Augmented Reality (AR) trails, AR scavenger hunts, and AR treasure hunts have gained immense popularity since Pokémon Go introduced the concept of “phygital” experiences, where mobile users visit geolocations to find virtual characters. Since then, these immersive, gamified experiences have been embraced by brands, businesses, and governments for a wide range of purposes, from tourism to education. If you'd like to learn how this trend started, grew across several sectors, and what the future holds, check out our previous weblog by clicking on “Augmented Reality Trails: From Gaming to Gamifying Everyday Experiences”.

In this blog, we’ll explore the key success factors to consider when designing and using these AR-based activities to maximise engagement and impact. When designing and using augmented reality trails, there are several key factors to consider to ensure the experience is engaging, user-friendly, and effective. From promotional strategies to the right platform selection, these elements play a critical role in the success of the campaign.

Content Type and Level of Interactivity in AR Trails

When creating augmented reality trails, it’s important to consider both the type of content and the level of interactivity to ensure the experience aligns with your project goals. With mobile AR technology, a wide range of digital content is available, including 2D and 3D animations, videos, images, games, face filters, portals, and 360-degree experiences. The choice of content should be based on your project's objectives, target audience demographics, and budget.

Additionally, the level of interactivity plays a significant role in user engagement. While more complex content with higher levels of interactivity can offer a richer experience, it also comes with a higher cost. However, you don’t always need to invest in the most advanced features to achieve your desired outcomes. It’s also crucial to remember that lower pricing does not always mean better value. While it may seem tempting to choose cheaper options, be cautious as lower-cost suppliers may compromise the quality of both content and experience. Inadequate interactivity, poor user interface design, and lower-quality visuals can result in an average AR experience that doesn’t meet your expectations or those of your audience. Investing in high-quality content and a polished user experience ensures that your AR trail not only meets but exceeds your objectives.

At CreativiTek, we work closely with our clients to help them determine the right type and level of content and interactivity that best suits their specific needs and project circumstances, ensuring a balance between impact and budget.

The Role of Gamification and Storytelling in AR Trails

While AR trails or treasure hunts with a simple "Find Them All" objective are naturally engaging, incorporating elements of gamification can greatly enhance the overall user experience. By incorporating features like points, badges, or rewards for completing challenges or visiting specific locations, you encourage users to explore more and stay engaged. For instance, users could earn points for finding hidden AR objects, solving puzzles, or reaching key milestones, with rewards such as exclusive content or discounts at local businesses. Celebrating achievements, like unlocking a special badge or reaching a new level, provides a sense of accomplishment and motivates users to keep interacting with the trail.

In addition to gamification, integrating storytelling into the AR experience can further deepen user engagement. By creating compelling narratives that unfold as users progress, you offer a more immersive journey. Whether it’s a mystery, historical adventure, or fantasy quest, the story helps make the trail more meaningful and memorable. Engaging the community in designing and creating AR trails, or allowing users to create personalised content using AR experiences and share their creations on social media or within the community, boosts engagement and ensures the success of AR trails. This is especially crucial when targeting younger, digitally-savvy generations who are accustomed to creating and sharing their own digital stories daily.

Choosing Between AR platforms: WebAR, native app AR, and Social AR

When selecting the right platform for augmented reality trails, it’s important to consider the specific needs of your project, your audience demographics, budget size, and even the internet connectivity available to end users. There are three main types of AR platforms—WebAR, native app AR, and social AR—and each offers different opportunities and challenges.

Native app AR offers the highest level of performance, immersion, and customisation, making it ideal for more complex or immersive AR experiences. These apps can take full advantage of device features, such as GPS and sensors, to provide seamless, high-quality content and interactions. However, users must first download the app, which may not be ideal for certain projects or target audiences. If you're planning for long-term use of augmented reality experiences across various purposes and with a range of features within your organisation, developing a custom application would be an excellent choice. However, if your needs are more short-term or specific, you might consider using existing AR applications, such as CreativiTek's AR app, which has been used by many clients to host and manage their AR content and experiences.

Web AR enhances both scalability and accessibility by allowing users to access AR experiences directly through a web browser, eliminating the need for app downloads. This makes it easier to share via social media, QR codes, or links and provides a convenient option for a wide audience, particularly for simpler AR experiences. Its ability to reach users across various devices without platform-specific installations supports its scalability. However, WebAR can be limited in functionality and performance compared to native apps, and not all devices may fully support it.

