The Future of College Marketing: Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) aren’t exactly new anymore, but these technologies are still full of innovative college marketing potential.
Let’s check your knowledge. How might your institution stand out with VR and AR?
First off, let’s go over the essential differences.
- Virtual reality is a fully artificial environment (or real environment reproduced in virtual space) in which the participant is immersed through the use of a headset.
- Augmented reality is computer-generated content that appears to be superimposed over the real world through your device’s screen.
While similar, these technologies offer different experiences of varying complexity and cost.
Let’s examine the role they have come to play in the marketing world, then take a closer look at applications for college marketing.
Closing the Experience Gap
The primary purpose of VR/AR for marketers from a variety of industries is to remove as many barriers as possible to the buyer’s journey.
Enable prospects to experience a product or event virtually, and you can propel them much faster toward a purchase or commitment.
Goals of AR/VR
To this end, marketers utilize AR/VR to accomplish several goals:
- Demonstrate the product more thoroughly than you can through traditional marketing.
- Communicate the brand mission closer to the point of sale.
- Provide an immersive entertainment experience.
- Increase excitement and engagement with the brand.
- Add a new, compelling dimension to storytelling.
Despite being around for the better part of a decade, AR/VR experiences are still a novelty, which makes this technology an effective pull tactic.
To supplement the usual push tactics to drive motivated buyer traffic — digital ads, retargeting, email marketing — marketers are using AR/VR to create experiences that pull in users motivated by the sheer fun of participating.
How Retailers Are Using AR/VR
Retailers are using AR to allow you to virtually put furniture in your house before you buy; try on shoes and glasses; apply makeup to your face, and more, before you’re anywhere near the product. Car manufacturers are even bringing the showroom to you.
Others are taking it a step further with VR, letting you “walk through” virtual retail spaces, tour an airplane, or sit in the front row for a fashion show.
It’s not only a fun way to reinvent the fun of window shopping. AR/VR shopping may see increased demand for people who want a similar experience but would prefer not to go out while COVID-19 is still a major public health concern.
But how does any of this apply to college marketing?
Let’s take a look at how institutions are currently utilizing these technologies, then consider what applications might be next.
