Here’s Why You Need Mobile AR for Your Business

1. AR Delivers Higher Brand Engagement Rates + Increases Sales

Unlike traditional shopping apps, AR apps create a sense of ownership, allowing users to become immersed in a personal, interactive experience. This can help simplify decision making, bringing consumers closer to the product, while providing a more realistic shopping experience from the comfort of their own home.

Inevitably, this leads to higher engagement rates, which, in turn, results in more sales.

A study by a UK creative agency backs this assertion. It found that consumers interacting with AR were more likely to purchase a product than those using a standard shopping app — and that the AR users were also more likely to pay more for the product, too.

You can achieve this result using AR in a number of ways, such as gamifying elements of your product or service, implementing creative storytelling with cylindrical markers, or providing realistic product visualisations for home demos. The possibilities are (almost) endless.

2. AR Helps Your Brand Stand Out As Innovative

Did you know that Augmented Reality tops the list of tech that makes users view a brand as innovative?

Okay, this reason will ultimately lose its sheen as the technology increases in popularity, but for now, at least, it’s still a powerful point of difference.

And not just for B2C businesses — for B2B, too.

We specialise in producing branded AR for bids and presentations, and so we’ve seen the impact it can have first-hand. Walking into a pitch armed with a rich, immersive AR experience can shorten the leap of imagination prospects have to take as they get to grips with an idea or solution.

The very fact a client can interact with something in 3D as they’re sat around a boardroom table can go a long way towards convincing them to give you their business.

3. AR Can Increase Dwell Time

Dwell time is the time spent on an ad, web page, or app by a user.

Generally speaking, the longer the dwell time, the better. It means a user is suitably engaged with your content, and this could lead to any number of ROI-boosting actions, such as sales, lead generation, or social media shares (i.e., word-of-mouth marketing).

Research by AR app company Blippar discovered that marketing campaigns utilising AR enjoy an average dwell time of 75 seconds. Compare that to traditional radio and TV ads, which have an average dwell time of 2.5 seconds, and you’ll soon understand the ability of Augmented Reality to capture and hold an audience’s attention.

Test it yourself: Download our markerless AR demo app on iOS or Android and see how long you end up playing with it. 

4. AR Generates (Well-Timed) Buzz

Social media sites like Instagram and Snapchat remain popular with those aged 18-24, and a huge part of that is in the creative ways users can interact with the platforms and one another.

In particular, AR Face Filters provide endless entertainment, turning users into performers, and in many cases, by extension, into brand advocates. Branded filters are routinely shared across these platforms, increasing exposure and driving up engagement.

And the best part is, these types of features aren’t solely the domain of big-name brands. Our studio utilises the latest markerless face-tracking technology to produce a range of face filter styles and techniques for businesses of all shapes and sizes. These can accommodate gamification, user try-on demos, and digital campaigns.

This means you can react quickly to news stories or major events, piggybacking on the buzz while creatively standing out from the crowd.

5. AR Can Reduce Product Returns

As we touch on in more detail in this post, Augmented Reality apps can bridge the grap between real-world, brick-and-mortar shopping and online shopping experiences. Something that has grown in significance in 2020 thanks to the spread of COVID-19.

Using AR as a fundamental part of your ecommerce app or website provides your customers with a more rounded browsing and buying experience. For example, they can virtually try on clothes or make-up, or view a 360-degree demo of a chair, even “placing” it in their living room to make sure it looks the part.

And this level of detail and insight can go some way towards reducing the number of product returns from online stores, saving you even more money in the long run.

In Summary

We believe these are five solid reasons to introduce AR to your business in 2021.

But here’s one more: AR has a low barrier to entry. Unlike Virtual Reality, which requires more hardware and investment, Augmented Reality simply needs a modern-ish smartphone or tablet.

And with worldwide smartphone users expected to grow to 3.8 billion within the next 12 months, the potential to reach new customers and markets with AR apps and experiences has never been greater.

So, what are you waiting for? Download our free app to sample the magic of AR, browse our portfolio, or get in touch for a chat. 2021 is a big year for AR, and we’re here to help you be part of it.