Emotional Marketing Strategy and Customer Experience

Emotional Marketing Strategy and Customer Experience

What is Emotional Marketing? 

In a world full of advanced tools and complex business strategies, it’s often not the high-tech solutions that win over customers.

So, what does?

The timeless power of storytelling, also known as Emotional Marketing, exists.

Why?

Only facts may not always convince customers to buy. Sometimes, it’s the emotional connection that makes the difference.

At the core, consumers are people with intricate emotions and personal stories. Our special ability to feel and understand emotions has been important for human success. This skill sets us apart from other species. This deep emotional intelligence, allowing us to empathise and connect, is a driving force.

Social Psychology has studied this for a long time. Today, it is a strong tool followed by the evolution of digital marketing. It helps brands build meaningful connections with their audiences using targeted marketing. And the results speak for themselves.

A great example is Apple’s iconic digital marketing strategy – Think Different campaign. Rather than pushing a specific product and service, it aimed to inspire Mac users to challenge the status quo.

The campaign was very impactful. It won an Emmy for Best Commercial. It is still known as one of the most legendary ads ever made.

 

The Role of Emotional Connection 

Emotional connections are important for brands that want to influence customer behaviour. However, many brands do not connect with the emotions that matter most to their best customers.

Some brands are great at building emotional connections. However, any company can use emotional motivators as marketing tactics.

This includes those that sell everyday products. The process uses data to analyze the main emotional triggers for valuable customers. It also applies statistical modelling to link these emotions to purchase behaviour.

Customers who feel a strong emotional connection to a brand are 52% more valuable than those who are just satisfied. These existing customers show greater loyalty and use the brand more often. By building strong connections, brands can boost revenue and market share. This approach often gives a better return on investment than just improving customer satisfaction.

 

Emotional Marketing Statistics

 

Graph depicting the impact of emotional marketing on various metrics
Emotional Marketing Statistics

 

Evoking Positive Emotions

Most people like watching more than reading or listening. This is why a strong visual ad can help boost your brand’s visibility. Visual ads tend to evoke more emotion than text-only ones.

Videos can warm the heart, share funny moments with friends, or brighten someone’s day. They create lasting impressions. Think of an ad featuring a cute baby with an irresistible smile—it’s instantly shareable and memorable.

People are twice as likely to share these types of ads because they leave them with something to talk about afterwards.

Campaign effectiveness of Emotional Marketing
Emotional, combined and rational metrics based on campaign effectiveness.

 

Effective Emotional Marketing Examples: 

Approaches for Executing Emotional Marketing

1. Understand Your Audience’s Emotions 

Conducting thorough market research to pinpoint your audience’s emotional triggers. Identify their pain points, aspirations, and values through surveys, social media analytics, and customer feedback. 

2. Craft Compelling Emotional Stories 

Leverage storytelling and create deeper connections with your audience. Develop narratives that reflect their experiences and emotions. Share success stories, customer testimonials, or behind-the-scenes glimpses to humanize your brand and make it relatable.

3. Utilize Visuals and Colors Effectively 

Visual elements are crucial in eliciting emotions. Colours, images, and videos can convey specific feelings. Use brand archetypes strategically in your marketing materials to reinforce your message on social media posts and marketing messages.

4. Appeal to Fundamental Human Values 

Align your brand with universal values such as family, love, freedom, or adventure. Advertising campaigns that tap into these core values can forge strong emotional bonds with your audience. 

For example, a travel brand might emphasize the joy of discovery and creating lasting memories.

5. Generate Emotionally Engaging Content 

Create content designed to evoke feelings of joy, nostalgia, or empathy. This can include blog posts, social media updates, videos, and ads. People are more likely to share emotional content with friends and family, which expands your brand’s reach and boosts engagement.

6. Build a Connected Community 

Foster a sense of belonging by building communities around your brand. Use social media platforms, forums, and reward programs to create a space that makes customers feel valued. Engage with them regularly, listen to their feedback, and express appreciation for their support.

7. Highlight Social Proof 

Showcase customer testimonials, user-generated content, and customer journey stories to build trust and validation. Seeing others benefit from your products or services can boost potential customers’ confidence in your brand, creating a loyal customer base.

8. Support Meaningful Causes

Associate your brand with social causes to evoke positive emotions and enhance customer loyalty. In the bottom line, today’s consumers are increasingly socially conscious and prefer brands that contribute to the greater good. Work with non-profits, run charity campaigns or use sustainable practices. This shows your commitment in your marketing efforts.

Emotional marketing and customer experience
Depiction of how emotional marketing leads to a positive outlook about the brand.

 

Emotions and Strategy

Among all the emotions used in advertising, happiness has consistently proven to be among the most effective.

Marketing focuses on ensuring that people hear a message, share a story, and recognize an identity. The main goal is to boost sales.

People usually keep emotions and business apart. However, in marketing, connecting with emotions can bring great rewards. Brands that do this well see substantial benefits.

Emotional marketing taps into the universal human experience—our emotions—to capture attention and resonate with its audience. This approach works well because it connects with people. It addresses feelings, challenges stereotypes, and speaks to real pain points. Simply put, emotion drives sales.

Emotional marketing can be challenging if you’re unfamiliar with how it works or how to apply it effectively. Negative emotions can create anger. 

Emotions will either boost or harm your business, making it essential to approach it with a strategic mindset. 

At MIU, we understand that effective marketing goes beyond emotional appeal. Our experts craft bespoke, data-driven strategies precisely aligned with your brand’s unique objectives. To implement a comprehensive emotional marketing strategy for your brand, partner with us. 

Amplify your brand’s presence through innovative solutions that will achieve your marketing goals and sustainable growth.

 

 

AR/VR Advertising Campaigns that Will Leave You in Awe

A person is flying through a futuristic cityscape while wearing a virtual reality headset, embodying the next wave of AR/VR advertising campaigns. The individual is in mid-air, arms extended as though swimming, surrounded by tall, illuminated skyscrapers and trails of light, capturing motion and technology.

Pause and Ponder: Where is AR/VR Technology Used?

Isn’t it challenging to enumerate its applications when integrated into almost every industry? Perhaps it’s simpler to identify where VR/AR needs to be utilised.

Over the past few decades,  AR/VR technology has emerged in multiple fields, including healthcare, e-commerce, education, gaming and advertising. 

By 2024 the estimated VR revenue will exceed $12 billion

 

VR for Marketing 

Have you ever heard of experiential marketing?

It’s also known as “engagement marketing.” 

There’s a fine line between experiential and virtual reality marketing. Both have shared goals, i.e., to get the audience actively engaged. 

In VR advertising, consumers interact with marketing materials hands-on instead of merely watching the ad. 

Here’s the cool part – Virtual reality combines tools and the latest computer technologies to teleport viewers into make-believe worlds, immersing their senses with headsets.

 

Digital Stunts Takeover NYC and Paris

Besides virtual reality marketing and AR advertising, companies also use technological tools to create AR campaigns. 

Yes,  this kind of eye-popping trickery isn’t new – remember when luxury brand Jacquemus had everyone second-guessing reality with their video of massive, vibrant leather purses cruising the Parisian streets? 

Maybelline’s giant mascara wand coating the bullet trains in NYC deserves a spotlight, too. 

Similar instances of brands executing larger-than-life marketing stunts have occurred in the real world using AR/VR technologies. 

Here are some applauded marketing strategies that testify to the wild, out-of-the-box thinking that keeps us all talking.

