Every once in a while, the internet is taken by storm with videos of the hilarious use of Instagram Filters. It’s all fun in games, but did you know that these filters can help you as a brand to grow and open new opportunities like involve new auditory.
Why should I use Instagram Filters?
With over 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram is a place where businesses and
consumers engage in a creative way to produce new content. One-third of the most-viewed Stories are from businesses, and as an owner of a small business or own blog, you need a unique way to engage with your new and existing audience.
That’s where Instagram Filters become a useful tool to create branded content for your business, add value to your products, and promote your business (store, your personal brand, restaurant, blog, etc). Plus, you can order them from professionals.
What is an Instagram filter and the main goals of usage
Based on the goals, we move on to the idea of the filter.
An Instagram AR filters allows Instagram users to achieve their goals in promoting personal brand or business. There are lots of categories for Instagram filters, which can be generalized into 5 types of AR experiences that you can explore:
Where can my audience see it?
When you create your first Augmented Reality Instagram filter it will be published to your
brand’s Instagram page in the dedicated filter tab. Whenever an Instagram user shares a Story with your filter, it becomes accessible to their followers as well. Each filter has a name that can be seen in the top left corner. How to find AR filters see in the article by Morphy.
Each Instagram filter has a unique link that can be shared outside of the platform. When you click on the link, it takes you directly to the Instagram camera with the effect already loaded. Since the majority of online shoppers are using their phones to make their purchases, you can include the filter link in a pop-up that appears after checkout, and in your ads as well.
Examples of usage AR
Using this technology, you can enable corporate colors, and other Instagram stories filter settings and take advantage of the marketing benefits of augmented reality. Whether it’s promotions, giveaways, or new product launches, the nifty AR filter complements the branding to interact with your customers.
For example, let’s say you’re planning to run a social media ad campaign. In this case, all you need is a QR code – after hovering over it, Instagram or Facebook will launch and an augmented reality filter will appear.
Or you can create an exclusive experience, by adding a QR code to one of your products from the wall art category. When the customer scans the QR code, Instagram opens up and reveals extra details of the printed design. This will give your product that added value.
For all of this to work, you need to:
- Know exactly what niche audience your business is targeting to create relevant content that would interest them
- Plan the dynamics of your filter, how the elements will interact with the environment,
and the facial expressions of your audience
- Look through many AR filter ideas to create your own and unique
How can I make my own Instagram filter?
You can create custom Instagram filters with free open-source software available both on mac and windows called Spark AR studio. This software can help you build your filters from the ground up. It has plenty of tutorials to get you started, premade templates that you can customize, and an extensive library with 3d assets.
If you want to take your brand to the next level, create a unique experience for your customers and audience, this is where you should invest your time little by little. Not that long ago, Augmented Reality was exclusive to top brands like Ikea, who used it in their app to let users in some regions place 3d models of the furniture in their homes before buying the product.
After the release of Spark AR Studio, Augmented Reality became more accessible to the public, and it won’t be long before AR becomes the next new normal of shopping experience.