Social AR integrates AR into popular social media platforms like Snapchat or TikTok, which already have large and engaged audiences. These platforms make AR experiences easy to share, encouraging viral engagement and user-generated content. While the reach is massive, social AR experiences are more limited in terms of customisation and control, as they depend on third-party platforms.

Choosing the right platform depends on your goals and the type of experience you want to offer. WebAR provides a low-barrier entry point for casual experiences, native app AR is best for high-quality, interactive experiences, and social AR is great for using  social media to reach a wide audience. Each platform has its place in creating compelling AR campaigns, and selecting the right one will help ensure the success of your project.

At CreativiTek, we offer consultancy to help you identify the best platform for your goals, target audience, and budget. We are equipped to deliver quality services and experiences across all types of AR platforms and hardware.

Ensuring User-Friendly Experiences: Providing Clear Instructions for AR Trails

Another important factor to consider is that AR remains a relatively new technology for some users, and different AR apps may offer unique ways of bringing experiences to life. To ensure a smooth and enjoyable experience, it's essential to provide clear and accessible instructions through multiple channels. This can include print materials, such as AR markers or signage, promotional videos or images, and even in-app guidance within the AR application itself. Offering instructions through these varied methods will help make the experience more user-friendly and approachable. Depending on the nature of the AR trail and its objectives, we may also include physical or digital maps to assist users in navigating the augmented reality experience with ease.

With extensive experience in delivering AR experiences, particularly AR trails and AR treasure hunt activities, CreativiTek ensures user-friendly experiences by providing clear instructions where needed and guiding clients on how to optimise ease of use for their target audience.

Promotional Strategies for Success

To ensure the success of AR trails, effective promotional strategies are crucial. Brands and cities can use social media marketing, influencer partnerships, and compelling content to build excitement and encourage user participation. Customising the AR experience to reflect a brand’s identity or offering personalised content will enhance the memorability of these experiences and deepen their resonance with participants. Incentivising sharing and participation can further expand the reach of AR campaigns, motivating users to engage more and spread the word. Additionally, the use of well-designed print materials or signs, such as floor decals for events and festivals, can help increase engagement and participation, guiding users and amplifying the overall impact. A strong integration of other activities with AR trails can significantly boost engagement. For example, if brands and local businesses are sponsoring your AR trail, encouraging them to promote the trail and offer incentives like awards, discounts, or freebies can greatly increase participation and excitement. Similarly, if your project or campaign includes other types of activities, thoughtfully integrating these with the AR trail can further enhance the overall experience.

In some of our projects, CreativiTek provides clients with promotional videos, images, and digital maps to support their marketing efforts and boost user engagement. Below is a video we created for the "Redland Christmas 2024 Augmented Reality" activities. The video offered the target audience essential information on how to enjoy the experiences, including how to locate AR characters, bring them to life, and participate in the AR colouring competition. Additionally, we supplied the client with a social media video and high-quality images to promote the activities across multiple channels, ensuring the success of their investment in AR experiences.

Below is another video we produced for "Maribyrnong City Council's Christmas 2022 Augmented Reality" activities, showcasing the augmented reality mural trail, AR gingerbread treasure hunt, AR installations trail, and AR colouring competition for the target audience to enjoy.

Importance of AR Data Monitoring and Analysis for the Success of AR Trails
A significant advantage of AR, and AR trails are no exception, is their ability to gather valuable data on user interactions. By tracking user engagement, location preferences, and popular content, we can gain critical insights that help refine and optimise our AR trails or AR treasure hunts. For example, analysing engagement data from an AR trail allows organisers to identify the most popular locations or AR experiences that resonate with users, while also highlighting areas that may not be performing as expected when compared to other experiences. These data-driven insights are essential for continuous improvement, ensuring that AR experiences align with participants' interests and maximise impact.

Depending on the AR platform used to create the AR trail, CreativiTek provides data (including but not limited to the number of scans per experience, number of photos/videos captured and shared, the countries where the experiences have been accessed, and more) along with insights to help improve and evaluate the project.

With a dedicated, experienced, and enthusiastic team of AR designers and developers, CreativiTek ensures the creation of the best AR trail or AR scavenger hunt tailored to your needs, using the latest advancements in AR technology. If you have any ideas in mind or are looking for inspiration, don’t hesitate to email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..