 

Keeping it Gucci

Gucci Garden in the Roblox Metaverse

Fashion label Gucci recently unveiled “Gucci Garden” in the Roblox Metaverse, which enables players to venture into a virtual town, learn about its history, and interact with fellow gamers. 

This digital immersive experience encompasses interactive elements like mini-games, art exhibitions, and a Gucci store where virtual clothing can be purchased for Roblox avatars. 

As avatars don these outfits, it intrigued onlookers, motivating them to explore and discover the diverse attractions of the entire town. 

The following marketing strategy underscores Gucci’s commitment to staying relevant and progressive in an ever-evolving market. 

 

Etsy House’s Edgy Aesthetics 

Etsy shoppable virtual house

This immersive augmented-reality experience invites customers to explore a virtual home adorned with aesthetically designed Etsy finds. 

With true-to-life visuals, smooth navigation and 360-degree views, it is a creative visual strategy that provides ease for customers by hovering over items for details and direct purchase links.

 

Try Before You Fly

virtual reality holiday for thomas cook from vr studio visualise

Virtual reality is widely used in the travel and tourism sector to replicate real travel encounters.

For instance, the UK-based travel agency Thomas Cook initiated the ‘Try Before You Fly’ program. This marketing strategy enabled users to virtually immerse themselves in vacation settings like the US, Greece, Singapore, etc. By utilising Samsung VR headsets, prospective travellers could virtually explore activities such as snorkelling in Sharm-el-Sheik, in Eygpt, strolling through the Egyptian pyramids, or taking a tour of Manhattan. 

Wearing a VR headset triggers a contradiction within minds – while logical thinking acknowledges the virtual nature, the rest of the brain cannot distinguish the real world. This gives a sensation of immersive experience and triggers a response. 

Thomas Cook’s pioneering move marked it as the globe’s first travel. company to offer in-store VR experiences for its clientele. This endeavour yielded conversion rates for bookings. 

 

Burn that Ad 

Under the motto “Because flame-grilled is undeniably superior,” Burger King devised a clever strategy to outshine its rivals figuratively. 

They introduced a unique aspect to their app, enabling users to employ augmented Reality to scan any competitor’s advertisement and virtually burn it. 

The objective?

Provide an entertaining experience to the users of “taking down” Burger King’s competition—complimentary Whoppers for customers for utilising this feature.

Businesses can gradually integrate virtual reality experiential advertising into various advertising components.

 

How Can Your Business Benefit from AR/VR?

An infographic of benefits titled "Get Creative with AR/VR" in the center, surrounded by seven suggestions in speech bubble shapes. Suggestions include redesigning social media, promoting products, engaging clients, using storytelling, interactive experiences, showcasing designs, and immersive learning.

Engage your target audiences by immersing them in the virtual world.

    1. Redesign your social media feed with aesthetic 3D infographics. 
    2. Promote products and services with a narrated 3D commercial.
    3. Deliver impactful client presentations with immersive business-purpose videos.
    4. Educate and entertain with AR/VR Game-based learning content. 
    5. Enable ‘try before you buy’ 360-degree virtual experiences.
    6. Showcase designs and previews using interactive AR/VR. 
    7. Use storytelling skills with informative 360-degree videos on YouTube. 

 

VR Marketing: Worth Exploring?

You might wonder why a business owner like yourself should explore the expansive market of expensive VR campaigns. 

While VR/AR might seem out of reach for many marketing budgets, its presence is steadily increasing.  Several brands are capitalising on their growth for product promotion and immersive storytelling. 

WebVR provides a transformative viewing encounter on both mobile devices and desktops. While ideally suited for headset usage, it offers a fresh, multi-dimensional method of content consumption. This technology is compatible with mobile phones. 

Even though crafting a virtual reality campaign might not be feasible, there are valuable insights to gather regarding marketing innovation and content strategy. 

These insights could spark new ideas and help increase your digital audience engagement.

 

Turning Your Dreams into Reality 

Isn’t the very essence of VR all about immersing viewers completely?

That’s why we want to immerse you with a glimpse of the remarkable capabilities of VR. 

Contact us today and discover how we can positively impact your business with advanced VR technologies

Let’s propel your business towards success as a team. 

 

Dress To Impress With AR and VR In Fashion Branding

AR and VR In Fashion Branding

Fashion is sophisticated and complicated, being at the forefront of creating trends and pushing boundaries to pursue beauty. Many praise the fashion industry for innovation and criticize its ethical standards.

You’re familiar with these challenges if you’re running a fashion business. But could AR and VR in fashion bring your business’s sustainability to the next level?

We say yes!

Contemporary fashion thrives on innovation and technology, and industry professionals like yourself know that technology is constantly changing. According to the Consumer Market Outlook, the lucrative fashion industry fetched around 1.46 trillion USD in 2020. To maintain this revenue, fashion brands must innovate.

So, what’s the next big thing in fashion tech? Experts have said it’s augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). Using AR and VR in fashion sounds far-fetched, but the market already uses them.

We’ll show you a few splendid examples for inspiration here, so stick with us till the end!

How Do AR and VR In Fashion Work, Anyway?

 

If you’re reading this article and wondering what AR and VR are, here’s a summary. AR and VR are the technologies used to create alternative or enhanced digital reality. It includes adding digital elements to real world backgrounds (AR) or immersing customers in entire virtual worlds (VR).

More specifically, AR enhances the physical world by enhancing sight and sound. It highlights specific real world features or overlays digital elements on them.

Viewers can access AR technology on their smartphones through an AR app.

VR is a complete simulation experience in a digital world created from scratch. It introduces viewers to an all-rounded computer-generated artificial environment with interactive elements.

Users can see, hear, and interact with the virtual environment in real time. They use a virtual reality headset to engage with the VR world.

AR is generally more widely used than VR because of its high accessibility on smartphones.

But both AR and VR in fashion provide a unique and memorable customer experience for your brand. They enhance the shopping experience with awe-inspiring graphics and keep your customers engaged.

So why do AR and VR matter in fashion retail?

Fashion retail is going ‘phygital’; more customers interact with retail brands using a hybrid of physical and digital mediums. AR and VR help to bridge the gap between both forms. They offer virtual fashion experiences just as good as physical brand interaction.

AR and VR technology used in the market are changing how customers interact with brands.

 

3 Ways AR and VR In Fashion Will Impact The Retail Industry

3 Ways AR and VR In Fashion Will Impact The Retail Industry

1.   Improved Sustainability

The fashion industry has faced criticism for its unsustainable practices and wasteful consumption. But not all is bleak because AR and VR in fashion could be the key to positive change for many fashion businesses.

Augmented reality in fashion industries helps reduce unnecessary product shipping. Customers can try products on before they buy them, reducing impulse purchases.

Globally, there will be less production and consumption of fashion products, decreasing the number of wasted apparel and resources. It’s better for the environment and a step in the right direction for fashion businesses.

 

2.   Reduced Costs

AR and VR reduce unnecessary shipping costs so that you can save on freight charges. It also decreases spending on traditional advertisements like print and television because you can market online.

With AR and VR, you can take advantage of free social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. Use social media to host your AR technology and reach out to more customers at a much lower cost.

 

3.   Increased Sales

Customers are more likely to purchase something when they know what they want. On traditional online shopping platforms, customers can only see 2D product images. They need help to visualize what the actual product looks like realistically.

With AR and VR, they can see and interact with a life-sized version of the product. Instead of estimating the color and size of a garment online, they can try it accurately with AR filters. AR and VR experiences give customers more accurate product information to make better decisions.

Using AR product marketing on e-commerce websites and social media platforms for luxury brands will significantly boost sales.

