Long gone are the days of hand-drawn drafts and spending thousands on physical prototyping. Nowadays, product designers are able to carry out the entire design process for a product using a single program, saving time and money. In fact, 3D modeling is the best way to market your new product.
A program like AutoCAD allows a freelance product designer to create realistic drafts and 3D models that serve many purposes. These digital models allow the designer to work on their design in a more realistic format, seeing all angles of the product.
AutoCAD lets users turn their models into virtual prototypes. You have the ability to change the materials of a product to test certain configurations in real-world scenarios. With that, you won’t have to create as many physical prototypes, or any, for that matter.
But another huge benefit of software like AutoCAD is being able to use the 3D models for marketing purposes. Having a ready-to-go photorealistic representation of your product gives you an advantage in the marketplace. Here, we’re going to look at what exactly you can do with your new 3D model.
Gather Feedback from Potential Customers
Think about it – you’re designing your product for your customer, so it makes sense to involve them in the design process. Allowing them to provide feedback at every step of the product development process not only benefits them, but it benefits you and your business.
With 3D models, you can get customers involved at the very beginning, allowing them to influence what new products your business designs through crowdsourcing. By fulfilling their needs, you’re ensuring a successful product launch and a loyal customer base that will be ready to pre-order your product right away.
Basing your product launches off of real customer input is invaluable. Once the idea is set, you can use virtual prototypes to design your new concept, 3D models, and other resources to show off your product throughout the development process. Gather feedback from your customers on what they like and dislike about the product design and look for ways to improve it before production.
If you were designing a new coffee cup, you could post the design your team has come up with on social media and your website. Then, listen to what customers are saying and allow that to shape the end product.
Some questions you can consider asking your customers include:
- In what colors do you think it would look best?
- What do you like and dislike about the design?
- Are there any features you think we left out?
This method has many benefits. First, you’re saving yourself a lot of brainstorming effort as well as the costs associated with it. You’re also getting your marketing information from the best source. You get free, instant feedback and ideas without paying for focus groups.
Secondly, the buzz generated through your crowdsourcing campaign on the internet and social media is a marketing campaign in and of itself. People engaging with your brand online will increase your visibility and allow you to launch your product to success. As individuals share your campaign online, you’ll see more success.
Use 3D Modeling to Convince Retailers
If you intend to get your product design onto store shelves, as opposed to strictly selling it online, there’s a whole lot of convincing you’ve got to do. For product designers who don’t have an established brand name backing them, it can be even harder.
There are a few things you’ll need to convince a retailer to bite. First, if you’ve already had a successful launch online – that is, your numbers are impressive – then you’re more likely to get a retailer to see the value of your product. After all, at the end of the day, it’s all about money.
Secondly, you’ll need a powerful sales pitch. You can, of course, show off your product in real life, since it’s already been produced. After all, the retailer will need to know exactly what they’re selling, including dimensions and weight of the item.
But there are cases where you can effectively use freelance 3D modeling services to impress retailers. You can create a presentation showcasing how the product will look on their store shelves, making them believe that it belongs there. This will require an accurate model of the store itself, so be precise!
You can also use your 3D models to showcase different colors, materials, and configurations of your product.
Lastly, if your product is too large, or for some other reason impossible, to show to retailers in a meeting, a 3D model is the right tool for the job. Photorealistic representations of products effectively communicate information that a brief could not. And if you’re showcasing something like a piece of furniture, you can take things one step further by creating a virtual 3D tour to showcase not only the one item you’re designing, but the interior as a whole.
It will leave a lasting impression on retailers as they visualize your furniture in their homes and see just how beautiful it is. What’s more, these virtual 3D tours can be used as marketing materials in the future – a real two in one job.
Multiple-Image Posts on Instagram and Other Social Media Outlets
High-quality photorealistic images are the perfect tools to use for all marketing efforts, including your social media posts. They communicate a sense of preparedness and attention to detail that photos just can’t, and they’re also more flexible. That is, you can manipulate a 3D model to get the best angle, ideal lighting, and perfect background environment.
