The field of marketing is witnessing a tremendous rise and is trying to incorporate numerous tactics to stay on top. Brands have been using many techniques over all these years but the innovation that is occurring in today’s world, as far as marketing is considered, is beyond our wildest imagination.
Virtual reality is a concept that was limited to entertainment and games earlier. But with the tremendous advancement in technology, it has spread its paws to the field of marketing too. Since many years, VR has played a crucial role in many areas. Let us take a look at what virtual reality marketing is and how it can be a significant advertising medium.
What is Virtual Reality?
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Before straightaway diving into the details of virtual reality marketing, let us know what virtual reality is. Virtual reality is a technology that uses high-performance sensory equipment and computers that are used for the stimulation of bits of the imaginary worlds or the real world.
It enables us to experience environments that are unrealistic. Without even leaving the premises of your home, you can swim with fish, fly a plane or virtually go to any planet you like. The computers enable you to experience things that are not real. As you move around the space, your virtual world moves along with you. It takes the user in a different and a unique dimension.
What is Virtual Reality Marketing?
Brands and consumers can equally have access to the virtual reality technology. With the help of quality headsets powered by advanced smartphones, anyone can get immersed into the exotic world of virtual reality. Any brand with an aim to expand their territory must give virtual reality a go. VR campaigns can provide a massive gain to the organization apart from strengthening the client base.
In order to create an engaging and personalized interaction with consumers, most of the brands these days are experimenting with the use of virtual reality in marketing their products.
How Virtual Reality Can Be a Big Advertising Medium
Even though this concept is not in the mainstream yet, brands are increasingly beginning to take part in VR campaigns to uncover new marketing opportunities.
1. Enhanced Customer Engagement
With the help of VR, the customers are completely immersed and engrossed in an experience that intrigues them at a personal level. VR can be influential at an emotional and mental level due to close virtual contact with reality. The entire concept is highly engaging and has an enormous impact on the whole thinking level of an individual. It brings the brand closer to the consumers and also brings people closer to each other.
The shared experience is what builds new relationships and improves the existing ones. It gives an insight into how the product is going to turn out and whether it is going to work properly or not. A successful virtual reality experience assures the customers that the product is useful to them, thus, increasing the sales and revenue generated. Increased revenue means increased profits for the company and an overall enhancement of the brand and its products.
2. The Programming Of Human Brain
Our brain is programmed in a way that it responds to virtual reality. Virtual reality experiences influence our minds at a deeper level. Total three parts of the brain control our reactions and perceptions: the reptilian brain which is responsible for primitive instincts, the limbic system is responsible for motivation, behavior, and emotions and the neocortex carries out the high-level thought process. Even though the content of your other marketing tactics is outstanding, it is next to impossible to appeal to all the three parts of the brain at the same time.
This being said, there is absolutely no doubt that VR marketing is one of the most effective promotional strategies. By providing your potential clients with an interactive virtual environment that gives a realistic experience, you nudge their brains, thus, prompting them to take some action.
This way, the chances of a positive reaction are increased as the audience are mesmerized owing to the enhanced experience. Instead of just seeing or listening to things, the customers can feel them working. They feel more connected to the brand. This acts as a trigger for reaction.
3. Versatility
Virtual reality can be used in various industries. Since it is a rare thing to use it as a marketing strategy, the brand which adopts this approach to marketing will definitely gain an edge over the others. Tech geeks are already familiar with the magical effect of virtual reality.
They already know the experience that the developers of the game provide. Just like VR is used in the entertainment and the sports industry, it can be easily implemented in various other niches as well. An example is, if you are having registrations done for a particular event, you can let your customers get a peek into the actual thing with the help of virtual reality. The conceptualization of experience can be created via virtual reality with ease.
4. Video Marketing
One of the most successful approaches that have proven their efficiency in the past is video marketing. When a product appeals to the customer base visually, the odds of sales drastically increase. Videos have always been a compelling and influential way to drive traffic to an e-commerce website. Now imagine this excellent strategy providing a 3D experience. Isn’t that amazing? The marketers will face no difficulty at all in illustrating their concepts and provide a better understanding of the product to people.
5. Rapid Growth
Without a doubt, VR is one of the most rapidly evolving technologies in the world. The explosive growth of VR is evident from the sales of VR gadgets that is ever increasing. The unprecedented rise is nothing unexpected. As more and more companies begin to create virtual content, the user base will keep on growing. The number of consumers displaying an interest in the VR gadgets is increasing day by day. Thus, the companies that start investing in providing VR experiences to their audience will be the ones on the top.
Top 3 Examples Showing The Impact Of Virtual Reality:
1. Pokémon Go
The game Pokémon Go took the world by storm in 2016. All you have to do is install the application and it enables you to search for a pokemon in the real world. The characters on the screen could carry out an interaction with your surrounding environment perfectly. With the sudden explosion of the user base, people started to spend more time on the game rather than various social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. It soon became a sensation worldwide and almost anywhere, you could easily spot a person playing this game.
The various businesses began to purchase add spaces to attract more customers to their brand. In exchange for a nominal fee, companies started to see this game as a way of attracting a crowd. This was the first instance that made people realize how huge the impact of virtual reality can be. It is quite unbelievable how a virtual reality game could actually drive real customers to a store or a joint.
2. IKEA
IKEA is a home design company that allows its customers to test the products virtually before they buy them. This home furnishing store has launched an app known as “Ikea Place” that enables people to test how a particular piece of furniture works for them in their own homes. This saves the store the trouble of trying to convince the customers via ads and blogs.
3. Volvo Test Drive
Racing games have always been favorites of gaming geeks. Now imagine the car your game character is driving is the one you are about to purchase and the feel you get while driving is a test drive. Volvo Test Drive has incorporated this feature as a Google Cardboard initiative. You can download the app even if you don’t have Google Cardboard. This move has brought Volvo in the big picture again and has made its services easily accessible.
To Sum Up
All in all, the use of virtual reality in the field of marketing has paved the way for new opportunities. In the past five years, we have seen an entirely new face of the world in the form of VR that we could have never imagined. In this tech-savvy world, the incorporation of VR can entirely revolutionize marketing, and the present situation of brands can improve to a great extent. By embracing virtual reality, you can avail of the benefits that come with an improved customer relationship and engagement.
As companies and brands grab on to this opportunity and a rapidly growing trend, the consumers have been consistently showing their support by encouraging and using the technology. Along with the technology, the user base is also on the rise. It seems as though the technology is serving us well and will continue to do so for years to come.
