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5 basic principles for getting better results from AR marketing

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By David Mather

Before investing in augmented reality (AR), brands must consider some basic principles – and no, QR codes are no longer enough. Zappar’s Dave Mather outlines the rules of engagement for using AR in marketing strategy.

It’s nearly 2023. The metaverse and associated immersive technologies are key talking points in boardrooms across the globe. For many, they represent new and interesting ways to reach and engage younger, more discerning audiences as tried-and-tested marketing channels fail to cut through.

According to Snap’s latest Augmentality Shift report with Ipsos, four out of five brands that use augmented reality (AR) say that it helps to drive sales, acquire new customers, and increase performance. These are all metrics that marketers should care about.

However, many aren’t driving consistent results from the technology. Worse yet, many are still failing to use it at all.

With immersive technologies becoming a mainstay in how we communicate, marketers must start thinking about how they can use AR to increase engagement. Before diving in headfirst, read up on these five key principles.

1. Don’t use AR for AR’s sake

AR is not for everybody. Nor should it be used to ‘tick a box’. Instead, think deeply about the problem you’re solving with AR and how it ties back to your campaign objectives (and wider marketing strategy). If you don’t have a clearly defined objective or measurement of success, don’t do it.

You should be able to communicate the reason you’re using the technology back to the business (or client) before you start thinking about creating any AR solution.

2. Put your audience first

All marketers should be familiar with this rule: put your audience first. This comes down to where they are, who they are, what device they’re likely using, and where they are in the world.

Without this, you can’t use AR effectively. Understanding your audience deeply, and in what context they’ll be consuming your AR experience, is key.

3. Be authentic to your brand

As with any campaign, you want it to embody the essence of your brand, your values, mission, and purpose. It’s no different in AR. In fact, the technology heightens this dimension.

We’re seeing this more with brands entering the metaverse and not necessarily understanding the technology, audience, and purpose (I’m looking at you, Walmart). Make sure your AR experience fits with your brand values, tone of voice and (to reiterate the second rule) your audience.

A great example of this is a campaign we worked on at Zappar for Yorkshire Tea and their ‘Yorkshire Tree’ campaign. The AR experience took their mission to plant one million trees across Kenya and the UK to a new level, immersing users in their story with an interactive AR mini-game that put them in the driving seat, helping them plant the trees.

4. Think engagement, not reach

AR is great for a lot of things: explaining complex concepts, visualizing products in their natural habitats, and delivering greater personalization at scale. However, where it really adds true value is engagement.

It can be as simple as adding a holographic video message in AR within your customer comms from a senior leader, or as complex as creating AR portals into new worlds.

Think about the additional engagement this offers your marketing. Yes, AR is a ton more accessible than 3-4 years ago with the advent of WebAR (3.9bn devices to be precise). Delivering a deeply personal and visceral experience is where you’ll pocket the difference.

The key takeaway here is that people are actively engaging with the AR content you create, more often than not in the real world by physically moving around 3D content. This is a step change from watching a video ad across paid social.

5. Don’t get lazy with your CTA

Don’t forget about your call to action (CTA) and how you’re getting people into your AR experience. A great call to action is simple, direct, and to the point. Remember to communicate the unique value you’re offering your audience clearly and simply.

At the end of the day, it’s a value exchange and people want a return on the time they’re investing in your experience. Please, don’t add a basic ‘scan me’ to your AR; it simply isn’t enough nowadays, and you won’t get people into the content you’ve spent so much time creating.

Get these five principles right and you’ll be well on your way to creating more successful marketing campaigns that put AR front-and-center, driving real business value.

Feature Image Credit: UNIBOA via Unsplash

By David Mather

Sourced from The Drum

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Blockchain lingo made easy: here’s an updated glossary of web3 terms

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By Webb Wright

Whether it’s Meta, a MetaMask or the metaverse, here’s an explanation for many of the most commonly-used web3 terms.

Airdrop. In the crypto world, an airdrop is a free distribution of tokens or coins from a company directly into its users’ or members’ wallets.

Altcoins, or alts, are cryptocurrencies that are relatively new to the market and have relatively low valuations. A conjoining of the words ‘alternative’ and ‘coin,’ the term ‘altcoin’ initially was used to refer to any cryptocurrency that wasn’t Bitcoin.

Augmented reality (AR). A technology that combines elements of virtual reality (VR) with physical reality. In its current form, AR can be facilitated by devices worn over the eyes – such as glasses or goggles – or by a smartphone or computer screen. Pokémon Go is one common example of AR, because it blends virtual information with one’s physical environment.

Avatar. An avatar is a digital rendering of a human being or other entity in VR, a video game, the internet or another virtual space.

Bitcoin is at the time of writing the most valuable cryptocurrency in the world. It was also the world’s very first cryptocurrency, postulated by ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’ (which is typically presumed to be a pseudonym) in a now-famous white paper called ‘A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’ in 2008.

Blockchain. A ‘blockchain’ is a distributed digital ledger that’s used to record transactions. It’s an immutable database, which means that information can’t be tampered with or altered once it’s been recorded. If there’s an error in an entry, then a new, revised entry must be made, and both entries will subsequently be visible on the ledger.

The name comes from the fact that a blockchain stores data in ‘blocks,’ individual units that are linked, or ‘chained,’ together. New data is filed into blocks – and blocks are subsequently chained together – in chronological order, so a blockchain becomes longer and longer as more information is added to it. Each new piece of information is also assigned a timestamp, which makes it easy for users to find out exactly when it was linked to the database. The transparency and immutability of the blockchain makes it a very reliable and trustworthy business resource both for individuals and companies.

Block. A block, the constituent element of a blockchain, is an individual unit in which data is stored.

A bridge, in a web3 context, is a protocol which links blockchain systems together, allowing users from one system to send assets and information to another.

To burn an NFT is effectively to send it into oblivion, the closest thing to destroying it completely. Nothing that’s been coded on the blockchain can be deleted, so anyone who wants to delete (burn) an NFT has to send it to a smart contract that nobody can access.