Using Instagram, you can publish multiple photos in one post. With each photo displaying a different angle or use of the product, a potential customer will be able to see all the different ways the product can and should be used. This is perfect for convincing them to buy your product.
It can also be used to create a scrollable catalog. For brands that have more than one product to highlight, this can allow you to effectively market multiple products for a low dollar value. Customers won’t be debating whether to buy your product but will be asking themselves which one is perfect for them.
This isn’t limited to just Instagram. You can use these 3D models in other marketing campaigns that show up on your other platforms. Create a video using your 3D models for Facebook or use one of the images in a Twitter post. The opportunities are endless.
Appealing Posts with 3D Animations
With 3D models, you can do more than just make a static image to show off like a picture. 3D modeling programs like V-Ray and SolidWorks allow you to turn the models into animations, so the customer can visualize themselves already using a product.
An animation is not simple to make and requires a skilled expert, but the results make it worthwhile. Imagine yourself shopping for a new couch. You’re online browsing a furniture store and come across a couch that you love. The picture looks nice, but it’s not enough for you to purchase it online – after all, furniture shopping is traditionally done in person.
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But then you see a 3D animation service putting the couch in someone’s home. You see a person walk up to the couch, sit on it, and crack open a new book. This enables you to visualize yourself doing the same thing, perhaps even giving you a picture of what the couch would look like in your home.
These animations can be used for many different types of products. If you were selling a new television, you could create an animation of a family sitting in front of the TV, watching a movie and laughing. The point here is to make your customer feel like they already have the TV.
3D Posts on Facebook
I mentioned using photos as a tool for advertising on Instagram. Facebook is another social media platform that is prime for marketing using 3D models. Companies like Wayfair already use the Facebook newsfeed to share 3D content, and not just pictures.
The glTF 2.0 file format allows images to be rotated in both directions. This is far superior to a static image where you’re only able to view one perspective of an image. Depending on what you’re marketing, Facebook may be a better place to invest your efforts, and glTF 2.0 files allow you to do so in style.
Instagram currently doesn’t support the glTF 2.0 file format, so the only place you can utilize this type of rotatable image is Facebook.
Create Polls with 3D Models
Using 3D models, you can poll your potential customers to get a sense of what exactly they’re looking for in new product design. Because 3D models are inexpensive to create and are easy to alter, you can create accurate representations of different variations of the product you’re looking to make.
Then, poll your customers. For example, you can ask your customers what their opinions are on different font types, sizes, and colors. Or, if you’re designing a new piece of clothing, you can get input on the type of fabric as well as the fit that your future customers want. By doing this, you’re testing what the marketplace wants, ensuring you’re fulfilling the existing demand.
To do this, you’ll want to create images that are all similar. This is why 3D models are great – you can simply swap out colors or other aspects of the design while keeping all of the other variables the same. All of this can be done without spending an exorbitant amount of money on things like photographers, sets, and transportation.
To run your polls, consider using social media or even your own website.
Product Usage Tutorials
One way to guarantee a sale is to give a helpful tutorial on your product to entice customers into purchasing. This allows you to not only show customers how to properly use your product, but it also enables your customers to imagine themselves using your product as if they already owned it.
3D models, as mentioned, can be used for animations and videos. You can easily put together a video highlighting the different aspects of your product, showing its many configurations and usages. It’s especially useful for more complex items that may be new to the market or have a unique way of doing things that no one has seen before.
Products that aren’t super obvious in what they do really benefit from a tutorial. Just examine your own shopping habits. If you’re walking down an aisle in the mall and can’t even tell what something does, are you going to stop to pay it any attention? Probably not.
They also make an effective substitute for a long, boring manual, which many people don’t bother reading in the first place. If your company provides consistently useful tutorial videos with personality, you’ll be building your brand while helping your customers and increasing conversions.
Create Beautiful 3D Models with the Help of Cad Crowd’s Freelancers
At Cad Crowd, we know how important it is to get a high-quality 3D model for your product design. A low-quality model can be counterproductive to your efforts, after all. That’s why you need to hire pre-vetted, qualified 3D modeling freelancers. Contact us today for a free quote.
