Back in September 2017, Apple launched its iOs 11 software. The notable thing in this software was its support for Augmented Reality technology. The technology was new and rare at that time, but now any skilled developer can develop an AR-app using the AR-kit framework.
Furthermore, in September, people witnessed the release of the Alice in Wonderland AR quest by “Avatarico.” And only after the month, the game became the 10th free AR-kit game in the world in terms of downloads on App Store.
And in the next couple of months, the dame was included in the best App on store list of 2017.
It’s hard to believe that it was only a year after the game was the 4th popular AR game in the world. And still, it enjoys high reviews and ratings and a high number of downloads among the AR games.
In this read, we will show you how developers made it possible and how you can promote an AR game with organic sources and traffic.
Introduction
The decision made by Avatarico to create a historical AR game was not accidental by any means, but yes, it was fast.
Before that, Avatarico was a well-known name in the gaming industry, and they have developed many famous VR games. Since 2014 the brand has released five games and was selling commercial licenses to location-based entertainment. To be precise, presently, Avatarico has over 70 partners worldwide.
During the course, the company has mastered the new technologies, and they know how to make use of them so that it won’t be formal anymore. Similarly, the company knows how to promote AR games with organic traffic and sell such products to consumers.
So back in 2017, when Apple’s iOs 11 was announced, the brand knew that have to catch the moment, and they must create an AR game in 4 months.
Concept
When developers were experimenting with beta-version of AR framework and kit, the Avatarico was busy in creating and grabbing wow-effects on Twitter.
One of the wow-effects was the portal. The company selected Alice in Wonderland as a setting.
Development
Of course, no one can gain such a massive response through popular settings only. When anyone searches for ‘Alice in wonderland on App Store, users will find a bunch of unknown games based on the story.
But Avatarico came up with the surprise, Augmented Reality. And they knew how to create a wow experience with it. If you explore the AR games section on the App Store, you will come across many games using AR just as a formality.
But Avatarico wanted to give its users a unique experience that they can’t get from anywhere else.
If notice closely, the small hole in the floor looks ahead of the player. And the lovely rabbit comes out of it; the feel is terrific. And when a player catches the rabbit, it opens a portal to dreamy Wonderland.
Then you will see the player walks through the portal holding the phone in his hand. It’s fabulous for many users, and the simple instructions ensure there is no mystery.
Furthermore, the player can roam around without any issue in the portal, meet and greet the Cheshire cat and other game characters.
Release, Features, and Downloads
Due to their excellent promotional strategy and AR-kit framework, the game got featured on the top of the Games section at App Store.
In the initial days of its release, they managed to get a few hundred thousand downloads with great user reviews, and every product on the app store needs those pleasant reviews. In simple words, the users were thrilled to play and visit Wonderland.
All this time, Avatarico officials were busy. They wrote and designed new chapters to make the game more exciting. In the first phase, the players can explore and understand the beautiful Wonderland. And in the next stage, they come back into the land to help the people pressurized by the Red Queen. Every chapter is unique and features a different location.
Thanks to these exciting updates, Avatarico featured in the top regularly, and users continued to love the game.
Surprisingly, the game received appreciation from across the globe, and it was also a hit in Asian countries like China, Japan, and South Korea. Similarly, Alice in Wonderland was one of the best AR games in Russia.
So, Avatarico interpreted the game into many languages and used the localization strategy to their advantage.
Review and User Feedback
If you notice at the AR section in the Russian App Store, the game has unprecedented user reviews. In other words, users love the game in Russia for many reasons, and the game’s rating in Russia was 4.8 with more than 54k reviews.
Similarly, the game enjoys a top rating in China as well, up to 4.9 with 143k reviews. In the USA, the game enjoys high ratings as well up to 4.7 with 124k reviews.
According to user feedback and reviews, gamers love the portal sequences due to their incredible graphics and lovely transition from the fantasy world to the real world.
Those who know about AR technology understand that this game utilizes AR technology in the best way.
Final Outcome
Alice in Wonderland is at the 4th spot in AR games across the world in terms of downloads.
Alice in the Wonderland is the 3rd AR game in the world with a high number of reviews.
The game shares the top position with YuME in China with the highest rating in the country.
6 Benefits of Augmented Reality for Promoters:
Augmented reality or AR provides many benefits that you will get from traditional marketing techniques. By acquiring these benefits of AR marketing, you can easily get an edge over your competitors and achieve your desired results.
Optimizing The User Experience
Integrating augmented reality into your mobile promotional strategy gives your target prospects a whole new and highly engaging experience.
