Augmented Reality in Digital Marketing

 

You might have seen the movie “They Live” released on the year 1989. The thespian discovers eyewear, allowing him to see aliens in the real world. The writer and director of the movie had shown augmented reality through assumptions but didn’t know that will be possible soon. We all are living in a technologically advanced era, where AR brings a drastic change in the way users to feel, engage, and interact with the products or services. Technology is removing the word inefficiency from humankind and this article is all about the importance of Augmented Reality in this modern world.

What is Augmented Reality?

Electronic gadgets enhancing overlaying visuals using digital elements onto the real world is known as augmented reality. Augmented Reality gives an interactive experience to users. It is not a machine rather it’s a technology that helps the human brain to do things better. Companies use augmented reality to promote products and services by giving the best user experience through the internet. Now I will take you through the importance of AR in E-Commerce.

How can Augmented Reality increase sales in E-Commerce?

In this modern era, we all prefer online shopping.

What are the questions which will arise before you buy a product?

 Will this furniture fit my living area? Does this eyewear suit me?

Furniture, footwear, eyewear, clothes are some examples where you prefer to try and experience before you make a purchase. Augmented reality eliminates these confusions and gives a real user experience through overlaying visuals in the real world.

You might have used Lenskart to buy eyeglasses online. Lenskart application has an AR feature that enables the user to upload a photo or use a camera directly to check whether the eyeglass suits you in real life.

Image Source: "Lens kart"

Augmented Reality gives a real experience through the internet and this increases the purchasing desire of consumers. Even a consumer who views a product by chance may even tend to buy the product online because of the influence of AR. So, AR plays a crucial role and that’s the reason why you should integrate AR into your E-Commerce business. Now we would go through AR Reshaping Mobile Marketing.

Augmented Reality Reshaping Mobile Marketing.

Mobile allows the user to carry AR and use it on the go. Big companies like Samsung, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon are working on prototypes of AR integrated products. Companies know that the next big revolution in electronic devices would be AR.

One successful AR tool in mobile as an example would be Google Lens. Using Google Lens, you can search what you see in real life. Samsung has AR applications like AR Zone, which allows users to create AR Doodles and Emojis. Here are the 10 most Augmented Reality apps for Android and IOS. Houzz, Ikea Place, You Cam Makeup, Giphy World, Google Lens, Augment, Roar, Amikasa, Snapchat, and Wanna Kicks. Various AR platforms are available in the market. We all spend time on mobile for Videos, How-to Guides, Case studies, Infographics, E-books, Listicles, and many more.  We spend time on these contents to get information. Information from the internet helps to improve many aspects of life. Now a person’s day itself starts with the mobile and internet. Integrating AR into mobile would enhance the content by bringing the topics in your blogs, videos, or images with an engaging experience. It builds a strong relationship between the content viewer and the product. AR gives an extra dimension with engaging experience in the real world. Since mobile users are increasing daily, integrating AR into mobile digital marketing would be a great idea.

Augmented Reality and Innovative Marketing.

The augmented reality market size valuation was USD 17.67 for the year 2020. A forecast for a compound annual growth rate of 43.8% is expected from 2021 to 2028. Implementing AR in digital marketing would give the privilege to stand out from the competitors. A good engagement through AR would convert a viewer to the consumer by buying the product. AR has the power to convert the hectic sales process into an easy one. Detailing the product through AR with a 360-degree view and specification would turn the remarketed audience to consumers.

Apps like Yelp and Wikitude already integrated AR to give search results along with geolocation. These apps even provide reviews of the products or services. This means Consumers can use AR to search your business online. So optimize your website and make sure you are available on popular directories for local listings and daily users.

Just Assume a person pointing his mobile to your business to find a review or details about your business. To get accurate results we should make our business and website optimized under SEO. This helps rank your business and provide relevant details to the users through these services.

Uses of AR in digital marketing are:

·       Good Customer engagement through your website would increase traffic and sales.

·       Online users will get a virtual experience and satisfaction through AR

·       Printed ads and normal marketing techniques can be converted into AR integrated digital marketing.

·       Integrating AR into Digital Marketing makes the stressful sales process easy.

·       Geotagging through AR helps to find shop locations.

·       Allowing potential customers to personalize products through mobile AR will increase business.

·       Real-life experience through AR would increase loyalty and brand awareness among consumers.

Conclusion

To conclude AR is the future for small- and large-scale businesses. To be successful integrate AR into Digital Marketing and your business to be innovative among competitors. Integrating AR would make you successful and give users a new experience level in purchasing your product online.

 

Why and how you should integrate UX User Experience into product development?

 

Why User Experience for Product Development?

A user experience is how an individual interacts through the utility, easiness, and efficiency of a product. The creation of a product relies on User Experience. Data on User Experience lead to innovative ideas which create a new product. Data from the public ensure the right product development towards the targeted users. So, for a successful product, User Experience plays a crucial role in development.

Likewise, how can a company integrate User Experience into product development?

This paragraph will introduce the five most important techniques to integrate user experience into product development. User Experience has become a new playground for Companies. Ensuring a Great User Experience is the major step in Product Development. The techniques used are as follows:

1.       User Research

2.       Personas

3.       User Experience Canvases

4.       User Experience Designs

5.       Wireframes

User Research:

Firstly, a Product originates by considering the user’s needs. There shouldn’t be any assumptions about lifestyle, interests, or demographical features. User research collects data from target users through a structured process. Moreover, User Research data confirm the product you develop meets the needs and expectations of end consumers.

User Research splits into two subsets:

1.       Qualitative Research

2.       Quantitative Research

Qualitative Research

This research use interview techniques. They use open-ended questions to understand the behavior and stress level of users while using the product. In addition, this research uses a small group of users to find their shopping habits. Qualitative research needs greater care since it collects opinions from users rather than numerical data.