Centralized system. This is a system that is controlled and organized according to a rigid hierarchical structure. In such a system, power and decision-making authority is concentrated in the hands of a relatively small number of individuals at the top of the hierarchy. Corporations, for example, are centralized systems.

A consensus mechanism is a system that validates transactions and encodes new information on a blockchain. The most common consensus mechanisms are Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Proof-of-Stake (PoS).

Cryptography. A word derived from the Greek ‘kryptos’ meaning ‘hidden’ – this is the process of using mathematics to encode and protect sensitive information from malicious actors.

A crypto winter is a period of steep decline within the cryptocurrency market, resulting in the loss of huge sums of money for some investors.

DAO. A Decentralized Autonomous Organization, colloquially referred to as a ‘DAO,’ is an organization that is controlled by its members and not subject to the authority of any single individual or entity. Unlike a traditional corporation or government, they are completely free of hierarchical, top-down structures. Its codes of conduct are recorded on a blockchain to ensure transparency and decentralization. Participation in a DAO is usually accessed through the acquisition of a digital token.

Dapp. A decentralized application, colloquially called a dapp, is an application constructed on the blockchain. Dapps function autonomously, according to the stipulations in smart contracts. Like any other application on your phone, dapps come with a user interface and are designed to provide some kind of practical utility.

A decentralized system is one that’s controlled in equal measure by each of its constituent parts. Blockchains – the technological framework for web3 – are decentralized, meaning that no single individual, corporation or other entity is able to exert a disproportionate degree of control over how they are constructed and run.

DeFi. Decentralized finance, or DeFi, refers to a financial system built upon the blockchain, and therefore fully distributed and not subject to any centralized authority, such as a bank, government agency or financial management firm.

Digital twin. This is a virtual rendering of a physical object. But a digital twin is more than a mere three-dimensional simulacrum – they’re designed, ideally, to be as dynamic and environment-dependent as the objects they’re imitating. For example, let’s say a team of engineers is making structural improvements to a bridge. They could design a simulation of that bridge, a simple 3D model, which would allow them to make basic measurements and study the overall structure. But that simulation wouldn’t be able to tell them much about how the wind, the traffic or any other number of more subtle environmental factors have been impacting the integrity of the bridge. To study those processes, they might distribute sensors over the bridge in order to create a digital twin. This would allow the team to create a much more informative model.

Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain network built by Vitalik Buterin in 2015. The open-source network is home to its native cryptocurrency, also called Ethereum but more commonly known simply as Ether or ETH (there’s some debate about whether it’s pronounced ‘eth’ or ‘eeth’). The Ethereum platform also gave rise to smart contracts – a subject we’ll dive into another week. As of March, ETH is the second most-valuable cryptocurrency in the world, after Bitcoin.

Extended reality. Also commonly referred to as ‘XR,’ extended reality is a category of multiple technologies – including VR, AR and mixed reality (MR) – which, in various ways, blend virtual worlds with physical reality.

Fiat money. Not to be confused with the car brand, fiat money is a term used to refer to any kind of currency that has been declared legal tender by a government body. (The declaration itself is often called a fiat.) Fiat money isn’t backed by any intrinsically valuable commodity, such as precious metals like gold and silver. Instead, the value of fiat money is determined by the fluctuations of supply and demand. Paper money, like the US dollar, is fiat money.

Fiat money is subject to an economic force called ‘variable supply,’ which means the governing body that issued the fiat can control its value by tweaking a variety of levers, such as the adjustment of interest rates. Cryptocurrency, which is not subject to the authority of any centralized authority, is often positioned as the opposite of fiat money.

“Floor price” refers to the lowest price for which a product or service can sell at an auction. This is a common phrase to encounter on NFT auction platforms, such as OpenSea.

Fungibility. A term used in economics to refer to a commodity that is precisely equal in value and therefore exchangeable with other identical versions of that same commodity. A $1 bill, for example, is fungible, because it can be exchanged for any other $1 bill – they have the same value and therefore, for all intents and purposes, are identical.

Gas. In the context of web3, gas refers to a fee that’s required in order to execute a smart contract or transaction on Ethereum blockchain. Gas, which is often denominated in a very tiny fraction of an ETH called a WEI, is paid to node operators, AKA miners.

“GM,” a common greeting on social media among web3 enthusiasts, means “good morning.”

Gwei. The smallest denomination of the cryptocurrency ETH is called Gwei. 1 ETH is worth 1bn Gwei.

HODL is a common acronym used in the crypto space, which stands for ‘hold on for dear life.’ It’s typically invoked at times when the crypto market is undergoing some dramatic fluctuations and investors are feeling nervous, as in: “Don’t sell just yet, the markets will recover and your investments will bounce back if you just HODL.”

Interoperability, in web3-speak, refers to the ability of multiple blockchains to cooperate and exchange information with one another, enabling virtual assets (such as non-fungible tokens [NFTs]), avatars and other pieces of code to move seamlessly from one platform to another.

IRL. Shorthand for ‘in real life,’ IRL is an acronym commonly used in the web3 space to describe a person, place, thing or event in physical – as opposed to virtual – reality.

Layer 1 (L1) blockchains are the foundations of multi-level blockchain frameworks. They can facilitate transactions without support from other blockchain networks. All layer 1 blockchains – including Bitcoin and Ethereum – offer their own native cryptocurrency as a means of accessing their networks.

Layer 2 (L2) blockchains are built on top of layer 1 blockchains, often enhancing the latter’s performance and expanding its accessibility. Polygon, for example, is a popular layer 2 blockchain that allows users to enjoy the benefits of using the Ethereum network without having to go through that network’s relatively slow transaction speed and costly fees.

Liquidity is a term used in economics to describe the degree to which an asset can be converted into either cash or some other asset.

A main network, or mainnet, is a finalized version of a blockchain that is fully developed and available for public use.

Meatspace refers to the physical world, ie the tangible counterpart to the virtual world of the metaverse. It may not be the most elegant of terms, but it’s been catching on among tech circles.

Meta. Facebook Inc changed its name to Meta (officially Meta Platforms Inc) as part of the company’s pivot toward the metaverse. There are many who mistakenly believe that the metaverse is a technology owned by Meta.

