The AR filter is a very powerful trendy social media feature that can boost brand awareness. It is widely used and can be seen in every nook and cranny of Instagram. This is because the online media audience is becoming more and more attracted to interesting dynamic images to play around with. And this is exactly why Instagram AR filters totally sweep attention off its feet. NeverSea Festival organizers couldn’t agree more after their Instagram AR filters reached over 1.7 million people on the fourth day of its launch.
AR generally is becoming a fast-growing veritable market tool of our time. The AR market is estimated to grow from $10.7 billion in 2024 to $72.7 billion by 2024.
Houz, a home renovation and design company shared how the AR feature in their app has been used by over a million people when buying products. They revealed that customers who used the tool were 11x more likely to make a purchase and spent 2.7x more in the app.
WHAT ARE INSTAGRAM AR FILTERS
Instagram Augmented Reality filters (AR filters) are computer-generated effects superimposed over a real-life image a camera displays. They add a layer of imagery in the foreground or background of the image.
AR filters were first introduced on Instagram in 2017 but were only for selected users. By August of 2024, the new Spark AR Studio was launched and creating AR filters was made free and accessible to all Facebook and Instagram users. The filters spread like wide fire and this is why it has almost limitless possibilities in attracting desired brand awareness for businesses.
Brands can now create their own AR filter and share it on their Instagram Stories and Highlights. Knowing how to maximally use these cool filters to attract and convert your target audience can be a turning point in your online campaign efforts.
HOW BRANDS ARE USING AR FILTERS
If you’re new to Instagram AR Filters for online marketing, you might wonder how dog ears or flowers popping up in your video or picture can bring you right in front of your target audience.
Yes, it can. If done creatively, it may be your golden key to the doors of brand awareness and conversion.
In 2024, Canadian singer Michael Bublé celebrated his fifth major album with a snowfall lens AR filter launched across Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat. Within the first three days of launching, the filter had over 5.4 million impressions with close to 3.7 million plays.
To make your filter trend, you have to create one that your audience cannot resist. The Spark AR platform keeps evolving and packs many categories of cool effects you can use for your custom filters. The list runs from funny effects to interactive games and quizzes and many more. Even a world AR effect that lets you place an object in a real environment is available on the platform.
AR filters not only promote brands but can also inform buying decisions and thereby increase conversion. An example is Kylie Jenner’s lipstick filter of 2024. The filter let her users virtually try on different lip shades before making a purchase.
Also, home and living companies like WestWing are using AR filters to fit their furniture right into real environments. With their filters, they let potential customers virtually see how tables will look when placed in their own home spaces.
BENEFITS OF USING INSTAGRAM AR FILTERS FOR ONLINE MARKETING
Here are some of the benefits that should make you delve right into AR filters for increasing brand awareness and conversion.
INCREASED ENGAGEMENT WITH TARGET AUDIENCE
There’s actually a reason Instagram AR filters superimpose dog ears and flowers on people’s faces. This is because the creative ideas in these visual effects are amusing and highly trigger emotive reactions in humans. Thus, its viral usage.
This also accounts for the total engagement capacity of AR filters. As the amount of online information rise through the roof and attention span of internet users keep shrinking, AR filters have never been more relevant for a brand marketing. These filters can totally hold a user’s undivided attention for the couple of seconds he plays it before sending it out for fellow Instagrammers to see.
Even more awesome is the fact that these filters show the name of the creator. So when someone uses your filter, your brand name pops out at the top of the screen. This means that if your filter goes viral, more people will see your business brand and this could ultimately attract them to check out your business profile.
So, the more the filter spreads, the more close attention the brand is drawing to itself. And it is for this reason that you need to pour in a lot of creativity and allure into your AR filters.
UNLIMITED REACH
There is no current Instagram feature that can fetch your brand more audience than AR filters. This is because when a filter trends, it spreads across from one user to another. Launching a successful AR filter campaign will invariably increase your brand awareness and will create more interest in your products and possible conversions.
However, the downside to this is that your filter may become very popular and get abused. Though, this is not much of a problem. Instagram user policies and guidelines are quite stringent and will help ensure that your filter is not used offensively.
FREE ADVERTISING
What could be better than having your products and services right in front of your audience for free! With a creative AR filter, you will get free advertising across Instagram and not spend a dime.
All you will have to do is to create a captivating custom filter and launch it. Then you sit back, grab a snack and watch it go viral.
The key to your AR filters spreading across the platform is simple. If you want your target audience to go bananas about it, ensure to create a high-quality, engaging filter that passes your brand identity. The need for a creative AR filter cannot be overemphasized.
When you get this done, then everyone who uses your filter doesn’t only put your brand name out to a wider audience, but sort of signify an endorsement of your business brand.
David Beckham promotes Adidas game filter
HOW TO GET STARTED WITH YOUR BRAND AR FILTER
Getting your custom AR filter is not a difficult task. You can get it done yourself if you looking to cut down cost in your budget. The Spark AR platform offers different tutorials that help you easily learn how to use the platform.
Before you start creating your filter, there are important factors you must carefully consider and they’re:
- The objective of the filter
- Your target audience
- The call to action (CTA) which the filter will achieve
Having an objective for your filter is important in determining its direction. Whether you want to educate your audience, improve brand awareness or generate more leads, you need to have a clear goal and create a filter that will achieve it.
Also, determine the specific target audience you want to appeal to and create a filter that will attract everyone within that category.
The filter should equally have a clear call to action. Depending on your objectives, your filter may contain a “share” text or CTA that directly leads to your website where purchases can be made.
When you have all these thought out, download the Spark AR app and start creating.
Sometimes, it may be difficult to discover an innovative way to present a visually compelling filter for your brand. What you can do is to go out there and find out what’s trending and how related businesses are using AR filters for marketing.
You can also consider getting help. There are AR filter creators and companies that skillfully create AR filters. Outsourcing your filter creation will likely ensure a more compelling result suitable to engage your audience based on your brand objectives.
MAKING YOUR AR FILTER GO VIRAL
After you have created your AR filter, start promoting it on your Stories and Highlights. However, don’t rely on this alone to make your filter go viral. You should use a combination of other online marketing strategies to promote your filter.
Leveraging on Instagram influencers can be a great way to make your filter spread quickly. You have to partner with an influencer who will consistently post your filter on their stories or feeds for faster spread and engagement. Importantly, team up with the right influencer. An Influencer with lots of your target audience as followers is exactly what you need.
Making use of filters while creating Instagram Live content is another fun way to get your viewers engaged while you pass information about your brand. The filters will add more colour to your message while hooking on your audience. You can also secure more audience engagement by creating competitions with game and quiz filters.
ALWAYS TRACK YOUR FILTER METRICS
Now your filter is ready and out, you need to track its performance to determine its success. The spark AR app offers this possibility as it lets you start to track your AR filter once it goes live.
With the app, you can track Impressions. Impressions are the number of times your filter has been displayed on screen. You can also ascertain the Captures and Shares. These mean the number of times a person captured or shared a photo or video which featured your filter.
To find these metrics, go to Spark AR Hub and to the Insights page. Click on the ‘All effects’ dropdown on the right-hand side and choose the effect you want to see metrics for. All the information you need will be displayed.
The metrics will help you to evaluate your efforts and progress. With it, you can decipher what is or is not working and ways to optimize and re-strategize your marketing campaign.
FINAL WORD
Businesses are leveraging the power of AR filters to change how they engage customers and to rise above their competition. The capabilities AR filters provide are huge and can be the marketing tactic to make your brand go viral.
