Understanding ROI in AR

‘Augmented Reality: the Next Big Thing’; ‘One to Watch’; ‘Minority Report is Coming’… headlines we frequently see in connection with our space. They are, of course, absolutely true, but also maddening with their implication that ours is still an embryonic, futuristic technology and not a marketing solution for now. We, however, know better…

At a recent AR marketing conference in Dublin we enjoyed a procession of impressive demos from players within our field, many with far-reaching implications for education, architecture, medicine, the travel industry… but all ‘to come’.

At Blippar, we have also spent the majority of our short history selling the potential of AR and image-recognition to media and brand marketers; but with strong results now under our belt we’ve been able to make a critical shift away from what we could achieve, to what we already are achieving – a focus on real results, case-studies and what’s converting for our partners’ marketing activities today.

What is ROI in AR?

ROI is no different within this marketing medium than in any other: branding, engagement, increased awareness and, ultimately, direct sales per pound spent on marketing.

To date, brands have bought traditional media by ‘exposure’ or circulation rates - throwing ‘x’ at plastering a message all over the physical world in order to see a general uplift in sales of ‘y’ - a formula that works, but an inexact science, to say the least.

Now, for the very first time, engagement is tangible and quantifiable through these formats. By using IR/AR to turbo-charge bought media, brands can see exactly how many people interact (blipp), how many times and where (heat-mapped), for how long, and precisely which direct actions they took (m-commerce, m-coupon, web-link, video play, recipe download, social shares and more). Valuing a ‘blipp’

Where m-commerce and direct-response purchase is a realistic possibility, it can be tracked. Where web-visits or video plays are desired, they can be delivered. When ‘likes’ or m-coupon downloads are a KPI, they can be reported in absolute terms – and more. Whatever action a smartphone, tablet or wearable is capable of doing, Blippar can trigger from a physical, real-world image or product.

Of course, in many campaigns we are just one engagement tool within a noisy cross-media web of categories for which a direct purchase isn’t an option. But the value of a blipp’s engagement is quite unlike any other in the physical marketing landscape, for two critical reasons:

1) It has been proactively requested, rather than simply dropped in the consumer’s path

2) We have the user’s undivided attention for an average of 75 seconds per blipp. You simply can’t blipp and concurrently do anything else – as you might make a cup of tea while watching a television advert.

Moreover, on top of direct interactions, Blippar also offers powerful social exposure of shared blipp content: 10-20% of blipps are posted to Facebook and Twitter and seen by hundreds of followers per user.

So what’s all this worth? When taken into consideration with the rich quantitative data (unprecedented for these media-types), it has to be worth many multiples the value of eyeballs that may not otherwise have paused as they turned a page or waited at a bus stop.

Data to inform creative and buying strategy

This technology isn’t only providing tangible engagement; it also offers strategic insight. Blippar partners have been able to a-b test different ad copy and creatives to see which convert best; to analyse different media partner conversions to inform their buying strategy, and to discover which outdoor poster site locations yield greatest response: again, unprecedented and game-changing insights for traditional formats.

Increasingly, clients will also be able to track their success against that of competitors - albeit anonymous benchmarks – creating an industry bank of best-practice guides from which everyone can benefit.

So, let’s talk numbers

On this blog you’ll find a selection of publicly available case-studies (we’re pushing our clients for more, so watch this space), and observe how Blippar campaigns can - and frequently do - exceed six-figure interactions from high five-figure uniques. Indeed, we now have a number of million-blipp campaigns under our belt, with high six-figure uniques, each blipp boasting an average of 75 seconds of undivided consumer attention.

How to ensure strong ROI

Ensuring strong ROI looks simpler than you think: content, content, content. Our best-performing campaigns have nailed the obvious:

1) Well-thought-through, well-invested-in content experiences that entertain, reward or help the customer in some way.

2) Clear, high-profile education to inform the user that content is there to be blipped and experienced.

3) Think strategically of the media mix you are using for the campaign; variety and type of medias used will have a direct impact

4) Spread the word; use social media and PR wisely to promote your campaigns

The days of one-off testing or seeking to tick an innovation box are over; it’s time to build blipping into the long-term strategy, and to reap the ROI rewards now, not to wait until tomorrow.