Nearly 80% of Burberry’s purchases in China happen on mobile devices. Experts predict that around 80% of luxury goods purchases will occur online by 2025.

So, the market for AR and VR in fashion is growing and has excellent potential for many fashion brands.

Augmented reality technology is also excellent for online retailers without physical stores. If you have an online business, customers can’t view your products in an actual store. They can use AR filters as a substitute dressing room to virtually try on your clothes before buying them.

Cool! Now Show Me Some Real-Life Examples Of AR and VR In Fashion

These are some of the most innovative uses of AR and VR in fashion. Take notes from these luxury brands to use their strategies for your business too!

 

Try Before You Buy

AR VR in Fashion woman searching clothes

Computer-generated 3D imagery has come a long way since VR’s early days. Modern 3D virtual models are more advanced and look like actual products. It’s because AR and VR digitally simulate hyper-realistic colors and textures of clothing on virtual models.

Customers can virtually apply clothes on AR human models to see how it looks on a human body. Interestingly, they can even customize the human model to look like them. It’s one of the most convenient benefits of using augmented reality technology in fashion.

For instance, Gucci collaborated with Snapchat in 2020 to create a ‘try-on’ feature for shoes. Users could overlay AR shoes on their feet using the Snapchat application. Customers were able to try the shoes without going to the shop. They could buy the product if they liked the shoes in the filter.

ASOS also launched a 2020 AR feature on their app that allowed customers to try clothes on different body sizes. The application offered sixteen animated models of varying skin tones and body sizes. Customers could even test the outfits and human models in realistic outdoor environments.

You can launch small-scale AR filters to showcase your products on a social media platform. Users will have fun trying the clothing filters, and it’s excellent publicity for your brand too!

You can even create virtual fitting rooms offering a head-to-toe makeover for users’ virtual avatars.

 

Interactive Navigation And Display Screens

Interactive Navigation And Display Screens AR VR in fashion

Earlier, we mentioned that fashion retail is becoming ‘phygital’, so remember to care for customers at your physical stores too.

Use AR and VR to improve your customer experience at the physical shop. Technology can track the shopper’s location in the store. When they access an AR app on their phone, it shows them a live navigation map. It’s helpful for customers visiting your shop for the first time.

Renowned fashion brands like H&M and Zara also use AR display screens to enhance customers’ shopping experience.

Some display screens include virtual fitting rooms, mirrors with 3D avatars, and touchscreen outfit selection. It attracts attention and enhances customer interaction with the brand.

 

FashTech To Expand Your Brand Experience

FashTech sounds like a big fancy word, but it simply means ‘fashion technology.’ It includes using AR and VR in fashion to expand customers’ brand experiences.

Use FashTech to expose your customers to more content from your brand. Big-label fashion brands like Coach use FashTech VR to give customers exclusive access to fashion show footage. The luxury brand installed virtual reality headsets in its stores. These headsets allowed consumers to browse looks from their latest runway events.

Fashion week runway shows are only available for a limited audience. But with VR technology, they’re made more accessible to everyone.

Customers experience a different aspect of your brand when you use VR. They can buy limited-edition products and even personally experience events in which your business participates.

You can use VR to give customers exclusive access to fashion week shows, limited-edition brand collaborations, and photoshoots.

Interestingly, VR allows you to build alternate fantasy worlds to complement different fashion themes. You’ll save production costs of renting a physical photoshoot location because you can create it virtually.

How about a virtual runway in a virtual showroom? Bring your customers to digital fashion shows without losing any of the real-life glitz and glamor.

A VR showroom lets your customers experience the feeling of walking down a runway, elevating the fashion experience. Isn’t that a grand idea for fashion week events?

AR and VR will revolutionize the fashion shopping experience for brands globally. Smaller fashion businesses can take inspiration from luxury brands’ strategies and launch mini AR and VR campaigns.

So, implement AR and VR in fashion marketing to elevate your customers’ experience of your brand and products. Dress them to impress, and you’ll also dress them for success!

Also read: How AR and VR are Transforming the Future of Businesses

How AR and VR are Transforming the Future of Businesses

How AR and VR are Transforming the Future of Businesses Office Employer Man Using VR Headset

A few years ago, you might have considered VR and AR as expensive technologies inaccessible to many businesses. In 2023 and 2024, experts expect the VR and AR market to expand rapidly. It will become more accessible to most businesses and even individual households. Gone are the glitchy, low-resolution graphics and heavy headsets of early VR models. VR and AR developers have created high-quality, streamlined reality technologies that blur the lines between digital images and the real world. Advancements in technology have also made VR and AR equipment more affordable.

Why is this relevant to your company? Brands don’t just use VR and AR for entertainment and games. VR and AR are also powerful business tools, offering unique brand experiences to customers. Keep reading to learn about AR and VR transforming businesses with in-depth, immersive interactions in 2023.

How AR and VR Are Transforming the Future of Businesses

It may be the first time you’ve heard of AR VR technologies in business. You may wonder about the hype and how it can benefit your brand. VR and AR can significantly help the future of businesses by driving innovation, increasing efficiency, and enhancing customer connections. The virtual world offers excellent opportunities for enhanced product interaction and customer communication. It boosts your brand’s marketing versatility and builds stronger customer relationships.

AR and VR Transforming Businesses: Using Video To Drive Higher Conversion Rates

A survey by Viostream found that videos on landing pages increase conversion rates by 80%. Another Zappar 2018 report found that AR increases conversions by 70%. That’s a lot of conversions! Won’t you want that?

So, attract potential customers with attention-grabbing moving graphics in VR and AR. Use VR and AR videos to make unique brand content that speaks personally to customers. For instance, you could present customers with a first-person VR perspective of your product’s benefits. It could be a car test drive, dining at a restaurant, or a spa experience. You can make a creative and memorable first impression on customers with a VR brand introduction video.

Audiences are more likely to convert after seeing, hearing, and interacting with your products and services. Research also proves that visual and auditory immersion increases human empathy levels by showing them an individual perspective. Subjective and unique interactive experiences appeal to people emotionally, compelling them to take action.

 

Improving Customer Service And Experience

AR and VR Transforming Businesses augmented reality book

Virtual reality offers your customers the virtual experience of products. Customers can interact with virtual versions of products and services in real time and try them for free. With VR, product designers won’t have to make physical product samples. Thus, it reduces the production costs.

VR is most beneficial for products and services offered in retail and design. Customers can view retail products overlaid on physical environments with augmented reality (AR). They can try new product launches in an AR environment without needing to buy it. Or, they can experiment with different design variations without changing their environment physically. Your customers will appreciate AR technology as they can try the actual-scale product or service for free.

Product designers can also gather live customer feedback from VR tests and modify the products accordingly. For instance, during a VR product demo, product designers can monitor real-time user reactions and identify any new issues. They can resolve these problems when designing an improved version of the product. They’ll also be able to respond faster to your customer’s needs with data gathered from a virtual environment. VR makes your product design and development process more efficient. VR also increases meaningful interaction between customers and your business and makes customers feel more positive about your brand.

Furthermore, you can use VR technology to personalize customer service channels. Traditionally, customers could call the service hotline for help. How about making a VR environment for customers to chat with an avatar of your customer service officer? Even though it’s virtual, the sight and sound of a person humanizes your brand and personalizes customer service. Your customers will appreciate the added sincerity in your communication.

