You may not immediately think “optics” when considering autonomous vehicles, but optical technologies such as lasers, lidar, and omnidirectional camera systems are the backbone of autonomy. These technologies enable a driverless vehicle to maneuver the roads, warn against collisions, detect objects in blind spots, and see things that even the human eye cannot. GA Creative client Zemax offers a software suite that enables companies designing optics for the driverless space to get to market quickly. Following are several ways we’ve helped Zemax get the word out to optical and optomechanical engineers about its offerings for autonomous design.

Native advertising
Native advertising is content that looks like editorial but is paid for by an advertiser. According to a study from IHS on behalf of Facebook, by 2020, the majority of mobile display ads will be native and represent $53 billion in advertiser spend. The study also says that native ads deliver up to 60 percent more engagement and up to three times greater retention than other digital advertising.

Zemax has seen success with native advertising driving leads to its website. Because native is longer content than a traditional digital or social ad, it allows the company to go deeper on content, explaining how its software works and its benefits. Zemax was also able to add in illustrations, figures, photos, and video to help tell their story.

We’ve found that native advertising is more responsive than traditional display. Click through rates can be two or three times higher than display ads.

eGuide
Like native advertising, eGuides let you explain how your autonomous product or service solves a problem in the industry in greater detail, and with all the images and diagrams you’d like. They’re also excellent for lead generation activities as you can gate them with a lead-capture form to collect information you’ll use later for a nurture campaign. eGuides can be about specific product features or take a more visionary look at the autonomous industry, depending on what type of audience you’d like to target with the guide.

We helped Zemax create a robust and successful marketing strategy that puts eGuides and other content resources front and center in an easy-to-access library on its site. Digital and social ads drive key targets to the guides, which, on average, get thousands of downloads per quarter. That’s a significant number of qualified leads with which the sales team can then cultivate relationships to move prospects through the funnel.

Webinar
Webinars continue to be a popular way to get the word out about your self-driving offering. According to InsideSales.com, 73 percent of marketing and sales leaders say webinars are one of the best ways to generate quality leads. Opt to host a webinar on your own with GoToWebinar, Adobe Connect Webinars, Livestream, ON24, or any of the other do-it-yourself webinar sites, or work with a media partner to host and promote the webinar to their subscribers. This not only adds an additional layer of credibility, but it gives your webinar promotional activity a boost.

With so many webinars happening now, be sure to have a compelling topic that leads with your customer benefit versus being self-serving. Ask a lively and knowledgeable speaker to talk through slides that include plenty of visuals and minimal text. Slides should punctuate what the speaker is saying, not transcribe it. Rehearse beforehand to discover any issues beforehand, then use headphones so the sound quality is clearest during the live webinar. Watch the clock, and always leave time for a few questions. Record your webinar and offer the recording as an additional gated resource on your website after the fact. Finally, you can get more mileage out of your webinar content by turning it into an eGuide or native ad—or both!

Promoting customers
Another effective way to communicate the intricacies of your product or service for the driverless space is let your customers do it for you. Case studies are a great way to do that, but often times, customers are too busy with their own marketing activities to devote a lot of time to yours. What they often can do, though, is provide you with a quote or some insights about how their teams are using your product for a blog you then post and promote through your own social channels. Seeing the application of your technology in the real world often helps prospects better connect the dots on how and why they should check out your offering as well.