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$29.26 billion was spent worldwide on XR in 2022 yet lots of brands are still hesitant to adopt AR. Reason – they are sceptical about AR use cases and ROI. They will look for supportive opportunities and market survey statistics to trust in their investment. It's your job to pitch them the accurate overview.
Today I'll demystify some common myths about augmented reality, especially WebAR and describe the benefits that it can bring to a brand growth strategy.
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Here's a list of some common AR myths I've heard over years
1. AR and VR are the same
2. AR is quite expensive to adopt
3. AR is mostly for gaming and entertainment
4. AR, especially WebAR does not work well in iOS
5. AR is still not very accessible for brand awareness
6. AR is just like a new shiny toy, will fade away very soon
Needless to say that last few years of market adoption, growth and effectiveness have proved all of them pretty wrong. The future trend is not even showing a slowdown.
In what ways users can interact with WebAR campaigns?
This is possibly another common question coming from your potential customers. Make sure that you summarize the benefits to the business.
The below features are related to SLAM based WebAR, one of the most used WebAR feature used.
1. Positioning: Place 3D model with a tap, hold and drag to place it anywhere.
2. Plane Tracking: In horizontal and vertical surfaces – place your 3D seamlessly.
3. Scaling: Scale 3D model larger or smaller with a pinch-in or -out gesture.
4. Rotating: Rotate model by placing two fingers on the screen and moving them in a circular motion.
5. Levitate: Defy gravity and levitate the 3D model with a two-finger upwards-drag.
6. Snapshots: Take cool pictures of your AR experience by tapping camera button.
7. Videos: Make a video recording of your AR experience – hold camera button for a short time.
8. Sharing: Adding Social Share buttons can make users get more engaged to share thier personal AR experience.
9. Call to Action (CTA): Channelize the high enagaged end users to their ultimate goal – to buy the product.
There are many more features when you start considering the other type of WebAR experiences like image-tracking, eye/face/object tracking, geo-location etc.
Our customers are not ready yet to use WebAR
This is another common question, perhaps you have to encounter, while pitching your service. To be honest, this is sort of a way to underestimate the maturity of ordinary people.
End users often use complex tech without having difficulties if they experience fun or better utility. WebAR is no difference.
13 AR facts that can change notion of your customer on how market perceives AR:
1. 5% of AR use will be in retail by 2023
2. 32% of consumers use AR while shopping
3. $29.26B was spent worldwide on XR in 2022
4. 1% of global retailers say they are using AR today
5. 66% of consumers in Japan want offline stores to offer AR
6. 71% of consumers say they would shop more often if they used AR
7. 61% of consumers say they prefer retailers with AR experiences
8. 67% of advertising agencies say they are making more use of AR
9. 39% of AR retailers use AR for the consideration phase
10. >26% of smartphones are ARKit- or ARCore-compatible
11. 70% of consumers 16 to 44 years old are aware of AR
12. 16% of retailers use AR for the sales phase
13. 40% higher conversion rates with AR
Bring relevant AR demo to client pitching
Doing a thorough research on your potential customer business is a good strategy to begin your preparation with. Identify the areas of pain where the business has more potential to grow and WebAR can create an imapct immediately.
Create a demo quickly to showcase how your service can be relevant to the gap. This will strengthen your pitch and increase client confidence to close the deal.
However, at the end of the day, awareness alone can not close a deal. But with right statistics and use case in hand, it is easy to demistify the common myths about WebAR. When people see the truth, it becomes easy for them to say 'yes'.
That is where you start winning in the business!