features where it allows the integration of images, logos, and signs with augmented content.
Challenges of Integrating AR Into Your B2B Marketing Strategy
Of course, you can overcome these challenges, but you must know that they are going to be a barrier waiting to be broken.
Creativity and Expenditure
Every job needs creativity, or it will not work in the right way, and it will turn out to be monotonous. Implementing AR requires a 3D specialist design team to take you a step further. But do not be afraid to take the first few simple starters, giving your marketing a head-start.
Spreading the News
Now, you have already perhaps bought AR into the picture, but do your audiences know that you have? Not everyone will find out if you do not give them clear education and instructions.
At times it is hard to focus on educating the audience on the new technology. But in the end, it is your responsibility to include clear and visible instructions.
Measuring the Results
Implementing AR in marketing is not like an email marketing campaign. It is not easy to measure how your AR implementation is working out. There are very few ways in which you can know if it is doing as expected among your audience.
It is not possible to monitor emotional outcomes when evaluating the effects of AR implementation. But it is always possible to get your numbers through KPIs (key performance indicators), app downloads, and marker scans.
The Bottom Line
The challenges weighed against the benefits that AR brings are comparatively low. A business can benefit a lot more from being subject to constructive changes.
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