If you've ever played Pokemon Go, tried to decorate your home using the IKEA app, used those wacky Snapchat filters or tried different styles of makeup using the L'Oreal app, then you've had a brief encounter with augmented reality. This new technology is changing all aspects of life in a big way.

The advent of AR is also opening the door to richer customer experiences across multiple industries. The global AR market is expected to grow from $6.12 billion in 2021 to $97.76 billion by 2028. 

What is AR（augmented reality）?

Augmented reality is a technology that puts digital information in the real world. This includes sound, images and text. The basic principle is to superimpose these elements in an augmented reality manner as if they were seen through a digital device. Even industry leaders like Apple CEO Tim Cook are excited about AR. During Apple's Q1 2020 earnings call, Cook said: "Rarely has a new technology been seen by both businesses and consumers as critical to them. That's why I think it's going to permeate your life."

6 benefits of AR (augmented reality) for mobile marketers

As with any marketing strategy, there are pros and cons to using augmented reality in marketing. However, AR offers a number of advantages over more traditional marketing methods. By gaining the benefits of AR advertising detailed below, you can gain an edge over your competitors and make a lasting impression on your target market.

Optimize the user experience

Using augmented reality technology in your mobile marketing strategy is a smart way to provide your users with a unique and engaging customer experience. Take IKEA Place for example, which saves users time and effort in figuring out if the product they want is right for their house and gives them a better idea of how it will look in their home. Mobile marketers should consider the ways in which AR can simplify the user experience.

Increase user engagement

By adding augmented reality to your mobile marketing strategy, you can increase user engagement. The interactive nature of augmented reality marketing keeps users coming back. You can also increase engagement by using AR marketing to allow users to try before they buy. For example, much like IKEA, Wayfair allows customers to visualize products in their space and even stand in front of them for an enhanced sense of realism.

Improve user retention

Another benefit of augmented reality marketing interactivity is that users can stay longer. This is useful for spreading brand awareness and increasing monetization opportunities. According to Sara Castellanos of the Wall Street Journal, augmented reality offers "particularly useful data visualization tools because they involve the spatially aware part of the brain, allowing humans to understand complex concepts faster and facilitate greater retention."

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Geolocation and AR to increase sales

Mobile marketers are already using geolocation as a tool, and AR can take it a step further. For example, mobile marketers who use geolocation for augmented reality marketing can help users find stores while making the experience more engaging.

AR offers personalization opportunities

With the right data, augmented reality enables mobile marketers to personalize the experience for potential customers. Personalization can have a significant impact on campaign effectiveness, with 59 percent of shoppers claiming to have purchased a personalized product. In addition, only 18% of mobile apps are personalized, so this is another way to stay ahead of the competition.

Increase brand awareness and brand loyalty

Augmented reality is a great way to spread brand awareness and build brand loyalty. That's because AR experiences are perfect for sharing on social media. Gucci, for example, uses augmented reality in its app, allowing users to try on different shoes.

Apps for success with AR

A well-known example of AR in mobile apps is Pokemon GO. software development company Niantic created this gaming app to allow users to experience augmented reality by exploring their surroundings in real life where they can find and catch Pokemon. The augmented reality game became a global phenomenon, earning $207 million in its first month - more than any other mobile game. In its first three months of release, Pokemon GO was so popular that it accounted for 45 percent of playtime in the top 20 Android games.

Strava, the #1 app for tracking running, biking and hiking, now lets you see your physical activity in AR with "Fitness AR". The app uses Strava's API, collects data, and then generates it through AR viewpoints. It lets you project a map of your path, allowing you to view it from different angles. In addition, lets you check where you've been and explore where you can go next. It also contains lists of different terrains such as Yosemite Valley to inspire you for your next run. You can even take screenshots and record your progress and share it with your friends!

AR in online shopping

Despite the success of shopping via the Internet, there are still many products that cannot be adequately described and displayed through carefully crafted photos and videos. Augmented reality can be of considerable help here.

IKEA, for example, has demonstrated its usefulness with its "Place" app. It allows you to try out digital versions of Swedish furniture directly in your own home. To do this, you can select them from the catalog and move them to the desired location with your finger. This means you can determine whether your favorite armchair really fits in the intended corner of your living room and what the floor lamp looks like next to it. Another example is provided by paint specialist Dulux. You can use its app to make any color you want for the walls in your home. After all, everyone knows how different a color can look when it covers an entire wall.

Since 2016, cosmetics retailer Sephora's "Virtual Artist" tool has been available through its main app, and it remains one of the most ingenious examples of AR in beauty. It uses Modiface technology to scan lips and eyes, then overlays different lip colors, eye shadows, false lashes and more. Sephora's use of augmented reality not only helps users-it also drives sales by engaging Sephora's more tech-savvy consumers and encourages those consumers to become brand ambassadors by recording and sharing their augmented reality experiences online.

Asos' "See My Fit" technology uses augmented reality to "digitally" fit the garment to the model. In addition to allowing Asos to solve a pressing problem - enabling the site to quickly update new inventory on a weekly basis - "See My Fit" also allows shoppers to see how products really look by showing them how they look in different sizes and dimensions. The customer experience is enhanced by showing shoppers what products really look like in different sizes and dimensions. on different body types. In turn, this experience can help drive sales and reduce returns. asos' digital innovation has certainly contributed to its success over the past 18 months, culminating in a 24% increase in revenue for the six months to the end of February 2021.

AR in Instagram, Snapchat & Co.

AR filters" that produce interesting and surprising effects in selfies and other photos are particularly suitable for marketing. Characters from movies, brand mascots or the products themselves can be featured here.

Snapchat explains that a third of its users try out the effect filter, called a "lens," for an average of three minutes a day. Another advantage: users deliberately interact with the ads, often even actively. Then they also voluntarily distribute the results. For example, Netflix created a creepy AR environment for its "Stranger Things" series that users could interact with. The movie "The Hurt Locker 3" offers a variety of hilarious selfie options. Fast food chain Taco Bell used the selfie filter to get 224 million views in just one day. According to various estimates, they spent between $500,000 and $750,000 on it. That's twice as much as a tenth of the price compared to ads in the U.S. Super Bowl media event.

AR for print and outdoor advertising

Last but not least, augmented reality can also be used to enhance static ads in newspapers and magazines as well as posters. Such examples have existed for many years.

Campaigns like Burger King's "Burn That Ad" - where users get a free meal at BK by pointing their smartphones at McDonald's outdoor ads and seeing them "burn" on their phones - are revolutionizing the way brands advertise and advertise their products.

Taco Bell added AR capabilities to their Doritos shell campaign on every Locos Tacos box and soda cup. When users scan the box using the Taco Bell app, they can see Twitter and Facebook content related to the product on their phones. By connecting users with real-time social media content, Taco Bell successfully used AR to foster a stronger sense of community.

In 2014, Pepsi installed AR technology at a bus shelter in London that looked like a lion, UFOs, flying saucers and other objects coming straight at Londoners. A subsequent video about the bus shelter AR technology attracted more than 6 million views on YouTube, making it one of the most viewed ad campaigns on YouTube. Pepsi's campaign highlights the effectiveness of AR when a company truly understands their audience.