Introduction to Virtual Reality Marketing
Video is all the trend in marketing nowadays. If it’s not a brief clip that literally makes you laugh out loud, it’s an interesting video that highlights specific features of the newest and best gadgets to grace the markets. In this rapidly evolving ecosystem, one thing is definite: People are tuning in and watching videos more so than ever before. Not content to easily read or stare at a screen with no motion, they’re opting to devour content that’s more engaging than text or static images. They’re finding that videos are a far more entertaining type of content that may actually capture their attention and keep it.
What is Virtual Reality Marketing?
Virtual reality in marketing – whether it’s true virtual reality promoting or creative 360° videos – is growing at a rapid pace, together with the software and hardware that’s giving it life. For example, the market size of virtual reality hardware and software is projected to extend from $2.2 billion in 2017 to greater than $19 billion by 2020. An identical forecast puts revenues from the worldwide virtual reality market at $21.5 billion by that point. Likewise, despite the fact that there have been only 0.6 million VR headsets in use in 2014, that number jumped to twenty-eight.1 million in 2019, and is predicted to succeed in 32 million by 2020.
Benefits of Virtual Reality Marketing
Virtual reality is a ticket for higher video counts and longer watch times due to its ability to move the user to a complete other world, one populated by anything the imagination can conjure. As soon as a headset is placed in position, anticipation begins and continues to accumulate until the primary pixel is illuminated. When that happens, your users are hooked until the tip; you’ve got them on the road and might convey your message with the very best likelihood of success. Along similar lines, augmented reality in marketing also comes with the identical advantages as VR, albeit achieved through a rather different approach.
Best Examples of Virtual Reality Marketing
To see the true impact of virtual reality on video marketing, we’re going to show to real-world examples of VR and 360° video trends, and the brands using them.
The New York Times
The New York Times took virtual reality marketing to the subsequent level once they decided to ship out Google Cardboard glasses to their subscribers so that they could benefit from the release of their eighth VR production: Seeking Pluto’s Frigid Heart. In doing so, not only did they increase engagement with an interesting movie anyone can enjoy, but by only sending out the glasses to their most loyal digital customers, they increased brand loyalty as well.
Merrell
When Merrell was going to launch their line of Capra mountain climbing boots, they opted to achieve this by pairing it with Trailscape, an Oculus Rift VR experience that included walking on different surfaces and obstacles like rock slides. This immersive experience originally premiered at Sundance, which functioned as a cool cross promotion that greatly increased brand remembrance.
School of Rock
To promote the discharge of his then-upcoming Broadway musical, School of Rock, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber released a 360° interactive music video for the song, “You’re In The Band.” With features from the solid of the production and inside jokes that included drawings of characters from Cats and The Phantom of the Opera on the blackboard, the video went above and beyond with engagement and think about counts.
How to Market Virtual Reality for Your Brand
Like we just saw with the brands using 360° video or full-on VR video marketing, virtual reality is a beneficial tool your brand can use to bolster its strategy and really make a splash. The key with VR video marketing is definitely providing something of use on your audience. That is to say, don’t just produce a virtual reality video simply to do it, do it with a purpose and a goal in mind. For instance, The New York Times desired to reward their loyal customers and introduce them to a brand new type of storytelling; Merrell wanted to indicate their users the kinds of situations their shoes would come in useful; and the people behind School of Rock desired to bring attention to it with a brand new type of music video that functioned as a trailer and attracted a number of attention.
Conclusion
Virtual reality shouldn’t be a brand new technology, but its use in marketing is comparatively latest. Whereas a traditional video reinforces your role as a spectator, virtual reality places you in the combo, right where the motion is going down. Whether it’s full immersion into an actual virtual reality, or the numerous advantages that 360° video engagement brings, VR is becoming a well-liked marketing tool brands across the board are turning to in an effort to capture their audience’s attention for the long haul and foster loyalty so that they keep coming back.
About the Author
Matthew J. Fritschle is a content author for Aumcore, a digital marketing agency based in NYC. He writes on quite a lot of topics that range from digital video promoting to the newest technology trends.
