2. Let Content Do The Driving

AR and VR are immersive tools with differing value props, so marketers need to educate themselves about the distinctions and properly align the value props with their own KPIs. For AR or VR to be utilized in-home or even commoditized, content creators and tech companies will need a better pipeline than 3-D had, and content will always drive commercial technology. – Elizabeth Jean Poston, Helios Interactive

3. Create Interactive Experiences

VR and AR will both be used by advertisers and marketers for short-form storytelling for brands and companies. Both technologies allow for interactive experiences to be created around branded content. Traditional forms of advertising and marketing have been very much limited in terms of end-user interaction, constraining their effectiveness. – Jordan Edelson, Appetizer Mobile LLC

4. Close The Loop

AR has already become a key ingredient to experiential marketing and is a way to close the loop between print and digital. Marketers can elevate their real-world messages with digital interactions increasing engagement time and message resonance, effectively bringing their digital reality to the real world. Conversely, virtual reality allows marketers to bring audiences into a controlled environment, such as a virtual storefront, where they bring the real world into a digital reality. – Stefan Pollack, The Pollack PR Marketing Group

5. Customize Everything

With AR technology, advertising will no doubt become more integrated into our daily lives. Advertising and marketing will utilize more real-time data based on user preference to dynamically affect messaging, colors, avatars, timing and placement. A more fluid human experience is the ultimate goal. – Bernard May, National Positions

6. Integrate Into Existing Technology

AR has great potential for e-commerce because of its integration into every new consumer smartphone OS. This enables brands to allow consumers to engage with products in a way that they could never before. For example, Ray-Ban recently used AR to let consumers try on different styles of sunglasses through an Instagram sponsored post with the ability to purchase directly. New custom suit ateliers are using AR to allow consumers to measure themselves more accurately from the comfort of their own home than if they were to come into a store. VR, on the other hand, has shown more potential in the documentary, gaming and entertainment spaces. Until this technology becomes less invasive from a hardware standpoint, it’s hard to predict how successful it will be as a useful marketing tool. – Darryl Mascarenhas, LivelyGroup

7. Facilitate New Experiences

Simply put, new experiences are likely. The traditional model of advertising and marketing is based on the marketer speaking to the marketed through a commercial, social post or digital skyscraper ad. With AR and VR, customers have a new opportunity to become part of the experience, to interact with a brand in ways they haven’t before. – Kathleen Lucente, Red Fan Communications

I believe VR and AR will allow consumers to have more immersive experiences when exploring new products or services. In a world where everyone reads reviews or looks at photos before clicking “add to cart,” VR and AR could allow consumers to get a 360-degree view of a product before actually purchasing it. This could benefit the e-commerce space and also allow for more experiential marketing. – Michael Mogill, Crisp Video Group

9. Raise Funds Virtually

As the cost to leverage the tech becomes more accessible, there is potential for nonprofits to share their mission and impact through AR and VR. Gala fundraisers could leverage AR to demonstrate the communities they serve, such as recreating a village in need of potable drinking water. VR could immerse a donor firsthand in the experience of a nonprofit’s clients, such as the journey to attend school in Africa. – Katie Schibler Conn, KSA Marketing + Partnerships

10. Invest In Technology

VR is completely immersive, shutting out everything else. AR augments live experiences with digital elements. Marketers will need to invest in tech and ideas to ensure the client’s brand remains innovative, creating independent experiences or by partnering with existing ones where the brand is a focal point. And thoughtfulness will be paramount as we’ll need to create aligned brand narratives. – Fiona Bruder, George P. Johnson (GPJ) Experience Marketing

11. Further Increase Adoption

Imagine being able to view furniture in your home before buying it with AR. Or being able to watch an 80-inch TV without it actually being there. Or doing a full walkthrough of a home for sale in VR from a realtor agency before you go and view it in person. The only thing holding back AR and VR is the high initial buy-in price and low adoption rate. Once these take hold, it will change the face of marketing as we know it, and the people who take advantage of it will have features that no other online entity can match. – David Kley, Web Design and Company