The future of Instagram is a fun, filtered experience that augments the real world with art and technology. As Augmented reality (AR) technology rapidly grows, augmented reality experiences is also increasing – from face filters to world effects – the marketing potential of AR is large.
AR filter experiences make a unique opportunity for brands to connect with their consumer. It enables visualization, personalization, and story-telling. Currently, the range of AR formats available allows tailor-made advertising campaigns that promote services, brands, products, and campaigns in unique ways.
What is an Instagram AR filter?
They are computer-generated effects placed over the real-life image a camera shows. For Instagram Stories, an AR filter alters the image the front or back camera shows.
Remember that Instagram AR filters are different from their preset filters. The preset filters on Instagram elevate the quality of photos with just one click, so you’ll not be required to spend a lot of time editing images for your Instagram post.
What is new with Instagram Stories AR filters?
At its conference in May 2019, Facebook made it known to the public that anyone can create custom AR filters by making use of its Spark AR Studio platform. This platform makes it possible for users to make original augmented reality effects for Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, Messenger, and Portal.
Before this platform was made public in August 2019, Instagram users had to be invited to use Spark AR. That meant only a few Instagram users could create and publish custom AR filters. But today, anyone who downloads Spark AR Studio can get creative with making filters.
It is simple for Instagram users to find these filters. Anybody that visits the Instagram profile of your brand can click the new face icon. All the AR filters you make are compiled here.
Benefits of creating AR filters for Instagram Stories
Although this tool might not be right for all brands, it is a good option for companies that are trying to reach younger users on Instagram. Remember that 67 percent of all Instagram users are ages 18-29. Also, one-third of the most-viewed Instagram Stories are from brands.
Here are some examples of how custom AR filters could leverage your business:
Show-off the personality of your brand
- Custom AR filters reflect the tone of your brand, particularly if that tone is fun or playful.
- They reflect the unique aspects of your brand, assisting you to stand out from your competitors.
Connect with customers
- In 2019, over 500 million accounts engaged with Instagram Stories daily.
- Also, 60 percent of brands using Instagram Stories used an interactive element to increase monthly engagement.
- Custom AR filters are the best interactive elements for Instagram Stories.
Be ahead of the competition
- Custom AR filters are still a new feature, and not every company is using them yet.
- Make an AR filter for your audience to “try on” a product before buying or “put on” a branded item of clothing.
- It is not just for self-promotion. You could also make a filter for your brand to show your support for social causes.
Increase brand awareness
- Incorporate the logo or mascot of your brand into an AR filter.
- If your unique filter is not promotional, it will show in the Effect Gallery of Instagram where anyone can locate it.
- When users share selfies using your filter, their followers will be exposed to your business.
5 Types of AR Experiences
To leverage its benefits, you have to understand each available AR experience individually. The great thing is that every format is great in its way. They all make it possible for you to attract consumers, with easy and fun engagement that is always right to the goals of your brand. Below are the types of AR filter experiences you can use.
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Face Filters
Everybody wants to look good on social media. Since Snapchat made the AR aesthetic popular in 2011 with its Lenses, making use of face filters has become almost second nature. Face filters created an effect on the face of the user, immediately altering their appearance. It is easy to use them by directing the imagination of the customer to focus on the AR design of the brand; they link brand and consumer.
The important benefit of face filters is that they are easy to share. It only takes a few taps to send a beautifully augmented selfie to an audience. These days, nothing is worth much if done privately. A beautiful filter will probably be shared with friends.
By using AR filter experience to enhance your selfies, face filters make effects that the users can easily recognize, enjoy, and share, making it possible for brands to access a wider audience and to immediately become recognizable.
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Portals
They are magical ways of introducing users to a great world of your creation. Going through a virtual doorway, which the camera imposes on a horizontal plane, the user is taken into a different world. From animated wonderlands to photorealistic creation of new places, portals allow consumers to go into the world of different businesses.
Portals give an unprecedented level of immersion. Any marketing campaign, from promoting the image of a brand to evoking emotions linked to your services, they can be captured in a whole new world.
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World Effects
Of all the various AR experiences, world effects are changing our world. They are created for back-facing cameras. By focusing on a blank plane, they make a 3D picture in the space in front of the user, allowing it to become part of that visual space.
They have a large scope. By mixing the digital and real-world, they make an experience that makes it possible for customers to connect with businesses. Older users would be surprised at the realism of modern AR world effects, but younger people will enjoy the 3D figures and objects suddenly popping up in their rooms.
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Mini-Games
Mini-games make it possible for users to participate in short games by tapping on their screens or by using face gestures. They are the most interactive types of AR filter experiences, exciting users, and encouraging word-of-mouth sharing.
They are a quick and easy way to keep users occupied, while everyone else is looking for things to fill the time. Users will interact with the branding of the mini-games, thereby stimulating active thought on the product being advertised.
Since they are mostly based on face filters, they can be easily shared, making it possible for users to share their scores and funny moments with their followers.
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Image Trackers
Image trackers enhance a physical image with more layers of content and information. They are the perfect way to include depth to any marketing campaign, rising materials like posters and merchandise to the next level.
They make it possible for users to interact with a business while using physical context to drive consumers to further engage with posters, logos, or billboards.
It is easy to engage users with an image tracker after viewing a physical product or advert. With the ability to work well together with other forms of advertisement, image trackers can be exciting and boost the advertising campaign of your brand.
Conclusion
Now, more than ever, you need to harness the power of AR filter experience. With the uncertainties in the world, the virtual world has become important. They have the unique ability to add dynamism and excitement to your new reality. By blurring the lines between the real and virtual worlds, AR filter experiences can drive home important messages and lift morale in these trying times.