MetaMask is a software built for the Ethereum blockchain that functions as a crypto wallet.

Metaverse. ‘The metaverse’ is not synonymous with ‘web3.’ The former is the virtual landscape that’s accessible via VR technology, whereas the latter is a term that’s commonly used to describe the next evolutionary stage of the internet. ‘Web3’ is inclusive of blockchain, cryptocurrency, the metaverse and other emergent technologies.

Minting is a term used to describe the process of registering a digital asset on the blockchain, thereby turning it into a purchasable NFT. Once an NFT has been minted, given the nature of the blockchain it cannot be altered. Minting NFTs on the blockchain requires a vast amount of energy, which has led many to criticize the blockchain and its proponents.

Mixed reality, or MR, is a technology that, like AR, blends virtual and physical components. Unlike AR, however, MR allows the user to interact with virtual elements in more or less the same way that they would in the real world. Looking through an MR headset at your real, actual dining room table, for example, you might see a virtual potted plant sitting on top of it, which you can then pick up and put down, just as you could with a physical, tangible houseplant.

NFT. A non-fungible token, or NFT, is a collection of data stored on a blockchain that is non-interchangeable – in other words, it can’t be replicated into multiple copies of equal value in the same way that, say, US quarters can be replicated and exchanged with one another. (See definition for ‘fungible’ above.)

NGMI is a popular slang acronym in the NFT space, meaning ‘not gonna make it,’ and used to refer to a campaign or specific token that is unlikely to attain a high value. Its opposite, WGMI – ‘we’re gonna make it’ – is also commonly used.

Off-chain transactions do not take place on a blockchain network, but they can subsequently be incorporated into a blockchain. The parties to off-chain transactions must consent to use an intermediary third-party to validate the transaction. (Note: “Off-chain” can also refer to data that exists separately from the blockchain.)

On-chain transactions are executed, verified and recorded on a blockchain network. Once completed, the record of these transactions is viewable for all members of the associated blockchain network. (Note: “On-chain” can also refer to data that exists on the blockchain.)

P2P. Peer-to-peer, or P2P, is a term used to describe a network of individual computers exchanging information with one another without the oversight of a central server. Management of a P2P network is distributed among its constituent computers.

PAOP. A Proof of Attendance Protocol, or POAP, is a virtual token that serves as evidence – also commonly called a ‘badge’ – that an individual attended, either virtually or IRL, a particular event.

Private key, in crypto-speak, is an alphanumeric code that must be entered by a user in order to access one’s wallet or authorize an exchange of blockchain-based assets or currency.

Proof of Stake, or PoS, is a system for validating transactions and establishing new blocks in the blockchain. It’s a consensus-based mechanism, with each validator’s role in the process being directly proportional to the size of their stake in the cryptocurrency that’s involved in the transaction.

Proof of Work, or PoW, is another system for establishing consensus and building new blocks in the blockchain. A PoW mechanism requires each participant in a cryptographic process to submit proof that they have expended a certain amount of contributory computational effort.

Public key is an alphanumeric code that’s connected with a particular wallet. Analogous to a bank account number, a public key is a code that other users would input to send assets directly into your wallet.

Redpilled is a slang term used to describe a situation in which someone’s worldview – or their perspective on a specific issue – has undergone a sudden and dramatic shift. The phrase refers to the famous red pill from The Matrix film franchise, which basically symbolizes the decision to swallow a hard and uncomfortable truth about oneself or about the nature of reality.

Smart contracts are blockchain-based computer programs that are designed to automatically go into effect as soon as the parties privy to the contract have fulfilled their respective obligations. Once they’ve been coded and their terms have been agreed upon, they become fully automated, which negates the need for any facilitating third party. Because they’re built upon the blockchain, transactions made via smart contracts can be closely monitored – but can’t be tampered with after the fact – by the parties involved.

A test network, or testnet, is a blockchain where developers can test the functionality of new protocols, before activating them on a mainnet.

Tokenomics, a blending of the words ‘token’ and economics, is an umbrella term that refers to all of the various qualities of a virtual currency that can cause its market value to fluctuate.

TradFi is tongue-in-cheek shorthand that some in the crypto community use to refer to ‘traditional finance’ – basically the pre-DeFi paradigm of centralized financial authority, in which governments, banks and other institutions control and regulate currency.

Virtual reality (VR) is a technology that creates three-dimensional, immersive digital environments, wherein visitors can interact with other people (or rather, their avatars) and other elements of the environment. VR technology, though still in its infancy, has been advancing rapidly. Meta’s Oculus Quest headset is an example of a piece of hardware that can transport the wearer to VR worlds.

Wallet. A crypto wallet is an application that stores and protects the keys to blockchain-based assets and accounts. (See definitions for ‘private key’ and ‘public key’ above.)

By Webb Wright

Sourced from The Drum

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AR: what’s next and how can marketers embrace the tech?

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By Marcus Foley

As augmented reality (AR) progresses and technology continues to evolve, Tommy co-founder and chief growth officer Marcus Foley considers how it can be used in new industries.

AR has moved into the mainstream. For some age groups, it’s phenomenally familiar already. It’s still an exciting and fast-moving growth area for the marketing industry, developing at pace. The global AR market is expected to expand with a 40%+ compound annual growth rate in the next six to eight years. It’s allowing brands to create experiences that only a few years ago we couldn’t imagine delivering on a phone to a waiting crowd of millions (or billions – 3.5 billion users globally, as it stands). Even fewer than this many people would be confident enough to pick it up, play, share and create with it. Now we’re delivering hundreds every few months.

Tommy predict where the evolution of AR will take the advertising industry. Image: Lucrezia Carnelos/Unsplash

Tommy predicts where the evolution of AR will take the advertising industry / Lucrezia Carnelos via Unsplash

At Tommy, we spend a lot of time designing, making and geeking out over AR experiences. This is partly driven by being an official partner for TikTok, and working with a considerable number of household name entertainment brands. AR can be a brilliant tool for famous characters and their fans, and we’ll come on to that, but it is also becoming increasingly important for the retail sector – 71% of shoppers recently reported they would shop with a retailer more often if it offered AR.

