Why Your Business Needs an Augmented Reality Strategy
Technological advancements are altering the way we narrate stories and altering our perceptions of the world. The augmented reality (AR) phenomenon has evolved from sci-fi movies into real-world technologies. AR is becoming a part of our everyday lives as a result of recent breakthroughs in technology and its growing popularity.
The AR market is projected to expand at a CAGR of 48.6%, from USD 6.12 billion in 2021 to USD 97.76 billion in 2028. That is reason enough to embrace it in your business strategies.
As augmented reality is becoming more ubiquitous, so is its role in various industries and businesses. There are numerous ways to incorporate augmented reality into a marketing strategy for your business.
In this article, we will talk about why your business needs an augmented reality strategy. Using AR will not only help you boost productivity but also help generate more leads.
Why Your Business Needs an Augmented Reality Strategy
When businesses see their rivals embracing new technologies or undergoing technology innovation in general, they often begin doing the same. Clearly, technological transformation is inevitable.
Adopting the changes will help you to thrive in the industry, generate revenue, and enhance profitability.
Here are a few pointers on why you need to adopt AR in your business for its success.
Boost productivity
One of the primary advantages of augmented reality for businesses is increased productivity. AR is a wonderful tool for improving work processes, operations, and workforce training.
Decision-making is simplified because of the 3D visualization and real-time connection to information and resources. This also helps you in simplifying difficult operations, reducing worker stress, and enhancing employee productivity.
Reduce downtime and costs
When you implement augmented reality, you reduce your downtime and costs. In fact, according to recent studies, augmented reality can help you reduce downtime by up to 50%.
Imagine how much time, money, and effort you can save if your staff learns a new skill or information in less than four days using AR, compared to two to three months using conventional ways.
Similarly, if your staff are stuck at a job and require supervision or assistance from an expert, bringing them in on a regular basis can be too expensive. When all necessary information is readily available in the form of AR, your workforce can quickly resolve any problem in comparatively less time.
Early adoption for long term success
Why is it that earlier deployment of AR can result in big success?
When you implement new technologies like AR early on, you have ample time to acquaint yourself with them and use them to strengthen your business operations. This also opens new opportunities to reach out to the younger demographic in a unique way and establish your brand identity.
By the time your opponent learns about and applies this AR to their firm, you will already be ahead of them and have a substantial market share.
Impact of AR on Various Industries and Businesses
Augmented reality technology has aided entrepreneurs in addressing core obstacles and increasing profits in various businesses and industries. The following are some of the businesses that are using augmented reality and benefiting from it in their business.
Entertainment
With the emergence of augmented reality, one of the businesses that have been profiting impeccably is the Entertainment industry. This technology has impacted several aspects of the industry, including music, live shows, and movies.
For example, AR technology enables audiences to witness extinct creatures like dinosaurs in the real world.
Military
The application of augmented reality is transforming the military sector. Soldiers can use AR technology to prepare for war, explosive disposal, and more without risking their lives. AR gives better navigation assistance to them, even in the dark, by adding labels to the real-world scene.
Healthcare
The importance of augmented reality in creating medical and healthcare apps is astounding. This technology is providing healthcare workers, and medical students, with a new and better way of learning and practicing.
Doctors can better grasp symptoms and diagnoses with AR technology, resulting in better outcomes.
AccuVein, for example, uses a portable scanner to project a vein map onto a patient’s skin, allowing nurses and healthcare providers to pinpoint the specific position of veins. This cuts down on treatment time, makes the surgery less uncomfortable, and increases patient satisfaction.
Shopping
When it comes to shopping, AR technology has certainly paved the path for greater success. Augmented reality allows users to interact with a 3D representation of the product. They can move around things, allowing them to customize the look of their home, and see whether a product looks nice enough to buy it.
Examples of augmented reality in the real estate sector are IKEA Place and Curate.
Manufacturing and Supply Chain
People in the production and supply chain management fields are frequently preoccupied with finding the correct location of required equipment. This wastes a lot of time, which delays operations.
AR can assist them in locating an object by putting virtual tags on it and viewing the 3D image of each. This makes navigation easier. Thus, AR helps streamline the procedure and save time.
Education and Training
With the introduction of augmented reality, another industry is undergoing revolutionary changes: education and training.
Students and teachers have benefited from using augmented reality technology in the classroom. AR technology allows students to view a 3D model of an object and see how the entire concept works right in front of their eyes.
It gives them a 360-degree view of the concepts, which piques their interest, prompts new questions, and leads to increased application of the principles.
Social Media
Augmented reality is also changing the way people connect on social media. You may use the technology to apply entertaining AR filters to your posts.
Social media sites like Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram currently allow you to add augmented reality features to your content and share it with your friends.
How is AR being used in businesses?
Augmented reality’s applications are expanding daily. AR business options are becoming much more accessible in a short period of time. Let’s look at some of the most effective ways for a business to use AR technology.
Creating an AR version of a user manual
Classic instruction manuals take on a whole new appearance thanks to AR user guides. An augmented reality user guide takes an internet reference manual to the next level by using ar technology to overlay text and graphics to deliver interactive guidance to the user.
These technologies overlay a computer-generated image over a user’s perspective of the actual world, providing an immersive experience that aids in understanding instructions or demos.
AR provides an excellent digital interface that visually shows the product during preliminary setup, troubleshooting, configuration, routine maintenance, or to demonstrate necessary operation. It offers an immersive experience that allows users to feel self-reliant, emboldened, and in charge, which leads to a favorable customer experience.
AR business cards
You’ve arrived for a business networking event. You give someone your business card. They keep it in their collection of business cards. They don’t contact you again. Repeat.
Is this something you’ve heard before?
It’s tough to recall who was who, what they do, and how the relationship may help them, if at all when an individual is given lots of cards.
It’s not just the ‘wow’ factor. With its practicality and ease, an augmented reality business card is an excellent answer to this problem. You may stand out from the crowd and make it simple for the other person to learn more about you by using an augmented reality business card.
Employee onboarding and training
Through hands-on interactions, AR enhances standard onboarding by making it more interesting for trainees. Text, photos, video, and 3D models are superimposed on the actual environment using augmented reality (AR). Learners can use digital learning resources to accomplish genuine, hands-on experiences once they’ve been set.
How can you incorporate AR into your Business?
Let us guide you with a roadmap to follow while incorporating AR into your business.
Extensive market research
Rather than succumbing to the hype, it is necessary to go deeper into your business industry and comprehend the potential of technology. You must invest time and effort in augmented reality market research.
You should do a competition analysis to determine what AR may be used for, what its future holds, and how the innovation has enabled them to develop a new image in the industry.
Examining internal challenges faced by your business
While learning about how others are profiting from AR, it is critical to recognize the boundaries of your current business processes. This entails investigating the various sectors of your organization and getting particular teams on board to gain a comprehensive understanding of the difficulties they face.
Later, go over how to create augmented reality applications for Android or iOS.
Hiring an AR expert
After assessing the problem and the potential results of incorporating AR into the company, the following step is to find the proper AR specialist. When integrated into your business processes, AR will help you stand out from the pack, engage your audience, and produce increased revenue.
Conclusion
That’s all for this article. Hopefully, the benefits of augmented reality in business strategy have motivated you to integrate it into yours as well.
Businesses need to be aware of what is going on in their industry. Augmented reality isn’t a passing fad or a publicity stunt. It is here to stay. AR is affecting businesses all over the world as it becomes more mainstream, giving those who use it a strategic advantage.