Augmented Reality - Time to Get on Board

October 12, 2013

Lisa Apolinski

Lisa Apolinski is a professional speaker, blogger, and digital strategist. With her company, 3DogWrite.com, she works with event managers to get their message to attendees, particularly through digital channels, on and off the show floor.

I am so excited about my lecture on augmented reality (AR) at EventTech in Las Vegas. While preparing, I found some data on AR, which provided some great info, but I wanted to take that a bit further, and analyze the ‘so what’.

Smartphone and tablet sales will increase to 1.2 billion this year, with a prediction of over 2 billion by 2015. Analysis: AR uses smartphones and tablets as the device medium. With more smartphones and tablets showing up on your show floor, you have a much larger pool of attendees who can tap into AR. And if they can tap into that technology, you can bring yet another way of engaging your attendee to your booth.

AR has more impact, with a survey showing participants showing a 33% increase in perceived value. Analysis: Because AR provides more varied content that a consumer can use, and learn, about a product, there is a larger impact on marketing. Also, by bringing technology into the physical world (both print and graphics), and overlapping the two, you are providing a deeper level of content engagement.

Consumers are more likely to buy when exposed to an AR version of a product, with a 135% increase in likelihood to purchase. Analysis: When you provide varied content that your attendee can control and digest at their leisure and as they need, they are able to travel the buyer journey in a much more personalized fashion. This is something we want to have for every experience with a buyer – for them to make it personal. When the buying journey is personal, it can support the marketing and ultimately, the sale.

With AR, you can engage with a wide variety of attendees, impact how the attendee perceives the value of the trade show and products being shown, and increase the likelihood of purchase. Don’t you think it is time to get on board?

If you are ready to learn more, be sure to attend my lecture at EventTech in Las Vegas, on Wednesday Nov. 6 (Augmented Reality at Trade Shows: Separating Myth from Fact).

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