Why is AR so attractive to shoppers? For the relevant brands, it’s the ease and speed of product trial, which can be mind-blowing these days. Want to try a new hair color? Click, it’s done. You like it? Click, it’s in your basket. Want to see that new sofa, in your chosen fabric, in your lounge? Click, it’s done. It might save two or three trips to the showroom. What has changed is that it’s become easier to deliver on devices without the need for apps, it’s much easier to use and it’s far more convincing, which has opened up the market. This is without talking about the myriad of fashion brands that have tested, trialled or permanently used AR in their purchase journey. Trying on, personalizing, seeing things in your context – these all de-risk the purchase and give customers the confidence to buy.

What else is pushing AR into familiar spaces and sometimes unexpected hands? Social media, of course. What’s interesting about AR in these spaces is that it has become a part of turning the traditional model of influence on its head. In social media, AR is helping everyday people (not brands or celebrities) to tell more immersive, richer stories with unlimited creative possibilities – without a budget or a studio – from their own special effects lab. Where once the technology barriers and costs kept this as a domain for the few, it’s now in the hands of a huge volume of people. With so many individuals and ideas with such powerful tools, it takes storytelling and share ability to a whole new level.

The younger generations are often the instigator, but all generations are being exposed to AR through their peers, friends and family. It might be in photos and videos using lenses, a shared moment playing a game at a family event, or a website where a convenient trial moment is embedded into the customer journey. If you ask them, ‘Do you use AR?’, they would probably say no, but they are part of a growing number of people who are starting to see the blend of digital and physical imagery as being ‘normal.’ Of course, it’s not just Josephine Bloggs putting bunny ears on Granny – it’s also the creators and brands that are intentionally building an audience that is driving expectation and desire for AR too.

So what about them? For one, the entertainment industry loves AR, and albeit from our slightly biased perspective, is doing some amazing work to bring their IP to people in immersive moments that were previously impossible. Combining novel experiences with getting a fan closer to their favourite characters – in many cases appearing as their favourite foe or hero – can go a long way to encourage people to try, create and share. The noise from each major release ripples through feeds and, once again, AR becomes less novelty and more expected. Those who don’t have it become the odd ones out.

AR is no longer a novelty – and the expectation and desire for it is growing. What does this mean for marketers? It means that it’s time to start having a serious think about AR, and to identify if it works for your product and target market. This is not to advocate for the use of technology where it doesn’t fit, but to encourage you to explore, and at least understand, how your customers are using these tools to engage with people, products and places. It’s great fun, and its capacity to inspire and connect people with pure entertainment moments shouldn’t be overlooked. However, it’s more than that – it’s a shift in the way we experience brand and product that is here to stay.

By Marcus Foley

Sourced from The Drum

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How Augmented Reality Will Impact Search Engine Optimization

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By Shane Barker

Augmented reality (AR) is already making waves online. From Rihanna’s sparkly diamond headpiece to Kylie Jenner’s bold lipstick shades, AR filters are all over Instagram. That’s indicative of the trend that AR is gaining popularity.

In fact, a study estimates that there will be approximately 1.7 billion mobile AR users worldwide by 2024. That’s huge, right? With more internet users embracing AR, you can expect users to change the way they browse the internet.

There are big changes coming in the next few years, all of which are likely to impact search engine optimization (SEO). In this post, let’s look at some of the ways the evolving AR landscape is likely to change search engine optimization.

1. Local SEO will become more important.

Local SEO is already a focus area for anyone who wants to get ranked on Google. With AR, you can scan a code via a mobile device and get all the information you need about a business. You can check reviews and ratings and get images.

With apps like Wikitude or Yelp, you can give out location-specific AR experiences. For instance, you can give a special offer to someone who is close to your business’s location.

As a business owner, you’ll have to ensure that all of your business information is updated in local listings to make the most out of the popularity of AR.

2. Immersive digital experiences will become more mainstream.

AR will change the way you design your website. It opens up the possibility of giving users a truly immersive and engaging experience. Such experiences could have a mix of physical as well as virtual elements, and they have varied applications.

IKEA is one of the big brands that has already jumped on the bandwagon. They let customers preview their furniture items within their homes or any other living space. Through their special app, IKEA Place, users can check 3-D renderings of more than 2,000 IKEA products from different angles.

If you are buying a new sofa for your living room but aren’t sure whether it will fit in a corner, you can place it on the app and check. Similarly, fashion brands can offer virtual dressing rooms where customers can try out different outfits. Real estate companies can offer virtual tours for properties they want to sell.

This example is for an app, but there is a chance of such experiences being replicated on websites in the future. With a better user and immersive experience, you can expect to have a positive impact on your SEO. That’s because such elements can increase the overall time spent on a website and reduce the bounce rate.

3. Visual search and interactive content will become widely used.

In their quest to provide a better user experience, Google has included image and voice search features. To further elevate the experience, they are also investing in AR projects like Tango and virtual reality (VR) projects like Daydream. Overall, its vision is to maintain its lead as the most widely used search engine worldwide.

As AR-based content becomes more popular, you can expect it to gain more space in the search engine results pages (SERPs). For forward-thinking businesses, AR should become a part of the overall content marketing strategy.

With multimedia elements like 3-D objects and videos added as a part of the mix, you can expect visual searches to become more mainstream. Eventually, interactive content is also likely to become an integral part of the virtual world. As a content marketer or an entrepreneur, you’ll have to make sure you deliver such immersive experiences and match up to the changing search trends.

4. Social media will impact SEO more.

Everyone already knows that your social media presence has an impact on your SEO. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that AR will likely increase this effect. That’s because AR allows social media companies to provide engaging and immersive experiences that can boost engagement and conversion rates.

For instance, Facebook’s 360-degree videos allowed users to fully immerse themselves in whatever they were watching on their screen. Because of this, you could take a tour of the Louvre in Paris while sitting in your bedroom.

When it comes to AR, this is just the beginning. If you’ve used Snapchat or Instagram, you know how popular their 3-D effects are. You can see social media users get creative and experiment with them to create unique Stories.