 

Marketing Across Different Social Media Platforms

AR and VR Transforming Businesses Woman using vr headser experiencing metaverse world

You might already use Instagram and Facebook for your current marketing strategy. But with VR and AR, you can expand your brand’s content reach to appeal to younger potential customers. A 2022 study by Harris Poll found that 38% of Gen Z Americans had not used AR before but were interested in trying it. AR and VR are transforming the future of businesses by widening their content reach scope.

Younger audiences are more willing to experiment with VR and AR content on social media platforms. Younger audiences also enjoy visual video content, so use VR and AR to appeal to their preferences. Create VR and AR brand content with high-quality graphics and sound to immerse them in the experience.

For instance, people widely use TikTok AR filters as trendy visual effects. Experiment with custom-made product filters representing your brand and avail them on TikTok for customers to use. Or, create VR content in the Metaverse and introduce your brand to the Metaverse virtual community. With VR and AR, you can reach a bigger audience of potential customers across different platforms.

 

AR and VR Transforming Businesses: Becoming A Convenient Substitute For Physical Interaction

AR and VR Transforming Businesses Man office employee sitting on round chair using vr headset

The popularity of the Metaverse shows that consumers are excited by advancements in online digital interaction. AR and VR are transforming the future of businesses by enabling in-depth remote communication between customers and brands.

VR technology has good potential to substitute in-person meetings. You can host online work discussions with colleagues’ avatars in a virtual meeting room. Or, you could use VR simulations to train staff in remote locations, saving them the trouble of traveling. VR environments can improve communication between colleagues if many of your team members work from home.

A virtual environment is also an excellent alternative for customer Facebook groups. You could host a virtual public lobby for customers to discuss your products with fellow customers. It’s an ideal platform for customers from different locations to gather and interact with your brand.

 

AR and VR Transforming Businesses By Elevating Virtual And Offline Events

The pandemic familiarized many of us with the routine and convenience of online meetings. Indeed, virtual company events save space and physical resources, and you can invite more people.

But hosting events over video call can sometimes feel passive and dull. VR and AR technologies can greatly enhance your online events; your audiences won’t need to watch through a screen. They can enter a 3D interactive virtual event environment with a VR headset. It’s an exclusive, personal and hence memorable way to experience a subject. Usage of VR and AR isn’t only restricted to online events. You can also use AR during offline events to impress your audience. Set up live AR presentations during an offline event for commemorative footage, like a digital cake-cutting or tree-planting ceremony.

 

AR and VR Improving Business’s Training And Education

work meeting at metaverse due training and education activity

VR and AR can benefit employees too. Research has shown that VR and AR can improve information retention by 25% as compared to traditional learning methods. It is a unique and efficient way of learning, revolutionizing businesses’ staff training programs. You can even use VR and AR for customer product training events.

VR and AR headsets help students immerse themselves in training environments that simulate real-world situations. They can interact with the product or virtual environment instead of reading about it from hardcopy learning materials. VR exposes employees to a safe and realistic learning environment and better prepares them for the actual event.

Virtual training worlds are most useful for high-risk tasks that require extensive hands-on work. Some examples are emergency response services, medical emergencies, and repair operations.

Using digital learning materials and virtual worlds also reduces the cost of physical learning materials. Learning becomes more accessible to all employees with online or digital information, and you can conduct training remotely. Use VR and AR to transform mobile learning for your employees and save on your business’s training costs.

The future of VR and AR for business is very promising. You’ve learned how AR and VR are transforming the future of businesses and taking brand experiences to greater heights. You can deepen connections with your customers, improve staff training programs, and revitalize brand content. You’ll gain an edge over competitors by adopting VR and AR technology early, so don’t hesitate!

 

Trendy Instagram Ideas For 2023

Trendy instagram ideas for 2023 art vector website banner

Think about this: it’s a new year, and you’re looking through your brand’s Instagram accounts to revisit old content. Something feels off. Maybe your content is getting a little stale. Or you’re waiting for that creative spark to make content that doesn’t fall flat. Your audiences aren’t engaging with your posts as often as they used to. You may have even entertained the radical idea of abandoning Instagram altogether.

But Instagram is still alive, contrary to what some rumors suggest. The stalwart social media application has consistently evolved to keep up with the latest trends. It remains a crucial platform for creators and brands to stay in touch with their customer base. Instagram is one of the main touchpoints for people to find information about your brand. So, don’t dismiss Instagram from your toolbox of content-sharing channels yet.

Entering 2023 doesn’t mean you have to spring-clean everything from the previous year. Sometimes, you need a different way of presenting old content ideas to revive your engagement numbers again. We’ve compiled ideas for inspiring things to try on Instagram with your brand. Go through the list and pick a few that excite you – or try them all!

Engaging Instagram Ideas For 2023

The main goal of your Instagram strategy should be to engage your audience. Audience engagement gets people talking and gives your brand a leg-up in the Instagram algorithm race. These ideas for 2023 will help you vary the type of content you post to increase engagement and brand awareness.

Informative Things To Try On Instagram: How To Do This (And Much More) With Short Guides And Tutorials

Forget boring instructional manuals and lists – use video tutorials to answer all your customers’ questions instead. Post video guides catering to customer inquiries and commonly-faced issues. You could teach audiences how to place an order, fill out a form, or set up your product or service. For instance, Zoom uploads short ‘pro-tip’ Instagram reels teaching customers how to use its application functions. These bite-sized tutorials convey small, digestible pieces of information to audiences. It’s perfect for capturing and retaining audience attention.

You could also add some guided videos closely related to your brand products. For instance, a small food business might post a how-to video on food decoration ideas for birthday celebrations. Feature your products and services as options in these videos; intrigued audiences may check out your page.

Pick relevant topics for your target audience to give them the information they want. Provide valuable content to your customers, and they’ll look up to your brand for authoritative data in the future. It boosts your credibility as a subject area expert in your industry.

Lastly, consider hosting a live Q&A session to address frequently asked questions. ‘Lives’ are one of the most helpful things to try on Instagram to answer customer queries effectively. Use ‘Instagram Lives’ to directly connect with your audience and answer the questions in the chat box. It heightens the sense of immediacy and closeness with your audience, boosting their trust in your brand.

 

Relatable Things To Try On Instagram: A Day In My Life, Or What Goes On Behind The Scenes

a day in my life travelling, Trendy Instagram Ideas For 2023

There’s no better way to enhance the human connection between your team and customers than candid videos. User-generated content posted by influencers evokes trust and rapport with followers because of its honesty and transparency. Use this influencer marketing strategy to make your brand feel more relatable and personable.

Create behind-the-scenes reels showcasing what goes on in your business’s day-to-day operations. You can do this through vlogs, team member introductions, or group interviews. Take a few team selfies and fun shots during company bonding sessions. Combine photos and videos into one Instagram post to make a dynamic slideshow for followers to scroll through.

You could also do “a day in my life” videos and get staff to vlog about their daily work life. You can also film process clips to show customers how you make your products. Some small businesses film and upload “pack an order with me” videos to show the packaging and delivery processes. Some also compile honest “blooper reels” to show outtakes and rejected product shots.

‘Behind-the-scenes’ videos make a brand more transparent and relatable, with honest communication, increasing customers’ trust. Audiences will better appreciate your hard work in creating quality products and services. It humanizes your brand and strengthens connections between your staff and the customers they serve.

 

Cool Things To Try On Instagram: Up Your Reel Editing Game

gamers woman live streaming on social media, Trendy Instagram Ideas For 2023

You can quickly assemble a basic transition reel with many free mobile phone editing applications. Experiment with stop-motion, zoom-ins, and close-ups for interesting visual effects. As simple as it sounds, a well-edited Instagram reel has high replay value as it’s mesmerizing and satisfying to watch. It captivates audiences quickly and is perfect for the short attention spans of your Gen Z audiences.

