Using VR to Showcase new Products and Materials

It can be both an exciting and nerve wracking experience for a business to debut a new product or service to their customers. Often times, you need to plan the launch of these things with a sense of pinpoint precision, or else you risk missing your target audience and launching a failed product. But what if there was a new way for your customers to experience a new service or product before it was released? What if your business could give them a taste of whats planned to build excitement and hype around your launch? Through the use of technology such as Virtual Reality and AR (augmented reality), you can reach consumers and show off your latest products without having to send out massive test presses or beta testing a new software. We’ve compiled just a few different ways you’re able to use these technologies in order to show off, and boost engagement and sales within your business.

Virtual Product Testing

Product testing in VR is a great way to provide your customers with a test run of the product or service they’ll be purchasing. This can be useful to customers for a variety of reasons, from providing them with a clear tutorial of how a product should function, to letting them inspect how much space a potential piece of furniture may take up inside of their home. This is beneficial for your business, as the customer doing this in VR helps accelerate the process of them considering a purchase; which in turn can mean a faster revenue stream for you. Moreover, virtual product testing allows for the potential for personalizing the customer experience, increasing loyalty to your brand.

VR Produced Feedback

If you’re looking for early feedback or reviews for your products and services; consider collecting feedback from your virtual product testing phase of your product. Word of mouth and the positive opinion of friends or family go a long way in getting potential customers to make a purchase from your business. This is why using the early feedback from your VR sessions is so important, as it allows you to both fine tune and improve the experience; as well as broadcast the positive aspects of your product before its released.

Engaging with Employees

Beyond using it to show off new products and services, VR can be used in your industry for more than consumer facing applications. For example, you can use VR for training employees and immerse them into the world of your business. This fast tracks them through the often awkward, lengthy integration period which comes with starting a new job; and puts them to a point where they’re ready to become a productive member of your team. Moreover, allowing your employees to engage in VR gives them a clearer idea of the services they’ll be offering to your clients.

Making use of Augmented Reality (AR)

One other popular technology often used in tangent with virtual reality, is the use of augmented reality or AR. Augmented reality is the use of technology on a users device to actively change and augment the reality around them. Typically, this is done in the form of games like Pokemon Go or things such as geocaching and scavenger hunts. AR in combination with VR can also be a great way to gain insight into the behavior of your consumers and customers, and in turn fine tune your advertising or products to appeal to said behaviour. This is done through analyzing the data of their AR use and finding what drew their attention the most, and what didn’t seem to grab them at all.

While you might be excited to use this technology, you still need to implement your AR and VR with a strategic purpose for your business, which will be a long-term application and move your company forward; as opposed to bringing it on as some form of gimmick or novelty appeal.  You need to make AR work for your customers in order for it to have an inherent value to your business, and without a full blown digital marketing strategy; your usage of AR and VR will feel like a weak novelty tactic, with limited impact on your business and sunk costs as a result of your effort. Focusing on why you’re using VR, and more specifically how VR can improve both you and your customers lives; is far more important than simply rushing into the market and risking disappointing your customers with lacklustre service.

A Young Technology: Going Forward with VR

Of course, VR is a tech that is still largely in its infancy. While your business might initially struggle to find a way to implement virtual reality, as the technology evolves in both use and sophistication; its likely your business will find some application to making adapting Virtual Reality a valuable possibility.