Why you should use AR filters in your campaigns
There’s little sense in arguing that augmented reality (AR) is still an innovation in the world of digital marketing. Another thing is that, still, only a few marketologists actually know how to make the most of this tool in their hands. One of the most accessible and affordable ways to use the power of AR to create buzz around a brand and attract thousands of eyes to a product is AR filters that could be activated through any of the most popular social networks.
So why and how are these AR filters could help your brand — we’re about to find out.
- People LOVE to spend time on social networks and also love to have a good time there.
Here are some figures to begin with: 1.4 billion people use Facebook regularly, almost 1 billion people do the same with Instagram, and 186 million use Snapchat every day. In total, it’s more than 2.5 billion potential digital interactions for brands.
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Then, another important factor to consider is how those people use their social networks. Let’s take Instagram, for example. According to AdEspresso, 500 million people use insta stories every day; 80% of active Insta-users see stories more frequently than scroll through their photo feed; and a third of all Insta-users demonstrate more interest to a brand after seeing its stories.
The question is: why not make this time spent in the social media more interesting and fun for users, at the same time, attracting more eyes to a brand? Branded AR filters aim to do exactly that.
2. Social networks are different: something might work in one, but will barely give any result in another
Here’s a simple example: Instagram vs Snapchat. Instagram has become the undoubted leader when it comes to brand promotion in the social media, while Snapchat is a perfect weapon for what is known as “camera marketing.” In her pitch for marketologists, product marketing lead for Snapchat Carolina Arguelles told that camera marketing will set the tone for digital marketing for the next 10 years. And it is only natural, as this type of communication to customers offers a great variety of ways how to influence a young audience, which actively explores all new Snapchat features, including new AR filters.
As MarketingLand reports, Snapchat users share 250 million AR filters every day and spend 33 minutes in the app on average, looking at each AR filter for 3 minutes on average. Snapchat offers hundreds of AR filters to its users. At the same time, it also offers to all marketologists to widen the traditional marketing dimension and grab this audience’s attention with this interactive AR advertising.
3. Remember the three words: FUN, INTERACTIVITY, SIMPLICITY
One of the most successful and simple examples of using AR filters marketing-wise is Gatorade’s 2016 Super Bowl Campaign. To make this trick work, the company didn’t even have to spend a single dollar on TV ad time — they just made a simple and fun AR filter for Snapchat and launched it just before Super Bowl.
GIF: http://www.adweek.com/files/2016_Feb/serena-snapchat.gif
This three-year-old case shows how simplicity and timing helped to boost the brand’s reach: the filter gathered 160 million views, which is more than 50 million more than the great football game itself. Moreover, it also helped to increase the purchase intent among Gatorade’s audience by 8%.
If you are looking for a fresher example of a big brand’s campaign that involves AR filters, look no further than the campaign for a new Mercedes Benz CLA Coupe 2019. In this campaign, German automobile giant appealed to a younger audience of future leaders with a motto “Play by Your Rules.” A nice touch of this campaign is an Instagram AR filter that adds a signature neon glowing effect. Simple, stylish, and connects perfectly with a young audience of Instagram users.
A great example of a Halloween mask.
In general, Linkedin is very competent at the moment to show what and where the most interesting masks come out.
4. Use an AR filter to study your audience
Last but by far not the least, every social media platform offers exhaustive statistical data for every AR filter. How much time a user spends interacting with a filter, how frequently a user interacts with a filter, how many times a user makes photos and videos with a filter and shares them — the list goes on and on. That’s a hefty chunk of analytical info for marketologists right there!
Returning to Arguelles’ pitch, she also revealed that in 2018 alone more than 350 000 original AR filters were created on Snapchat and the absolute majority were created not by companies with serious budgets, but by ordinary users themselves. These users had no marketing budgets or IT teams behind them, which points out once again to the accessibility and universality of this tool.
And there’s no doubt that the marketing trend for AR filters would only continue its growth. Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg revealed at this year’s F8 conference the full-scale release of Instagram Spark AR platform for AR filters creators, which means that anyone will be able to create a branded AR filter on Instagram. Great news for more than one billion people that use AR content in Instagram and those marketers that want to use this opportunity before the market is too crowded.
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