Brands have already been using them to market their products and increase their brand awareness. With the increasing popularity of AR, you can expect more social media channels to come up with AR-centric features. That means the impact of AR on your SEO strategy is likely to increase. In a nutshell, AR should be a part of your social media strategy to make sure your SEO strategy works well.

For inspiration, consider the creative AR social media campaign created by Browns Fashion. The luxury retail brand came out with a sparkling AR filter to boost brand awareness. It gained more than 2 million try-ons. Even celebrities like Vanessa Hudgens and Heidi Klum used it on their Instagram profiles.

Augmented reality has the potential to change the way people interact with products and make purchase decisions. It is a technology that can also enable businesses to better understand their audiences and provide better user experiences. If you are looking to level up your SEO strategy, think AR. It’s still a new and fairly unexplored territory, so you can get the early mover advantage, too!

Feature Image Credit: getty

By Shane Barker

Shane Barker is a digital marketing consultant who specializes in sales funnels, targeted traffic and website conversions. Read Shane Barker’s full executive profile here.

Sourced from Forbes

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The Top Digital Trends To Watch In 2022

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By Katy Finneran

The world is more digital now than ever before and that’s sure to last in 2022.

Ninety percent of Americans say the internet has been essential to them during the pandemic. Indeed, basic everyday tasks such as buying groceries, connecting with family, and conducting business have been upended to rely on digital media. The pandemic ignited and expedited digital adoption, the aftermath of which will continue to percolate across all industries for years to come — and marketing is no exception.

The biggest brand victories and failures won’t be won or lost on traditional commercials. They’ll happen on TikTok, Instagram, eSports, and smart speakers. The recommendations consumers trust most won’t come from celebrities on infomercials. They’ll be from nano-influencer on Stories, Reels, and Shorts.

The savviest brands, employers, and users will navigate 2022 using a ‘digital first’ mentality with a focus on monitoring and activating these key trends:

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality  

Virtual and augmented reality were growing trends before the pandemic but quarantine, remote work, and the lasting purgatory between pre-and-post pandemic life accelerated adoption. Need further convincing? The parent company of the world’s largest social network, Facebook, recently changed its name to Meta. That’s short for the metaverse, a virtual world where people socialize, work, and play.  Just this week, Meta launched Horizon Worlds, a free app for socializing in virtual reality, available to users ages 18 and up in the U.S. and Canada.

The metaverse isn’t a new concept, nor is it distinct to Facebook. Back in March, Microsoft announced Mesh, a new mixed-reality platform that allows people in different places to collaborate and share holographic experiences across devices.

Virtual and augmented reality trends extend beyond Big Tech. Consumer brands such as Sephora and Warby Parker adopted augmented reality years ago to make online shopping more experiential and efficient. But Facebook’s big bet on the metaverse gives it new weight and momentum. So, will 2022 be the year B2B marketers crack the meta nut?

Voice Search

Smart speakers saw record growth in 2020, with over 150 million units sold globally. Voice search is poised to continue to grow in the coming years. Why? The biggest reasons are intuitive: it’s easy and hands-free. 71 percent of consumers favour voice-searching to type-searching. Voice shopping is projected to reach $40 billion in 2022 and by 2024, there are projected to be 8.4 billion voice devices across the globe.

There are admittedly technological limitations with voice search, which relies on Natural Language Processing but even so, Google’s speech recognition has a 95% accuracy rate for English searches. Google Voice Search also offers massive global scale, supporting more than 100 languages.

Consumer brands, such as Domino’s, have been active in this space for some time. Back in 2016, Domino’s launched its skill on Amazon Echo, which enables users to order delivery via Echo.

The next phase of winning in voice search will transcend beyond basic speaker skills and into all digital content. In 2022, companies and brands who optimize their websites and content for voice search will drive more traffic to their site and increase their SEO ranking.

eSports

By the end of 2021, the global eSports audience is projected to reach 474 million users, with revenues of nearly $1.1 billion. eSports are on the rise but still in their nascent stage, which means a massive opportunity for those who get it right.

Verizon is well-known for being cutting edge in their digital marketing – and eSports is no exception. In 2020, Verizon became an official partner of League of Legends regional league and earlier this year, Verizon and video game developer Riot Games expanded this partnership with Verizon becoming a partner across League of Legend’s three annual global events.

With evolving pandemic-related regulations on in-person sporting events and large venues, 2022 could be the year eSports adoption and sponsorships go mainstream.

Digital Payment

The more time users spend on digital, the more money they spend on digital. Person-to-person payments had promising growth pre-pandemic and COVID-19 ignited and expedited this trajectory.

In 2020, PayPal volume payment growth was up a record 31% and that’s not slowing any time soon. PayPal projects a similar increase, of about 30%, in 2021. And it’s not just PayPal, payments and social media continue to converge through the rise of other platforms such as Venmo and Zelle. In Q3 2021, Zelle processed $127 billion on 466 million transactions.

Major corporations, small businesses, and everyday users are relying more on digital payments for everything from buying a car to reimbursing a friend for lunch.

Micro-Videos

The rise of TikTok during the pandemic was widely reported. In Q1 2020, TIkTok received 315 million downloads – that’s more quarterly downloads than any app in history but whether TikTok maintains dominance on the micro-video market remains to be seen. After all, Instagram usurped Snapchat in Stories – so will the platform eclipse TikTok in Reels? Time will tell but early metrics are promising. 87% of Gen-Z TikTok users agree that Reels is very similar to TikTok. Reels also receive 22% more engagement than regular video content.

Instagram Reels isn’t the only micro-video format poised for growth in 2022. Take YouTube Shorts, a short-form video experience launched by Google in 2020, for example. The biggest case for YouTube Shorts is their institutional userbase: every month, 2 billion viewers visit YouTube.

Brands who capitalize on this micro-video trend – and seemingly algorithmically favored format — will win in 2022.

Nano-Influencer Marketing

By the end of 2021, influencer marketing is projected to reach $13.8 billion but not all influencers influence equally. Studies show that nano-influencers, those with fewer than 5,000 followers drive the highest engagement rate, followed next by micro-influencers, users with 5,000-20,000 followers. In fact, users with over 1 million followers drive the lowest engagement rate. That’s why 77% of marketers would rather work with micro-influencers than celebrities.