Be bold and take inspiration from other popular social media platforms too! TikTok video edits are a goldmine for new content ideas and viral microtrends. You can discover new audio and visual effects ideas for your Instagram reels.

 

Funny Things To Try On Instagram: Make Them Laugh

Humor is an excellent ingredient for creating relatable content because who doesn’t love a good laugh? Witty content is one of the defining characteristics of great Instagram ideas for 2023. Research by IPSOS shows that 81% of consumers love it when brands create humorous content. Tickle your audiences’ funny bone with memes, candid reaction videos, quirky jokes, or ingenious wordplay.

 

Memorable Things To Try On Instagram: Archive Your Best Moments And Thank Followers For Their Support

beauty vlogger doing video her followers, Trendy Instagram Ideas For 2023

You can also balance your humor with sentimentality. Post a thank-you note to your followers when you hit social media follower milestones. Or, compile nostalgic year-end rewind reels to compile your most memorable company events and achievements. These are a beautiful testament to your brand’s progress and growth. It’s one of our most memorable Instagram ideas for 2023. An archive reel is also an excellent opportunity to thank your customers for their support!

 

Thrilling Things To Try On Instagram: Sneak Peeks And Countdowns

Generate hype with an Instagram story countdown for a new product launch, a contest, or a milestone giveaway. Countdowns create suspense and excitement, increasing audience engagement when they subscribe for timer notifications. To up the ante, post sneak peeks of upcoming content and get audiences to comment on their thoughts. It encourages audiences to engage actively with your content. Remember to share your links and posts on the Instagram story, too, as only some people scroll through their feeds.

 

Unexpected Things To Try On Instagram: Ask Your Audience For Ideas Instead

Use content to ask your audiences a question. Ask them for ideas, answers, and opinions – you’d be delighted at how many of them respond to your post. Get them to ‘Caption This!’ with a witty tagline and test their creativity. Upload meme-worthy photos, puzzles, or abstract images with no context. Next, ask your audience to come up with a caption. Feature the best answer on your Instagram story and tag the user to give them a shoutout. Remember to post the runner-ups and honorable mentions too! It drives discussion and engagement in the comments section.

 

Buzzworthy Things To Try On Instagram: Quizzes And Giveaways (People Love Competitions And Free Stuff)

influencer posting social media Trendy Instagram Ideas For 2023

People love the thrill of competitions and the prospect of free things. An effective way to increase visibility and engagement on your posts is to host a giveaway or a contest. Get your followers to share the post and tag people – their friends, family members, and colleagues, to join the competition. You’ll usually gain new followers as more people discover your brand page during the giveaway period. It spreads your content to new audiences and potential customers, increasing brand awareness. There’s nothing wrong with some friendly competition where people try their luck to be one of the winners. It’s fun and exciting for everyone, and you’ll boost peoples’ positive impressions of your brand.

 

Traditional Things To Try On Instagram: Show Off Those Glowing Testimonials

Customer reviews are the foundation for your brand to grow and expand. It’s the reason why traditional testimonials are the tried-and-tested, old-but-gold method of building an excellent brand reputation. Customers usually check online reviews when deciding whether to buy from a brand. Use positive customer testimonials as leverage to convince potential customers of your brand’s trustworthiness. Feature great testimonials on your Instagram feed, and thank the reviewers for their support. Also, try reposting user reviews on Instagram, such as Instagram story mentions. Social proof increases your brand’s reliability and customer trust; it’s a critical part of your Instagram marketing strategy.

Also read: How To Leverage Your Content Marketing Strategy In Instagram Reels

After reading our list of things to try on Instagram, it’s time for you to start creating your content. Choose what fits your brand and target audience best, and most importantly, have fun while doing it. Good luck!

 

No Influencer To Promote Your Brand? Do It Yourself!

No influencer to promote your brand? Why not do it yourself? Brands and consumers have gone digital with their consumption and marketing, making the digital marketplace more lucrative and crowded. Businesses generate digital content daily and must compete with each other for consumer attention. Your brand is no exception because it needs to cut through the noise to stand out. Your business must adopt new advertising strategies to retain high conversions and advertising performance levels in the competitive digital landscape.

Statistics show that consumers prefer content over advertising. In Germany, about 50% of consumers install adblockers. 99.5% of digital advertising impressions are ignored by audiences and fail to create increased conversions. Research by Pulse Advertising has found that original creator and user generated content give brands an advantage over others. Many consumers seek authentic and original content over superficial traditional advertising.

Influencer marketing strategy is a powerful tool to harness the benefits of original content creation. It is because influencers produce native content that resonates well with potential consumers. Native content creation enhances your business’s marketing campaigns and creates increased conversions.

Remember to consider the importance of influencer marketing for business to generate interest in your products. Even if you don’t have an influencer to promote your brand, you can still use an influencer marketing strategy to succeed.

Why Do Brands Work With Influencers?

Collaborating with influencers helps brands to improve audience engagement and increase conversions. Interestingly, influencers enjoy the attention of their followers on social media. They have the ability to influence consumer behaviors and consumption patterns. Engaging a successful influencer with more than 250,000 followers creates the same impact as a celebrity endorsement.

Influencer marketing strategy is essential for successful digital marketing and sales. It is evident in the example of the American beauty brand Glossier. Over 70% of Glossier’s sales come from referrals and influencer shares from its Instagram ambassador campaign. Through this campaign, Glossier engaged many macro and micro-influencers who created original, relatable content to promote the brand. Glossier has now become a billion-dollar enterprise, even though it only started in 2014.

You don’t need to work with influencers to enjoy the same benefits. Your brand can use similar strategies to enhance its advertising performance and conversion rates. We’ll show you how to do so in this blog.

 

Know Your Target Audience

Influencers succeed because they have a target audience interested in their content niche. They establish relationships with their target audience by providing content that caters to them. For instance, micro-influencer mayzunewin from Myanmar owns a tour company, and her target audience is people who love traveling. She uses personal travel experiences on her Instagram account to share helpful advice with her followers. She builds a strong relationship with her target audience by creating content that appeals explicitly to travel lovers.

Similarly, identify and attract a target audience for your brand. Have a thorough understanding of your target audience’s needs and wants, and address them in your original content. Establish close relationships with your target audience to make your marketing strategy more focused and impactful.

 

Build Brand Loyalty By Increasing Trust

Build Brand Loyalty By Increasing Trust

Micro-influencers’ authenticity and honesty help them gain the trust of their audience, turning a follower into a loyal fan. Similarly, small businesses should create strong brand loyalty to attract dedicated customers and increase conversions.

For instance, Glossier’s product team built brand loyalty by increasing the trust of their audience. The company promised to deliver products based on what consumers wanted. They created candid, transparent content that was true to the brand motto. They featured honest product reviews from many customers, shared product inspiration photos, and considered product ideas from customers. It increased customers’ confidence in the business’s honesty and reliability.

Build brand loyalty among your customers by creating authentic and honest content. Take customer feedback seriously and make content that is genuine to your brand image and values. Make customers feel involved and valued by being transparent about your production processes. It increases trust and brand loyalty among your customers, leading to increased conversions.

 

Engage The Youth And Increase Content Interaction

Creating exciting and engaging content is crucial because Gen Z comprises 40% of global consumers. Research from Marketing Charts shows that visual content can best engage Gen Z. They enjoy tapping, swiping, and clicking on interactive elements such as polls, stickers, and comments. They also want short, bite-sized content that creatively relays information. Influencer samseats collaborated with Feasty to link his Tiktok video content to the food app. His video was concise, presenting his recipes creatively, and was even visually appealing. The link lets users click and scroll to view the full recipe on the Feasty app.

