Digital Transformation — AR for Social Media

How can a business use unique AR content social media to get more leads?

Social media helps us to bridge the distance between our family and friends. It was used to strengthen relationships through communications on the platforms. Before, we used face-to-face meetings to contact and communicate with people. Then, we wrote letters to our distant friends. In 1792, thanks to the invention of the telephone, people can communicate almost instantly from a great distance — it breaks the limitation of time and space.

In the past, businesses need to pay huge amounts of money to get exposed. If you want your business to be seen 100 years ago, you have to purchase a TV, News, radio, or outdoor ads which might cost you a few million dollars. The press was the gatekeeper who had the power to filter out who can be seen and who cannot.

Now, with the power of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and YouTube, authentic and personal messages become the new way of communicating and engaging potential clients.

Here are some of the reason why businesses need to start social media marketing:

1. Start the conversation with your audience: Social media platforms connect people together. No matter where you are, you can always connect to people outside of your area as long as they are on the same social media platform. You can start to deliver your brand messages through social media and people who are interested in your service will start the conversation with you!

2. It is usually free. Even if it is paid, it is still much cheaper compared with the traditional media: It is the best channel for small businesses and startups.

3. Targeted marketing helps businesses promoting their brand and generating leads effectively: For example, Facebook paid ads allow marketers to target specific people on the platforms with different affordable options. Through the data, marketing can understand users’ behaviors and create the campaign according to the best performance.

4. Enhance your SEO ranking: Not only social media attract more traffic to your site but it also improves your SEO ranking. The more people click and share your social media content, the better your SEO will be.

5. Personal messages tailored to your target audience: you can provide great customer service by engaging people on your social media platforms.

Now we know how important a role social media play for businesses. Create interesting content to keep fans interested in engaging with the brand will be our next topic.

Create interesting content on Social Media — Augmented Reality

The rank of engagement from high to low: Augmented Reality Lens> Video > Infographic > Picture > Words

People are sharing over 250 million augmented reality Snaps daily. And according to the Snapchat report, 7 out of 10 users of the platform use AR monthly. By creating fun content such as a 5 minutes game or exciting photo filters, the audience will learn more about your brand and share their experience with their friends which creates more impact.

AR is on-trend now, not only it can help people communicate better but also bring another virtual dimension for people to share their creativity. Since we are living in a digital world and every technology has been powered up and merge together — from 2D to 3D, 4G to 5G, IoT, and smart home integration, we will be living in a world where all the data has been painted in the reality. The new powerful buying generations will be young millennials and Gen Z. The characteristics of the new generations are — adventurous, true to their hearts, innovative, and early adopters. They don’t like being forced to buy anything, lack brand loyalty, and hard to stay focused if things are no longer interested them.

Through the AR lens, the business can not only educate and entertain the users but also “Try the product before purchase it.” With the focus on creating innovative AR Lens, filter, and interactive apps, the business can build not only relationships, sales but also holiday promotions.

If you take Augmented Reality to the next level, AR can also measure the space in reality and place 3D virtual objects in. This feature can also let online shoppers virtually try the products before purchasing, which prevents a lot of returning products and misfitting purchases.

Here are some cool AR marketing campaigns:

1. Panera Bread: Panera Bread launched an ARLens available on which allows you to place your food on the table — allows views to play and share their food. This allows the viewers to learn more about the information on the food.

2. Coca-Cola: Coca-Cola created its marker-based AR app available on the App Store & Google Play. You have to buy a specific Coca-Cola bottle and scan the image to unlock the AR magic.

3. Starbuck: Starbucks created Facebook & Instagram AR Lens to promote holiday drinks. By scanning a promotional cup, you can unlock the special AR effects.

4. Ikea: Ikea created an augmented reality app that allows users to measure and placed the 3D virtual furniture in their homes before purchasing the products.

5. Nike: Nike created an AR app that allows the user to scan their feet and try the virtual shoes before ordering online.

Social media changes the way people communicate and the strategy of brand marketing. Especially for the young generations, the traditional way of producing content will be different from now. In early 2000, everyone was talking about boomers, recently was about millennials, now is about Gen Z. And those 3 generations are really different. I think boomers are hard-working people, traditional mind-setting with discipline. Millennials are the dreamers, love to experiment, and early adopters. Gen Z has mingled the previous 2 characters — Entrepreneur spirits, practical and adventurous.

All the marketing we have currently — boring ads trying to collect clicks is no longer catch young people’s eyeballs. Creative innovative content with advanced technology will be the key to win the game in the future.