Another perk of nano and micro-influencers is their smaller following typically makes them more affordable. Micro-influencers can activate more targeted, niche audiences and are often considered more authentic and trustworthy by their followers.

To-date, influencer marketing has been most effective for brands targeting Gen-Z but as Gen-Z ages and Millennials, Gen-X, and Boomers all spend more time online, there could be a white space for brands to sway more demographics via influencer marketing.

Privacy Regulation

So, what won’t grow in 2022? Third-party cookies usage.

This year, Google announced Chrome will phase out support for third-party cookies by 2023. Apple launched a pop-up on iPhones that asks users for permission to be tracked by apps and Facebook announced its engineers are working on a workaround to serve relevant ads to users without leveraging personal data.

As Big Tech rolls out these new privacy restrictions, more platforms and regulation are expected to follow suit and the implications could pose serious limitations for advertisers.

**

As platforms, formats, regulations, and the pandemic continue to evolve, adaptability will remain the greatest asset for brands, employers, and users looking to build an effective and resilient digital strategy in 2022.

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images

By Katy Finneran

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn.

I am a digital and social media strategist with experience at a number of industry-leading brands, including Fox News, Bloomberg and Goldman Sachs. I am an expert at running both paid and organic social media campaigns and have advised some of the most preeminent media personalities and business executives on social media. Now, I run a digital media consultancy and am a speaker and writer on the evolving digital landscape. My articles have published on Fox News, Fox Business, Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg Businessweek and Thought Catalog. I’ve also been a guest on Bloomberg Radio. When I’m not analyzing what’s about to break the internet, I enjoy chasing around my two kids.

Sourced from Forbes

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5 Exciting Current and Future Mobile Trends

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By Kingsley Felix

In the early days, people used crude methods to communicate.

However, the evolution of the internet has helped people to communicate even better. At the forefront of this breakthrough is mobile communication.

You can now communicate on the go using your mobile device. Also, people can use their mobile devices to know what is going on around them.

Different mobile trends would have a significant impact on the industry. Some of them are AI Personalisation, Enhanced Security, Cloud Technology, and so forth.

However, this article will focus on five of these trends.

AI Personalisation

Artificial intelligence is the branch of computer science that focuses on machines copying human behaviour to make intelligent decisions.

You need a large amount of data to be able to create an AI system that works. The breakthrough of AI in mobile apps came in 2011 when Apple launched Siri.

The integration of AI into mobile is done using sensors or chat boxes. Top companies use AI as a powerful tool to attract and retain customers.

One of the ways AI is driving mobile app personalisation is through reasoning. Mobile apps that use AI can reason out solutions to the problems of the users.

These solutions come when the machine learns from recurring patterns. Another way AI drive mobile personalisation is through AI-Powered Prediction.

The machine can predict the behaviour of the customer by tracing their history.

Different Form Factors

Mobile devices are getting better in form factor.

Top mobile companies put in a lot of work to produce different phone designs for their users.

Some of these companies are Samsung, Motorola, Apple, and more. In the 1990s, the form factor of mobile phones was the brick-like design.

Then it gradually shifted into “candy bar” designs in the early 2000s.

In the late 1990s, the first-ever mobile phone with the “slider” form factor was launched. This phone gained more popularity when it was used in the popular film — The Matrix.

Also, the flip phone was released in the late 1990s — The Motorola StarTAC. In 2019, Samsung and Huawei showcased their foldable phones.

The foldable form factor means users can now have a larger screen. Interestingly, these phones can still fit into the pockets of users because they are foldable.

Enhanced Security

Many workplaces now use mobile devices to improve the efficiency of work delivery. However, mobile devices pose different threats to the network security of the company.

Some of these threats are unsecured WI-FI, spyware, phishing scams, malicious mobile apps, and so forth. Companies can adopt different security solutions in their processes to combat these threats.

In fact, many online casinos like Platin Casino on Mobile are investing more in security measures to keep their consumer base safe and happy.

Enterprise Mobile Management Platforms is one of the security solutions companies can adopt. It allows the company to manage the real-time activities of employees and spot potential threats.

Email security is another solution. Email is the easiest way hackers can spread malware. To combat this, companies need to install advanced email security tools that will block these threats.

Increased Interest in AR

Another trend that is gaining attention is Augmented Reality technology.

This is because top companies like Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon, and Facebook now use the technology.

Mobile AR saw a major break when Apple and Google launched Apple ARKit 4 and Google ARCore.

The launch of these technologies in 2017 has helped developers to explore the AR market. Android users can use the Google AR Core while iPhone users can use the Apple ARKit 4.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies had to resort to work-from-home.

Also, businesses leveraged AR technologies to help solve the problems of their clients remotely. The AR technology now allows businesses to use Remote Assistance and Virtual Manuals.

IT Technicians can now give solutions to clients’ problems through on-screen directions. However, both parties need to use one app to have the same AR experience.

Increased Dependability on Cloud Technology

Cloud technology is another trend that is getting a buzz from many companies.

The technology allows companies to access files, share software, and house databases from powerful remote servers.

Local machines can access different information from these computers via the internet. Cloud computing provides more flexibility and ease of data management to companies.

Aside from that, it helps companies to reduce the cost of installing physical infrastructures.

Serverless Computing allows companies to develop and run applications in the cloud.

All the maintenance, scaling, and upgrading of the application is done by cloud service providers for a fee.

Cloud Gaming is another cloud technology that is gaining popularity. It helps gamers to enjoy their favourite games directly from the server.

Hybrid Cloud is also a cloud technology that allows companies to share data between their public and private cloud.

Conclusion

All in all, the internet is the bedrock of all these exciting trends. Companies are now embracing mobile communication because of the flexibility it offers.

AI can now be incorporated into mobile using sensors and chat boxes. One of the ways AI is driving mobile app personalisation is through reasoning.

Additionally, another mobile trend is the form factor. Cloud Technology and Augmented Reality are also gaining popularity among users.

With all these exciting trends, we can say mobile technology is here to stay.