Replicate this with your brand by producing interactive visual content that increases engagement and conversion among younger users. Include links, stickers, and filters to make your content more captivating and exciting.

Gen Z consumers also love content that is relatable and memorable. For instance, Bretmanrock is a Filipino beauty influencer famous among Gen Z audiences for his funny makeup videos. Some audiences have even turned his reaction videos into viral memes. His content is relatable and memorable because of his humor and wit.

Engage Gen Z audiences with content that has a strong sense of humor to make your brand approachable and charismatic. Produce content like memes, social media challenges, and comedy videos. Create a fun and memorable content consumption experience for your brand’s younger audience. Viewers might attempt the social media challenge or share your memes and videos with others. It improves content interaction and increases brand awareness. Your funny content might even go viral as a social media trend!

Also read: Enhance Your Brand Experience With AR/VR

 

Increase Brand Awareness Through Competitions And Giveaways

Increase Brand Awareness Through Competitions And Giveaways

Influencers host giveaways and competitions to engage their followers and generate interest. Bretmanrock hosts giveaways encouraging his followers to vote on their favorite products and tag their friends. It spreads the content as his followers tag new audiences in the comment section.

Host public giveaways and social media competitions to generate interest in your page. Also, encourage audiences to leave their votes in the comments. Invite them to tag friends to bring more attention to your page and introduce your content to new people. It increases digital engagement and provides good publicity for your brand. With greater brand awareness, you will increase the number of likes and comments on your social media posts. It improves your social media page rankings and increases visibility as well.

You must pair your great product or service with a solid marketing strategy. Use an influencer marketing strategy to grow your brand and upgrade your advertising. Adopt the mindset of an influencer in this digital landscape to increase brand reputation, improve audience engagement and increase conversions. You can do all these and more, even without an influencer.

 

Data driven marketing: An Entrepreneur’s Way To Success

data driven marketing

Businesses no longer plan their marketing strategies based on assumptions or hunches. You need solid conclusive research information. Such data aid companies make sound and resolute business decisions, thereby gaining more profit and measurable success. Businesses offer solutions to problems, which should be in tandem with what consumers seek. It means that the answers should be of the intended value to your target consumer base. Else, the entire marketing effort will reap nothing. And that is why your business shouldn’t ignore this potent tool data-driven marketing.

Why Every Business Need Data-Driven Marketing?

Because businesses seek sustainability and profits, customer data from various research-backed sources is a boon for companies. Consumers are constantly bombarded with multiple advertisements and campaigns, so it is crucial to hone in on a data-driven strategy. No longer are companies going by the guesswork of what products or services buyers want. They have realized that their marketing strategies must be more optimized to learn about their target customer needs. That has to be at the right time and will eventually help expand their customer base. Let’s examine why businesses are hopping onto the data-driven approach bandwagon.

 

Know They Customers

consumer behaviour is one of the reason why businesses are hopping onto the data-driven approach

Every business has its unique ways of understanding its consumers. Understanding customers is the key to getting your hands on the market’s nerve. You cannot arrive at any strategy without knowing your customers. That’s the basic requirement and you must have an in-depth understanding of your customers.

Interestingly customer behaviour is never constant, so strive to be updated about their likes, online/offline buying patterns, needs, other factors. All this information would help tailor the suitable marketing campaigns for a more consumer-centric approach. Analytics tools are valuable for studying derived data and understanding your target market. These metrics identify businesses’ opportunities and highlight areas where they should improve. Therefore, know your customers to map out your strategy well.

 

Personalized Channels

Data may show more than just the preferences of target customers. Customer data will also give you a profound understanding of your targeted audience’s behavior. Additionally, it could recommend the best platform for any brand to find its target audience and engage them optimally. With this knowledge, they might place the message at the right place and time. For example, Gen X and Y are more active on social media such as Instagram, Snapchat or Discord, whereas Gen Z is more active on Facebook. Of course, older audiences are comfortable with print communication mediums, such as magazines or newspapers. Once your target audience characteristics are identified from here, you can zero down on more effective strategies. It will fetch you more from the time, money and effort you invested and all of these increase sales.

Learn more about: Why should brands consider short videos as part of their content strategy?

 

Campaigning for Success!

The marketing teams would then focus on promotional campaigns using relevant information from their data collection. The advertising strategy would be well planned with crucial data points from various data sources. This will ensure that the promotion meets its expected goals and stays within your budge. Marketers have a far better idea about the content and timing of marketing messages. The do that with well-examined data. When you know what your consumers require – products or services; content and campaign will resonate well with them. In this way, the appropriate message reaches the right group of people and in the proper time. These campaigns are of their interest, and they boost customer interactions with optimal engagement. Thereby, it creates value by providing a solution to their need. Thus, it establishes a trust chord.

 

Better Customer Experience

customer experience is one of the reason why businesses are hopping onto the data-driven approach

There is no shortage of products or services, and despite that, why will customers purchase what you offer? When you hover over this thought, you will find the acute solution – customer experience. It is the experience that customers use to differentiate between different brands. Businesses can use data to know their customers in and out. This will help them to zero down on offering the right products or services with precision,

Marketing teams would benefit from customer value analytics data. The data, it can identify ways to shorten the sales cycle without sacrificing individualized service. Big data and in-depth customer analytics allow marketers to design more effective campaigns with individualized messaging. It improves customer experience by making it consistent. Customers receive the same whether they contact a business via social media, phone, or in-person interactions. Brand trust and improved brand perception follow more user engagement and credibility, which eventually results in more sales, loyalty, and advocacy.

 

Continuous Upgradation of Brand Image

Data-driven marketing strategies allow you to create more targeted content, which people appreciate and thus boost engagement. Users are more inclined to like, share, and engage with your material when it addresses their needs. That’s the brilliance of marketing messages. Brand trust and improved brand impression correlate with higher user engagement, which eventually results in more sales, loyalty, and advocacy. Big data tells how users interact with your business by tracking websites, social media platforms, and customer digital footprints. When managing your brand’s reputation or enhancing its image, big data is a big help. Data solutions fundamentally mean that businesses can keep an eye on their social proof and react to problems that can be promptly fixed.

 

Stronger Connections

business networking

Customers will benefit from well-planned campaigns because they provide what they seek. Data-driven marketing helps you to create more targeted content. It strikes the right cord with the audience; they appreciate it and engage more. They will come back to you for more. Gradually and after a few cycles, they see you as comfort. That’s how connections work; once you can establish a meaningful relationship with your customers, it becomes an effortless process. That’s how data-driven marketing strategies magically satisfy customer demands and build a stronger bond between the brand and      its customers.

 

Loyalty = Profitability

Loyal customers are your best brand ambassadors. With consistent influences, quality and commitment to customer satisfaction, loyalty comes with ease. It fetches your brand sustainability; isn’t that every business strives for? You can lose new and existing clients if you miss quality or fail to respond to customer needs. While devoted clients are willing to stick around for the long haul, neglecting them for too long will force them to go. So use data optimally to know your customer base, track their changing buying behaviors, and plan and execute accordingly.

 

Be aware of the competition

You can use the same technology for social monitoring to track and evaluate the marketing tactics of your competitors. Such a measure will help you to manage your reputation online, and you will be able to learn more about your target audience. Another reason for using big data analytics tools is finding creative ideas, improving current procedures, and learning from peers’ mistakes.

