In this article we will show you what immersive marketing is, what this technique involves, how to apply immersive marketing to your company, its advantages and some examples to keep you up to date on immersive marketing.
What is it?
Shopping, visiting a museum or traveling to another country is now possible from the sofa of your home. All these experiences are possible thanks to immersive marketing. But it’s not just about teleporting to the place where the events take place.
Thanks to immersive marketing, companies can create a product whose story is also part of the user who plans to buy it. In other words, the customer can be a part of the story from home.
Nowadays, the user cannot be a mere spectator; if he feels out of place, he will turn to the competition. Therefore, it is very important to involve him in all the actions we are carrying out. The story must be the center of the marketing strategy, and with it the user, so the user is not only in contact with the story but can interact with it.
In this way a link is generated between the company and the consumer and he will feel part of the company and that he is important to it. This type of strategy is based on the use of videos, events or experiences in your content. In fact, some of these elements can be multisensory, which increases the feeling of user participation.
In order to carry out this type of experience, it is necessary to have the technology, that tool that nowadays seems to be important in all business sectors. Yes, it may seem difficult to get used to certain tools, but once they are implemented they will make your life easier.
With the stratospheric leap we have made in terms of digitalization with the pandemic, companies already have the necessary systems in place to launch this type of experience. With the confinement we have become accustomed to attending events online, concerts or even buying everything through eCommerces. Companies have adapted to this and have been working hard to create marketing strategies that are more and more innovative and surprising for their users.
The creation of this type of strategy is a challenge and many companies are already trying out this type of marketing. Thanks to this type of practices, users will not go unnoticed in front of our marketing campaigns. Thus, we will avoid the immune effect of advertising. The user will go from being a passive advertising customer to an active one in the company’s stories.
This can be applied in several ways:
Virtual reality
This type of tool may be difficult to achieve for some customers since it is necessary to have virtual reality glasses. But it can be applicable to a tourism company where you want to show a tour through these glasses.
Zoomed reality
Surely this tool is familiar to you as you have seen real time mockups to build your own room. Therefore, it is easy to visualize them using a device such as a cell phone, tablet or computer.
3D projection
Through 3D projection we can visualize certain projects such as the construction of tools or the final product. Thanks to 3D interaction, the public can interact with the products.
Interactive banner
Possibility of interaction with the content framed in the banner.
Intelligent fences
This type of advertising can intercept the undecided user, interact with him and thus, activate purchase scenarios that encourage the purchase of the final product.
As we can see, there are different ways to implement immersive marketing in your company. According to a study conducted by Kaizen Institute, immersive content has experienced a great growth in 2019 thanks to the increase in user participation and the novelty of the experience.
Characteristics
Among the main characteristics of immersive marketing are the following:
- Interaction with the public.
- Involvement of users in the story.
- Open formats.
- Generation of actions among the public.
How to apply it to your company?
The main idea of immersive marketing focuses on involving the user in a different story, i.e. making the user feel that he or she is living a unique experience that can only be carried out with the company.
Therefore, the business must offer a product that is different from the rest and has certain characteristics that make it stand out. Thanks to the creation of a different product or service, the user can feel unique and thus begins the process of consumer loyalty.
A report by Aircards shows that more than 100 million people use augmented reality for shopping. More than 78% of consumers prefer this type of technology for purchasing products. As we can see, this type of marketing is booming, as it is expected to reach 198.000 millions by 2025.
Thanks to this type of products we can increase our engagement in the company. In addition, we can combine the use of social networks with immersive content and thus provide the user with a different content that remains in his memory as a reflection of a successful product.
To carry out this type of strategy it is necessary to follow a series of steps to implement it. Here are the phases you must go through to propose immersive content on social networks to your users:
Start conversations
The first and most important thing is to know your customers. To do this, you must be aware of their interests and needs, respond to their comments, in short, establish a customer-company relationship in which the user feels close to the company.
