Virtual Reality: The Future of Digital Marketing

When you hear the words “digital marketing,” what do you think of? Do you think of a guy in a black hoodie writing code in the dark? Or perhaps a team of people brainstorming about new ways to implement creative designs rewrite content for social media?

There are many misconceptions about what will come in the near future for both advertisers and companies looking to grow their business online. The most overlooked and misunderstood digital medium is virtual reality.

Virtual reality is a medium that hasn’t been explored as an advertising medium by many companies, while the companies that have dived into virtual reality have had extremely impressive results.

But what makes VR, virtual reality, so different from other forms of online media?

Unlike any other online medium, virtual reality is the only medium that can bridge the gap between user intractability and experience. When you are in a fully reactive virtual space, you can interact with the virtual world around you.

No other medium in the digital marketing world is able to put the user into an ad, and if done correctly, they won’t even know they are in the ad.

Currently, virtual reality software is seen by many as gaming software but some companies and even military and medical services have started to adapt virtual reality into their daily practice. Walmart has begun to train its employees inside of virtual reality and the US military is even using VR to simulate missions. In the medical field, doctors and medical students are going inside virtual reality to practice operations without putting anyone’s life at risk.

Virtual reality is becoming more “main-stream” with every passing day, and companies should get ready for a sudden burst in popularity in the years to come.

While there are many creative ways for companies to implement virtual reality into their marketing plan, there are some general uses of VR that aren’t just a guerilla technique. Using virtual reality, companies can promote and showcase products, give product demonstrations, and allow their customers to interact with the product without ever leaving their home.

There are endless possibilities for creativity when it comes to marketing and advertising in VR. Virtual reality thrill-seekers are everywhere, and they are always looking to enjoy a new virtual experience. Unlike other methods of digital online advertising where anyone can set up ad-blocking software, consumers will be looking for you. The relationship between a brand and its consumers will change due to virtual reality. Instead of your company pushing itself out to potential customers, potential customers will be actively looking for you.

Customer experience.

By creating a jaw-dropping and experiential virtual reality ad, you are creating a whole new experience for your customers that they will not be able to get anywhere else. Unlike the real world, there are no limits to a virtual world – go crazy! Improving your customer experience will also directly improve overall brand perception and increase your engagement rates.

There are very few companies, even large multi-million dollar companies that have not yet stepped into virtual reality advertising. Brands that can create experiential worlds for their consumers are at a massive advantage over their competition. In the next few years, virtual reality is predicted to explode in popularity, and by starting now your company will be leaps ahead of the competition.

Another key feature of virtual reality is that it can be proposed for several different uses. For business-to-business companies, virtual reality allows you to showcase products in development, and create a visual roadmap of the final product before starting real-world construction.

Think of a construction company building a new apartment complex. By using virtual reality they can give full tours of the entire apartment, create layouts of the building before any construction starts, and allow potential tenants to view the inside of the apartment in virtual space. This will save time touring apartments, and ease the development process.

Businesses selling consumer goods can also use virtual reality to allow their customers to experience their products in a virtual world before they buy the physical product.

As of the time of writing this article, dedicated virtual reality headsets are more of a luxury item than a tech essential like a smartphone. While this may seem like a negative, it is a very good reason to jump into virtual reality right away. Current virtual reality enthusiasts are part of a demographic that is willing to spend money on what they see as valuable. They see VR technology as the future and this demographic likely have expendable income for your products. Research shows that this demographic is also young and is always seeking new experiences, meaning creating a meaningful virtual reality experience is the go to medium for reaching them.

In the near future as VR becomes more available, you can expect the VR ads you create now to continue to see traffic as more people adopt virtual reality into their daily lives. We are moving into a digital world where virtual reality will be the only method of getting past the clutter and noise of digital advertising, will your company be ready?

If you are interested in learning more about how you can start using virtual reality to grow your business, please look around our website and feel free to contact us to learn how we can create a virtual reality marketing plan together!