Data-driven marketing is necessary for the current marketplace. It is primarily because of rapidly rising customer expectations, diversifying communication platforms, stringent market competition and more. Businesses that use data effectively in every marketing campaign can boost sales and revenue, enhance client loyalty and sustain the outcome. Marketing efforts to reach its targeted demography would be more probable. The more businesses utilize data for their marketing efforts, the better they can tailor client experiences, maximize spending, and increase ROI, because they would have substantial scientific information to know what works and what doesn’t.

Why should brands consider short videos as part of their content strategy?

Why should brands consider short videos as part of their content strategy

What is video marketing?

Using videos to promote and market whatever you are offering is video marketing. As with all other marketing facets, video marketing also boosts customer engagement, enhances customer retention, and informs the targeted groups about the latest launch, upgrades, offers, and more, besides increasing sales. 

The growth of video marketing

Video is excellent at influencing consumer choices, immensely effective at engaging audiences and thus a powerful tool for brands to garner more business volume. Create a piece of content, one in text form and one in video form. If the latter is engaging, informative and helpful, you can bet it will triumph. 

Today, more than 80% of the companies worldwide are using video marketing to give their brands a voice, gain trust and enhance their authentic appeal. Since videos are visually appealing, you can play them in a loop, save and refer to them anytime; they are an excellent asset for your marketing efforts. 

Want to start video marketing this year? Here are 135 Video Marketing Statistics You Can’t Ignore in 2022!

Why should brands consider short videos as part of their content strategy
Source: https://www.statista.com

Here are some other interesting stats about video marketing: 

Why should brands consider short videos as part of their content strategy

Quite an eye-opener, right? 

Next, let’s find out which types of videos you can use.

Which are the different types of promotional videos you can use?

While there are several types of videos you can use, the most common types are explainer and corporate videos.

Other types you can use are:

  • Video ads
  • Tutorial videos
  • Video interviews
  • Animated videos
  • Vlogs (video blogs)
  • Video testimonials
  • Presentation videos
  • Product demos and reviews

By now, you have seen what video marketing is and what are the different types of videos you can use. But still, why should you use them in your content marketing strategy?

That’s up next!

Why should you include video marketing in your content marketing strategy?

If you have seen the stats we have included above, it is evident that using videos for content marketing is essential. Down the line, it will become even more so.

But what is it that makes videos important for your content marketing?

Here are the 8 most important reasons that will explain to you its importance!

Why should brands consider short videos as part of their content strategy

What is a short-form video?

Why should brands consider short videos as part of their content strategy
image source: https://gstatic.com

Short-form videos are those that are between 1 to 10 minutes long. While customers of all ages respond positively to short videos, it is significantly more appealing to people between 25 and 34. Interestingly, for consumers below 24 years, short videos are their primary source of information. 

How short should videos be?

Why should brands consider short videos as part of their content strategy
https://indiatvnews.com

The more you look for a piece of advice on this, the more differing views you will get. The result? You won’t know how long your videos should be! That’s why we won’t give you any definite length, but we can suggest you make your videos “snack size.” Make it long enough to explain a straightforward concept without boring your viewers.

Then the attention span of your customers is getting shorter, so take that into account as well. Blame the constant barrage of AV content all around us. But how long should your videos be? It can be between 10 seconds to 10 minutes. Generally, the smaller it is, the better, is the case. You still need to provide information and have an effective, compelling Call to Action.  

What type of content can you include in these videos?

You can mix, match and create any short video. Either way, you have to be creative to stand out. Here are some ideas!

  1.  Explainer videos
  2. Behind-the-scenes clips
  3. Customer testimonials and interviews
  4. Subject matter expert interviews
  5. Teasers of upcoming products, services and new centres
  6. Live-streams of events

They are great, but the point is, what will you get by using short-form videos?

We’ll look at that next.

Benefits of short-form videos

Short videos can work wonders for you. 

  1. Having YouTube videos can land you in higher ranks on Google results
  2. Google looks kindly and can reward websites with videos with higher ranking
  3. Adding videos to your marketing email and adding “video” in your subject line increases opening rates
  4. Videos are great at engaging customers and creating and enhancing brand identity. It engages audiences with your products, services and marketing campaign, increasing your conversion rates. 
Why should brands consider short videos as part of their content strategy
Image source: https://blog.veefly.com

Short-form video marketing can indeed be powerful. It is flexible in terms of time and monetary investment, and you can personalize videos according to your needs. Before creating videos, get clarity about your goals, target audience, and what you want them to do after watching the videos.

Why do brands jump to NFT trends?

Why do brands jump to NFT trends?

Bitcoin has been making headlines for some time now. It is hugely popular around the world and many governments are making laws to regulate crypto trading. However, there is another digital asset that is rising simultaneously. This new asset is NFT, which looks like it will be here for a long time!

Why do brands jump to NFT trends?
image source: https://ilovelife.co.id/blog

NFTs, or Non-fungible tokens, have a lot to offer to the world and work in tandem with blockchain. We’ll get to that in a bit, though.

In this article, we are going to tell you:

– What NFT is

– How it is used

– How brands are using it (with real examples!)

Now, let’s begin.

What is an NFT?

Why do brands jump to NFT trends?
image source: https://d31nhj1t453igc.cloudfront.net/

NFT, or non-fungible tokens, are non-interchangeable units of data. These are stored on the blockchain in digital ledgers. Thus, NFTs can be sold and traded. There are several NFT digital assets like photos, audio and video. However, NFTs are different from crypto-currencies since each of these tokens are individually identifiable.

Why are brands using this technology?

It is because of NFT’s versatility. You can use them to represent virtual creative works in fashion, virtual world-building, virtual real estate, virtual vehicles, virtual apparel, and so much more.

Before studying how different brands are using NFTs, know why they do so.

How can brands use NFTs?

The use of NFTs brings a number of benefits for a brand. Here are some of them:

Create hype about the ownership of a virtual item

Leverage the existing fan base to increase sales, hype or goodwill

Allows you to create a larger market by reselling

Create excitement among viewers about the pre-launch of events and products

It opens a new revenue stream for you. You can earn by selling digital products or associated products that complement the physical item.

Here are how some brands are using NFTs.

How are brands using NFTs all over the world?

Below you’ll see how some of the top brands use NFTs?

Taco Bell’s Taco-llectables

Why do brands jump to NFT trends?
image source: https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/

Taco Bell – a fast-food brand popular in the USA and beyond, recently introduced its taco-llectables on Rarible. Rarible is an online marketplace. What happened was that Taco Bell sold out its first batch of virtual collectables quickly!

Here’s what the company did!

They created five distinct NFTs and sold them in five batches. 

On Twitter, the brand said, “Our Spicy Potato Soft Tacos can now live in your hearts, stomachs, and digital wallets.”  For all their troubles, the company will get 0.01% of all sales in the future. All of the earnings will go to the Taco Bell Foundation, an institution that helps people in pursuing their careers.

Smart, right?

Certainly, but wait to see how the following brand is using NFT.

Nike

Why do brands jump to NFT trends?
image source: https://homlah.com

Nike has been one of the first few prominent brands that understood NFTs significance. The company has been silently observing the growing desire for digital sneakers for some time. It even received a patent for tokenizing digital sneakers.

Here’s what happens:

Whenever customers buy a physical shoe, they unlock NFT tokens from Nike. The company gives them a digital copy of the purchase, which collectively represents CryptoKick. These tokens are assigned by blockchain to properly verify the authenticity and ownership of privileges assigned to those digital shoes.