In addition, it is essential to be aware of the trends that exist among our customers and thus implement it in our business strategy.
Interest
Showing interest is not only about answering comments and providing discounts. For the user to feel close to the company, it is important to ask about their tastes, know their opinion about the products, provide quality content, be creative and innovative and conduct surveys on various topics to get into their minds.
Added value of immersive content
This may be one of the most important points since consumers want relevant content in relation to their interests. To do this, it is advisable to follow the 80/20 rule; 80% of the content should focus on relevant information and 20% talk about the company’s products or services.
In that 20 we can include immersive content that can be put into action to publicize innovative products or services.
CTA
Through the Call To Action we encourage the user to interact with our content, either immersive content or by leaving us your data for subscription or receipt of the newsletter.
Visual content
It is obvious that we live in a visual world, everything that has images or videos will receive a higher engagement. We must try to transmit in the images and videos we share the essence and values of our company.
Influencer
The rise of digital content creators is a reality. Another strategy we can use is to hire influencers to obtain more leads and thus, try to build loyalty. We can encourage the creation of immersive content by using well-known people related to our industry.
Advantages
This type of marketing is experiencing a remarkable increase as more and more users need to feel unique and not just another number among customers. Therefore, this type of strategy can take the consumer to a personalized environment. Here are some of the advantages you will have thanks to immersive content:
- Improved customer experience.
Users will feel that they are important to the company and this results in a better experience during product purchase.
- Personalization.
As we have mentioned, this is one of the great attractions for consumers. The feeling of personalization are some of the elements that users demand the most.
- Reliability towards the brand.
If users feel identified with the company through its values and products, it will become a reference for the user. This can also trigger a greater awareness of the brand thanks to the well-known “word of mouth”.
- Globalization.
Language or time range are some of the limits you may encounter when creating content. But, with images or immersive content you can break them down. Today’s consumers prefer more visual content, so you can create content that is understood anywhere in the world and also have the personalization and differentiation from the rest of the competition with immersive content.
Examples
Here are some examples of immersive marketing to inspire you and get you started in the process:
- Metro de Madrid
For the premiere of the movie Ghostbusters, the subway of this city implanted the sound of a ghost in a subway stop.
- NBA
Due to the pandemic, the lack of public was latent in basketball stadiums. So the NBA created an immersive experience for fans to follow at home and appear on the official courts.
- Pepsi Max
Pepsi installed a marquee on the street that was able to recognize the situation on the street and add strange elements such as a meteorite or a spaceship.
- Sensorium
This project allows users to travel between the ingredients in the fridge. In addition, if headphones are used, we can experience sounds such as cold air or movement.
- IKEA
This Swedish company has been using this type of immersive marketing for years. Thanks to augmented reality, we can see how any piece of furniture would look in our home. For example, we can see how a sofa would look in our living room.
Immersive vs. static content
The interaction with immersive content is much more beneficial for the company because the user is reluctant to static content, the reading of these is not usually total so the content is not given to know in its entirety.
According to a study of Ceros the 33% of the content created is immersive and 56% is static; the desired figure would be 48% and 41% respectively. According to this study some of the most effective elements are:
- 60% calculators.
- 200% data visualization.
- 200% game creation.
- 300% interactive publications.
- Less pdf/ebook.
Despite its benefits and engagement, there are also barriers that immersive content has not yet managed to cross:
- 52% of the respondents do not carry out this content due to the established budget.
- 36% due to lack of skills in the company.
- 23% due to lack of acceptance from business leaders.
Company ideal
In the same study, participants were encouraged to imagine the ideal company that regularly publishes emotional content and connects with users. They were then asked how far their company is from that ideal. Only 16% of participants described their brand as close to the ideal.
As you can see, companies are a long way from reaching their ideal business concept. But immersive marketing can help you achieve it. Despite the barriers you can count on, creativity will always be the star element to succeed.