Quantitative Research

This research focuses on a larger group and uses online surveys to gather information. Quantitative Research helps to identify the patterns and trends among users. In Addition, it helps statically reliable way to access targeted user groups. We will get good objective and unbiased data with much care and precise data collection.

Further, I will take you through how Interviews and surveys are done.

 Interviews and surveys

The best way to collect user experience data is to conduct interviews and surveys. It seems like a lot of work but it’s simple. First, we need to sort the respondents. Then use social media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn for interviews and surveys.

For Instance, you are developing an online shopping application. Social media platforms, help you find people in shopping groups who are interested in shopping apps. After that, you need to contact them and invite them for an interview or survey. Since this is online you can give them vouchers or freebies to gather enough participants. In other words, you will gather information and gain a few customers as well. You can use Qualaroo, Hotjar Polls, or Intercom as a platform to conduct interviews and surveys.

Above all always prepare the right interview questions focusing on users’ expectations, needs, and problems. This gives an insight into what users want, what they achieve, and what problems can occur along the way.

Most Importantly follow the tips while preparing the questions:

·       Interview and Survey should not take more than 15 minutes. Lengthy ones will be boring for the participants. In addition, participants should understand the reason for the survey.

·       Prepare questions as if you are directly asking the participants. This helps to avoid off-the-topic questions.

·       Always choose open-ended and close-ended questions to understand the user’s needs.

·       Give options in a way to understand what users expect from your product.

Personas:

Personas are fictional user creations based on real-life users’ data collected through research. This helps to represent the different user types who similarly use the product. In Addition, personas data include behavior, goals, needs, and experiences of users. Data shouldn’t be prepared out of assumptions. User Experience design personas should consider empathy with target users. Personas help the company to understand the user’s personalities, traits, interests, and needs.

Tips for Effective Personas:

1.       Collect detailed data from targeted users.

2.       Differentiate the users based on their expectations about the product.

3.       Prepare a hypothesis based on the differences and qualities of different users.

4.       Data should be from multiple sources but focus only on the creation of a single persona

5.       Explain the situation or scenario why the consumer needs your product

In addition, here are some uses of Personas in Design Projects:

1.       Should reflect a consumer’s behavioral pattern, needs, skill set, and goals toward the product.

2.       Should include what consumer achieves by a product through the design. This helps to create a unique product from competitors.

3.       Should include day-to-day life approach showing how a product performs among consumers addressing their needs.

4.       Should include the challenges faced by consumers to improve the quality of the product.

To Conclude always prepare Personas from the targeted user’s point of view.

UX Canvases:

The key to conversion is by relating the targeted user needs to the developing product.  UX Canvases helps to document all your problems like a business model. There are different types of canvases available. However, it’s better to use User-Centered Design canvases from a popular business model.

User-Centered Canvas has 9 different sections. The left-hand side focuses on their needs, problems, fears, and challenges faced by the users. The right side focuses on the new product solutions for the targeted users. User-Centered Canvas help in the initial hypothesis and helps in the final decision.

Creating canvases helps to gather all the different data on a single page which helps the developers to refer with ease. Since all the challenges are on a single page it’s easy to come up with solutions for the product.

Benefits of UX Canvases:

1.       The UX Canvases gives an idea for the team to start user-centric conversations

2.       It gives data to the team about why and what problems they are solving for the new product

3.       UX Canvases gives more clarity for the new product development design

4.       It gives an idea about the current position of the product development and areas which require more clarifications.

Above all, The UX Canvases are an excellent tool for the research, planning, and discovery phase of a project. Filling the data on UX Canvases will give clarity about assumptions and would give practical ideas for product development.

User Experience Designs:

User Experience Design is a process where a team designs a product that gives relevant experience to users. The entire process of creation includes design, usability, branding, fun, and pleasure in user experience and functions. User Experience Design is a process that happens even before a product arrives in the user’s hand.

Moreover, User Experience Design focuses on three factors why what, and how a product is used. “Why” relates to why a user should buy the product for daily uses and the values a user achieves. “What” refers to what functionality a user can access with the product? “How” refers to how the demands of a user are achieved with the product. Likewise, for software development make sure that the software has a seamless experience through an existing device.

In addition, the main goal of User Experience Design include:

1.       Understand the use and needs of the product among users.

2.       Specify in detail the user requirements

3.       Design the product with solutions

4.       Evaluate and rank against requirements.

Wireframes:

Wireframes help the experts to come to an overview of the developing product. It helps to map the flow of possible design solutions based on user data. These conclusions or overview gives an insight regarding business and user needs. The wireframes help the board members to decide on the prototype for user-focused products. Good Wireframes are the backbones for greater products. This would guide the company on how the solutions would reach the targeted users. A good Wireframe would have a realistic, easy layout so anyone can understand the worthiness or concepts for the developing product.

In other words, Wireframes are an art where the structure should easily reveal the company solutions. This enables the experts to give feedback based on wireframes.

To sum up, here are a few tips to prepare a wireframe:

1.       Concentrate on usefulness, availability, layout, and format to make an easier design for use, produce and sell.

2.       Structure the data on a hierarchy that helps the company to understand the information easily.

3.       Each page should have proper headings, links, and images which makes it easy to understand.

4.       Optimized wireframes give a better view across all displays of different devices.

5.       Always maintain clean and understandable wireframes

Conclusion:

Understanding and integrating user experience would help to group the targeted users. To achieve a high conversion rate always integrate user experience into product development. To conclude, a product’s success depends on integrating the user experience from the initial stage of development.

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