Feature Image Credit: fauxels on Pexels.com

By Kingsley Felix

https://kraftysprouts.media

Kingsley Felix, 2 time African Blogger of the year (2015, 2016) is the founder of Krafty Sprouts Media, LLC, a small digital media publishing agency registered in Sheridan, Wyoming, USA. Based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria i make sure things run smoothly and effectively, an enthusiast in tech, animals, health, politics and many more… (yup the real jack of all trade, master of all 😀🤣)

Sourced from TX THE XPLORION

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Augmented reality promises to rescue dying museums – so why don’t visitors want to use it?

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By  & 

Museums are often perceived as dusty cabinets full of dead and ancient things, especially those institutions you’ve never heard of. You know the ones, the neglected pride of county towns that could play a vital cultural and social role but struggle for funding.

For some, technology is the answer, virtually recreating museums and their contents online, or launching fancy augmented reality smartphone apps that overlay videos of the real world with interactive computer-generated content. We certainly see the potential for such apps to make museums more exciting, especially to young people, and have recently been using them to bring dinosaurs to life.

But sadly our experience suggests visitors just aren’t keen on downloading these apps. So is there another way technology can help revitalise musuems and similar attractions?

We are working on a project called PalaeoGo! that explores how museums and parks can be enhanced by augmented reality, 3D digitisation and new search engines. Our first foray with augmented reality was at White Sands National Monument in New Mexico, US, using a smartphone app called Zappar to support research undertaken there.

Using the phone’s camera to scan a code on a notice board or flyer brings forward a 2D computer-generated image superimposed on the phone’s live camera feed. Users can see a troop of mammoths walk over the horizon with the real landscape behind, or have their selfies taken with a mammoth. We’ve since created our own free app that recreates augmented reality dinosaurs and other extinct reptiles and mammals in 3D, without the need to scan a code.

We deployed the mammoth and a T. rex at various events in 2017 and 2018, allowing visitors to pose for selfies. The tech was embraced enthusiastically, not just by children but by older generations as well. We found the sense of technological wonder coupled with a chance to strike a silly pose with an extinct animal really appealed to the visitors.

Mammoth selfies. Matthew Bennett, Author provided

But when we first deployed the app at a museum, in summer 2018 at the Etches Collection on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, it challenged our thinking. In fact, it stopped us dead. When we had staff on site to show people what was possible with our own tablets and phones, the technology had an impact and people were excited to see it in action (although they did not always download the app). But no one engaged when we relied on posters and banners to encourage visitors to download and use the app.

We failed at the first step, not due to a lack of interest in the technology or in the 3D dinosaurs deployed, but due to the fundamental reluctance of visitors to download museum apps. We have since found this experience to be shared by others, such as Skybox Museum, who also struggle to get visitors to download their app deployed at their site in Manchester. In fact, the feedback we’ve received so far suggests that simply getting people to download a museum app, rather than a problem with the underlying technology, is the biggest obstacle to its success.

What makes people download apps?

To find out why, we immersed ourselves in a growing body of consumer-based research on smartphone apps. It turns out that the characteristics of an app are less important when it comes to getting people to download it than whether they trust the makers, and that brand loyalty and familiarity help build this trust. We also know that the potential for social interaction and pure enjoyment are more important than the usefulness or educational value of an app. People want to be entertained, engage with others and are wary of potential risks to their phones and personal data.

So when you’re asked to download an app at the doors of a museum, the default position is to decline. It’s a hard sell, especially if you have children in tow. Promoting the app in advance helps but, even if you overcome this reluctance, people still want a guarantee of fun.

Not enough for a download. Matthew Bennett, Author provided

What’s the answer? Games are an obvious possibility. Which regular museum visitor hasn’t seen a horde of children with clipboards on some form of quest or hunt? Promising a fun game is perhaps the key to getting children to try the augmented reality we know can change a museum experience.

The alternative is to make such resources available without an app, and we are exploring this. One solution might be to enable visitors to access it through their phone’s internet browser or via a standard QR code. Another idea we are trialling is to preload the technology onto a tablet hired like an audio guide at a museum’s entrance. As the software doesn’t need downloading it can be more complex, for example using locational technology such as GPS that can prompt the user to activate the device at a given spot and offer content tailored to their visit. But this would make social interaction and downloading those fun-filled selfies harder.

We believe that technology has much to offer the museums of the future. In fact, we would argue it’s essential to their survival. In particular, mixed reality, a form of enhanced augmented reality where real people and objects are displayed in virtual worlds, has some exciting potential to create immersive, engaging and educational content. But for once, the smartphone may not hold the key.

By 

Professor of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, Bournemouth University

& 

Professor of Data Science, Bournemouth University

Sourced from The Conversation

 

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Harnessing the Benefits of AR and VR Concepts in Brand Marketing

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Sourced from Medium.com

Do you know that engaging with consumers on an emotional level and giving them a real time experience of the product or service on sale has become a cup of tea????

If you own a business organization and wish to market the brand name, keeping behind the other competitors, you better incorporate the Augmented and virtual reality concept in your promotional strategies.

What do you understand by Augmented and Virtual Reality??

In the words of David Tiltman, Warc’s Head of Content, “VR and AR are not new technologies but 2016 saw them really emerge as marketing platforms. A lot of money is now going towards VR in particular as brands seek fresh ways to engage consumers. As the advertising marketplace becomes more cluttered and many people opt out of receiving marketing messages, brand experiences that can cut through are increasingly valuable.”

Six benefits of AR & VR concept in marketing:

> Quality improvement in content and noticeable technology for increased consumer interaction and retention–

You can create outstanding content and engage your consumers on a personal level, something which was never possible earlier on. This will get you an edge in relation to the competitors.

The interactive and well designed content will get your viewers hooked to your application. Informative and creative design will retain your customers as well.

Moreover, you still have chance to harness the benefits of this new concept to surprise your consumers with something that your competitors still lack.

> Augmented reality useful for viral marketing and create brand awareness via social shares–

The ‘word of mouth’ is the very old method of marketing and brand promotion. Interesting and vivid graphical content will not only draw customers and retain them for a longer duration but will also promote your application through ‘word-of-mouth’ and social media sharing.