The great thing about these assets is that the owners remain in complete control. For instance, they can sell rights to third parties who can mix show designs. They can also limit how many times the asset can be copied or cloned. NFTs record essential information about the product, such as its design, color and style. Thus, owners can mix and match to create their custom type. You can monetize this indefinitely as long as they have the ownership.

This idea from Nike is similar to CryptoKitties, but is a bit better than that! Owners get their unique shoe pairs which are secured forever through blockchain. They can see the ancestral tree of their digital footwear’s development as well.

Cool, isn’t it?

Yes, but wait till you see what the next brand did.

Louis Vuitton

Why do brands jump to NFT trends?
image source: https://pbs.twimg.com/

The fashion industry is another entity with a keen interest in NFTs. Various fashion houses worldwide are studying this technology, and its use in the industry. They believe that NFTs natural scarcity, coupled with its ability to accrue value over time, can bridge the gap between the real and virtual fashion.

By collaborating with League of Legends from Riot Games, Louis Vuitton created a special skin. This skin is named the True Damage Qiyana Prestige Edition. It showcases the gaming champion’s weapon covered in the unique Louis Vuitton pattern.

We have seen how some brands are using this revolutionary technology.

Let’s now see how Augmented Reality is used in NFTs.

Augmented Reality & NFTs

Why do brands jump to NFT trends?
image source: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/

Till now, we have seen what NFTs are and how we can interact with them.

We have also seen how brands are using them.

However, this is not the only way NFTs exist in the world. Right now, people are taking baby steps in using this technology. There’s a lot more potential, but that’ll come in time as brands start discovering more benefits.

Due to the lockdowns over the past two years, artists had more time to develop unique and creative digital products. For instance, in 2021, there were AR NFTs. These are interactive 3D visual items, can be used in virtual environments, and are cooler than traditional NFTs. You can experience AR NFTs in a virtual world like multiverses, but traditional ones are little more than the items on your desktop.

The virtual designs of Andrés Reisinger, an Argentinian designer, are an excellent example of this. He created and sold at an NFT auction ten pieces of surrealist furniture.

But what’s great about that?

Why do brands jump to NFT trends?
image source: https://images.adsttc.com

Here’s what: if you own one of them, you can use them anywhere in the multiverse forever. These 3D models thus work through virtual and augmented reality. These can be used by gaming platforms like Unreal Engines and Unity to develop animations, games and even CGI movies. The developer, Andrés Reisinger, will also turn certain virtual items into physical ones!

As you can see, VR, AR and the avatar economy are trending now. And who knows, in the future, NFT may well be one of the ways to conduct business in the metaverse.

For brands, it means that those who take the jump early may benefit faster. Those who don’t may fall behind.

How will you know if your brand should use NFTs?

Why do brands jump to NFT trends?
image source: https://www.fluentu.com/blog

Virtual worlds shall only continue to grow from here on. The opportunities to build, use and sell virtual assets shall also grow. With more people coming into metaverses, demand for these assets shall continue to grow. 

Your brand must act now. Acting later may mean losing the initiative against your competitors. The metaverse is big enough for both buyers and sellers. The clock is ticking!! 

Augmented Reality(AR) in the Marketing World

Augmented Reality

The new kid on the block 

In our day-to-day lives, we may overlook the rapid developments of technology. Since the turn of the century, our lives have changed drastically with countless new devices and systems. Even in the world of marketing, modern technology has been implemented and used to significant effect.  

With an ever-growing list of companies vying for your precious attention and, more importantly, your money, marketers have turned to the latest innovations for help. Today, the shiniest tool in a shed is Augmented Reality (AR).

Augmented Reality

AR in marketing

AR in marketing brings endless possibilities and solutions to a wide range of industries. These benefits are countless, especially for creative brands that choose to use this frontier technology in attracting and engaging their target audience. With the ease of application, AR can demonstrate to potential customers how to make full use of specific products and services without spending time on user manuals.

AR technology has been used on particular social media such as Instagram and Pinterest. On those platforms, brands can use the AR filter feature to showcase their product. But when brands want to start their AR campaign on Instagram for example, they need a particular strategy, so they can reach their goal.

Furthermore, AR creates a semblance of ownership of the product for its users before they purchase it. It enables users to see how they would look in a t-shirt or a pair of pants through their smartphone or laptop screen without having to be in the physical store itself. 

This process is already occurring with brands like Ikea enabling AR technology in their app whereby users can place pieces of furniture in their room to gain a better feel for how the product would fit.

With AR now being possible on virtually all web browsers, the entry barriers for users are incredibly low. They do not need to purchase expensive equipment or have the deep technical know-how. All a user requires is their smartphone’s camera, and they are ready to step into the world of AR.

AR in Pizza

The explosive growth in AR-capable devices has revolutionized how companies can promote their customers’ goods and services. The latest example of that would be Pizza Hut’s brand new campaign dubbed “Newstalgia”. Pizza Hut has launched its new brand campaign to bring back nostalgic memories to its customers. 

They partnered with PAC-MAN to offer a limited-edition PAC-MAN box, which features an augmented reality version of the iconic game printed directly on the packaging that fans can play using their smartphones. 

To participate, one must order a large pizza from Pizza Hut. First, they need to scan the QR code on the limited-edition PAC-MAN box and play the retro Augmented Reality (AR) PAC-MAN game. Next, to enter the competition, follow the instructions on their mobile device to share their score with @PizzaHut on Twitter using #PizzaHutARcade #Sweepstakes. Making it all the more tempting, regardless of your high score, you have a chance to win if you shared it.

This is just the latest example of companies employing cutting-edge AR technologies in their marketing campaigns. In 2014, Pepsi installed AR technology in a London bus stop, making it seem like a lion, UFOs, flying saucers, or other objects were headed straight for Londoners.

 This illustrated Pepsi’s playful personality and left the audience with a memorable and fun experience. Through this campaign, Pepsi demonstrated that they thoroughly understood their audience by trusting them to appreciate the demonstration and thus created excitement around the brand.

Where is AR Marketing in Singapore?

Right now, you may be thinking, AR sounds fantastic, but it is not very popular in Singapore. That’s true. Companies in Singapore, albeit creative, have still not completely embraced the use of technology in their advertising and marketing campaigns. Sure, there are countless creative and memorable marketing campaigns like, for example, Shopee Singapore introducing Phua Chu Kang as their brand ambassador in 2020.

 However, we have not yet seen marketing campaigns like that of Pizza Hut’s Newstalgia. Currently, one of the rare uses of AR is at NUS’s Lee Kong Chian Museum, where they have blended this technology into part of their museum where stories are shown through AR. 

That being said, the change could soon be on the horizon. With the implementation of AR growing easier and cheaper day by day, Singaporean companies could soon be joining the bandwagon. 

How you may ask. 

AR technology in marketing tends to be personal and engaging. In Singapore’s case, our companies would probably integrate it into something that’s part of our daily lives. 

With companies doing their best for viral content generation, AR could be a means to this end. Local companies could create an exceptional AR experience for the user that could be easily spread on social media. These experiences are highly personalized by helping users add virtual objects to their faces or environment. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Imagine being able to visualize Bubble Tea falling from the sky when you are stuck at the bus stop waiting for the rain to stop. 

Future of AR

AR technologies in marketing and advertising continue to develop along with technological infrastructure. Companies will continue to adopt AR into their marketing efforts to provide potential customers with an immersive experience and feel of their goods and services. With the potential to dominate in E-Commerce, companies striving to improve their digital marketing will hopefully one day introduce this mode of advertising to Singapore, enabling us to view the world in a new dimension.