Instagram augmented reality filters have quickly been recognized as the platform’s most powerful viral marketing tool. However, many brand marketers haven’t yet had the opportunity to work with social media AR so understanding how to launch an effective Instagram AR campaign and measure the ROI can be a challenge.
We’ve put together this handy guide to help you understand how your audience can find and share your Instagram AR filter, how to best launch and promote your filter, and how you will be able to measure your audience engagement with your branded AR experience.
Your AR filter will be published directly to your profile and can stay there as long as you want it to; it is also easily accessible via a dedicated filter tab that sits directly under your Highlights reel after it goes live. When you post a story featuring your AR filter, you can add a ‘Try It’ button so that viewers can easily access your experience. Any Instagram users that create Story content using your filter will automatically have a button linked to the filter placed in the top left corner of the frame, so their followers can easily try it for themselves, too.
Tap the link button on the top of the screen once you’ve recorded your video of your filter (Instagram calls them ‘Camera effects’); a new screen will open with a ‘Swipe Up + Camera Effect’ button that will allow you to embed a link to your filter into your Story content. Your audience will then be able to simply tap the link to try it for themselves as they watch your Stories!
For branded Instagram AR filters, you can now tag your business partner (ie your Brand Ambassador or Influencer) with a label that says ‘Paid partnership with’ and the partner’s name. Your partner will also be able to see the metrics for your story.
You will also have the option to allow your Business Partner to promote your Instagram AR filter story; they will have the option to turn your tagged story into an ad. Just remember that once your story becomes an ad, you will have limited options for editing it and you won’t be able to turn this setting off. All ads are publicly listed in the Ad Library.
Your Instagram AR filter can also be published to your Facebook page as well when it is uploaded into your SparkAR hub, and you now have the option to publish augmented reality ads using your Facebook Ads Manager. This will allow your audience to interact with your products using your augmented reality camera effect from the Facebook News Feed. Use this new ad format to drive brand awareness, traffic, increase conversions and reach. Your ads will be available to your audience on the mobile Facebook news feed.
Anyone that sees Story content created using your filter can tap your filter name in the top left corner to try it for themselves!
This video shows you how to find your filter tab within your Instagram profile, and how to embed your filter CTA into your captured Story content.
Every Instagram AR filter has a unique URL that can be found inside your SparkAR hub. Use this link to drive engagement with your filter experience by posting it across your social media channels, embedding it in your website, app, or in other digital marketing collateral. You can also grab the link from within the Instagram app itself. When you open the filter from from Instagram Stories, tap on the filter name at the bottom of the screen. Tap the 'More' button and in the pop-up window and select 'Share Effect Link'. You can then copy the filter's unique link and share it! Any one that taps this link will be able to access your filter if they have they Instagram app downloaded in their phone.
Once your Instagram AR filter is live, you’ll be able to track metrics including Impressions (the number of times an effect has been displayed on screen), Opens (the number of times an effect has been opened) Captures (the number of times someone captured a photo or video that featured your effect in the Instagram camera), Saves (the number of times an effect has been saved to a user’s profile) and Shares (the number of times someone took and shared a photo or video that featured your effect to a story on Instagram).
You will also be able to see a detailed breakdown of the demographics of your audience, including gender, age, and the top Countries your audience is located in.
The most important thing to consider is just how your audience is going to find your Instagram AR filter. Many marketers expect to post it in one place, one time, and that it will go viral; but as with any social media marketing campaign you’ve got to consider a multi-channel strategy to really get your impressions, captures and shares up into the six or seven figures.
Leverage the same influencer tactics you use for non-interactive story or static branded content to launch your Instagram AR filter campaign: make sure your brand ambassadors post your filter content in their Stories or feeds multiple times over a period of weeks, or create a competition around your Instagram AR filter to really drive engagement. Filters can even be used while streaming on Instagram Live, which is a fantastic way to kick off the launch of your AR experience.
Instagram AR filters transform your audience from passive observers into active participants, and empower your audience to spread your message for you. Use this powerful viral marketing tool to allow your audience to engage with your brand messaging like never before!