For example, if you look at IKEA Place, which considerably saves users the time and effort of calculating whether the product they are purchasing a product for their home. IKEA user augmented reality to gives consumers a clear understanding of how that particular product will look in their house.
Marketers and AR game developers must consider how to incorporate AR in their marketing campaigns as it simplifies the UX.
By giving users an optimized way, you can provide users more confidence in their purchases, and it also helps in building brand loyalty. Similarly, it can bring you healthy and more user reviews.
Increase Engagement
Using or integrating augmented reality in your AR game’s promotional strategy is valuable as it helps to boost user engagement. The AR has an interactive nature that generates more organic traffic and encourages users to come back to the app for more. You can drastically enhance engagement by using AR marketing and make them coming back to the game.
Boost Retention Rates
Another significant benefit of using the interactivity nature of augmented reality promotion is that you can retain the users for longer. This comes in handy when you are trying to spread or build brand awareness and increase monetization opportunities.
According to a report published in the Wall Street Journal, augmented reality provides particularly useful tools for envisaging data because it involves the spatial awareness of users’ brains that allows them to recognize complex concepts quickly and promotes greater user retention.
Geo-targeting to Boosts Sales
Mobile and game marketers know the effectiveness of geo-targeting, but not many know that AR can take your marketing strategy one step ahead.
For example, mobile marketers who are already utilizing e geo-targeting for their AR games can easily make their gaming experience more engaging.
AR Brings More Personalization Opportunities
With the right information, augmented reality allows you to provide your prospects a personalized experience. Personalization can directly impact your AR game’s marketing campaign and its overall performance.
According to reports, 59% of consumers claim to purchase or use something due to personalization.
Moreover, only 18% of apps feature adequate personalization. So, this is another effective way to stay ahead of your competitors.
Improves Brand Awareness and Loyalty
Augmented reality is the quickest and ideal way to spread brand awareness and loyalty. This is because you can share your AR experiences on social media. Apart from gaming, augmented reality is also beneficial for B2B marketing.
Tips for Your AR Game Marketing Strategy:
Tip #1: Study and understand your options before launching the campaign
Let’s look at it this way. Most of us are tempted to get a hip convertible, while our actual need is a standard family van.
Here Augmented Reality sneaks directly into advertising conversations; users can come to your doorstep requesting you to develop the “next Pokémon GO” and stuff it with plenty of fancy functions in the hope that it will make the game “viral” overnight.
The point is, never use technology such as AR just to get the bandwagon. Instead, you should look and consider all the alternatives before submitting or choosing a particular solution. And you can easily find plenty of options on the market.
For example, you can use image recognition to design a promotional campaign where your consumers can scan a product package and visit the website to check out your offerings, reviews, or videos. Or, you can make engaging ads and publish them in magazines, leading to landing pages.
Now the question is how it differs from AR? When a consumer scans a picture via their smartphone, the Augmented Reality covers the digital content such as 3D models, buttons, etc., as per the camera image of the actual object.
Thus, Augmented Reality adds to the user experience whenever needed and allows users to view the content as a normal part of the environment.
There are various examples of this AR usage. Think of IKEA’s popular catalog app that allows users to try what a couch will look like inside their living room.
Similarly, try to remember the tremendous outdoor marketing campaign by National Health Service UK. Users can view the impacts of blood donation just by pointing the smartphone over their skin.
Of course, the same will be only possible when you combine this experience with additional functionalities and features like geolocation, character recognition to recognize texts, scanning of barcodes, etc.
So, we will advise you to pay attention to the holistic customer experience and what it offers to users before stuffing your AR game with features.
Tip #2: Try to use a simple and clear concept
One clever strategy to promote your AR game with organic traffic is making the user’s experience more memorable without forcing them. This is vital for any AR game’s marketing campaigns.
The same thing you will witness in the campaign of Mandiri with WWF. The whole campaign was simple and provide users a memorable experience for their clients using the Augmented Reality.
The marketing campaign is clear and doesn’t make things complicated or keep people guessing. It was designed to offer a simple and fun way to raise the global issue and answer the user’s problem creatively without being too pushy.
Conclusion
To conclude the matter, these fantastic results are due to these factors:
Amazing “Wow experience.” If users don’t like to play the game, they will love its uniqueness. Similarly, the game utilizes Augmented Reality in the best possible way and offers wonderful real-life situations. The essence of the AR effects are clearly visible in the game, and it is incredible to see how the gaming world interacts with the real world.
Lastly, great features and unique settings make this AR game a hit across the globe.