If you succeed in creating a lasting impression on your initial viewers, then there is a guarantee that the initial viewers will pull in more new viewers by spreading the message through their valuable feedback and social media sharing. The brand awareness of your application is thus established.

> Enables users to truly connect with the published content–

The, otherwise, motionless content of the advertisement becomes live boosted with more information, creating a more personalised impact on the consumers who end up purchasing your application thereby serving your purpose.

> Reduce language barriers–

Nowadays we substitute the lack of face-to-face interaction on the internet with many options (videos, photos, memes, gifs, texts) to create this wish-you-were–here effect. The main purpose of advertisement is to pull in potential customers and retain the existing ones by providing them with ample information and directions about the product. However, language stands to be barrier at times. But this barrier can be easily omitted with proper application of AR and VR technology into your promotional strategies, establishing connections with engrossing graphical representations that is self explanatory as well. Therefore, augmented and virtual reality may remove this last frontier of missing the physical contact with other person. Eg: Theatre in Paris together with Atos and the French start-up Opt invent created the augmented reality solution where theatre-goers were able to see subtitles simultaneously with the theater show. This intersection of cultural events and technology is expected to spill over to other industries as well making them accessible to those who do not speak the language.

> Influences customer buying behavior–

The ultimate purpose of any successful business operation is to sell off your product to the satisfying customers and influence them to turn back again and again to your product. Once potential users have been wowed by the immersive and interactive experience of VR and AR, their expectations from brands will increase. Brands that make use of such technologies creatively will set a new standard of surprise and appear in eyes of their consumers as the first choice.

> Detailed analytic generated for understanding user behavior–

In Plato’s words, ‘‘Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.’’ When these three ingredients get mixed up successfully in marketing, the winning combination is created. Both augmented and virtual reality solutions make use of analytic of the web and social media to understand the consumer buying behavior which is crucial to establish your brand name and earn profit to the maximum.

Summing Up:

According to Digi-Capital fundamental, “Augmented/Virtual Reality Report Q2 2015”, the AR/VR market is going to expand up to $150 billion by 2020. Moreover, the augmented reality has got the lion’s share of the market in $120 billion (VR gets only $30 billion, though)”.

So if you have an application developed in your kitty and wish to earn maximum ROI on it and establishing a strong name for your brand, then AR and VR concept is the perfect option for you to harness.

Sourced from Medium.com

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Augmented Reality Vs Virtual Reality- Benefits drawn from both

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Sourced from Medium.com

Do you often hear the two terms- AR & VR in alteration?? Do they confuse you??

Augmented and Virtual Reality concepts have many utilizing features that can prove beneficial to different operations if successfully incorporated into their framework.

Both AR and VR have the remarkable ability to change the very perception of the world around us. But they differ in the perception of our presence.

What do you understand by AR and VR concepts???

Virtual Reality/VR:

Marxent defines VR as the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment. Unlike traditional user interfaces, VR places the user inside an experience. Instead of viewing a screen in front of them, users are immersed and able to interact with 3D worlds.

Augmented Reality/AR:

Wikipedia gives the definition for AR as a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data.

AR vs VR- The key points of difference:

The key points in which the two above mentioned concepts differ has been jotted down here that will clear the confusion to an extent.

Let us cite an example given in AR vs VR example

‘Virtual Reality enables you to swim with the sharks. You can catch a shark pop out of your business card with Augmented Reality.’–

  • Purpose:

AR concept enhances user experience by adding virtual components such as digital images, graphics, or sensations etc providing a new layer of interaction with the real world.

VR creates a computer generated reality.

  • Delivery Method:

AR concept finds its’ application more in mobile devices such as laptops, smart phones and tablets to change the process of interaction between the real and virtual world.

VR is delivered to the user through a head-mounted, or hand-held controller. This equipment connects people to the virtual reality, and allows them to control and navigate their actions in an environment meant to simulate the real world.

Let us peek into their useful features that can prove beneficial on application:

There is much talk about these two concepts in the recent times. Both have their individual set of advantages and disadvantages. If the concepts can be economically incorporated in different fields, they definitely can come out with sparkling results.

Benefits of Augmented and Virtual Reality in Business:

AR

  1. AR embedded apps and devices can be used to provide high tech training to the employees to increase productivity.
  2. Entrepreneurs can give a vivid and visual interpretation of their products and services to the clients.
  3. Companies can display relevant data of their products in real time to the interested parties.

VR

  1. 3D vision pf the products to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty thereby increasing the company’s profit.
  2. Useful for branding and aggressive marketing for e-commerce companies.
  3. Companies can promote their product or service by a proper blend of photography and technology
  4. Manufacturers can showcase their goods in virtual showrooms without any use of physical space.

Benefits of Augmented and Virtual Reality in Real Estate:

  • Great Visual Engagement-

AR app can showcase your projects to end buyers in 3D.

VR app allows buyers to walk through the site without being physically present there.

  • Mobility-

You can easily reach out to your potential customer to showcase your project the very instant you get a query on your website or app, by going live on their smart phone or any suitable VR device.

  • Extended Reach-
  • Cost Saving-

You can reach more customers, cutting down the traveling and other related costs incurred in drawing more consumers to your business.

Improved Brand Loyalty-

  • Improved Brand Loyalty-

Benefits of Augmented and Virtual Reality in Education:

Do you know Egyptian Temple can be recreated in 3D making it possible to take a stroll around it as a true surround environment without leaving the classroom?

This is one of the few possibility that the modern technology has to offer to the world of education.

In Media Studio has implemented the method of immersive learning in its various educational projects. Students can immerse themselves in a seabed environment to learn marine biology and works with a tablet in which the teacher activates scenarios that students can see through virtual reality glasses. There are no books and all the content is exposed otherwise.

The various tools involved:

  1. Oculus Rift
  2. Tablet 60 Pulgadas
  3. Tele Transport Booth
  4. 3D objects and motion capture
  5. Virtual Learning Environment- AULA Virtual

Summing Up:

This article has given a brief insight in to the multiple applications of AR and VR concept in different fields. To get a real time experience in every aspect of your life, these two concepts can work wonders.

Sourced from Medium.com

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