Image Credit: Fallon Havanna, Romero Jennings wearing filter for Lotstar, Model at Private Policy show wearing filter for Submission Beauty.
Digital marketing is ever-evolving with innovative technology that keeps businesses on their toes, forcing them to never stop learning about how to advertise to an intended audience while building authentic relationships. Augmented Reality (AR) advertisements on Instagram are an emerging opportunity reshaping the way businesses promote products and interact with consumers online.
In this blog post, we will explore what AR ads are and how to develop successful Instagram AR ads. You will gain insight into how they can help you improve audience reach and generate sales.
Table of Contents
Understanding the Marriage between AR Effects and AR Ads
Augmented Reality is an innovative technology that can bring digital elements into the physical world, enhancing the user’s perception of reality.
Regarding marketing, AR effects are a strategic tool that helps improve organic customer reach through personalized and memorable experiences that capture the eye of the consumer. For instance, filters inspire social media users to communicate virtually with brands and their products.
On Instagram, content creators often use AR effects to bring intrigue and fun to their posts to increase engagement. The average user enjoys utilizing AR to test beauty products, try on clothing, become different characters, or share captured moments with a stylized twist.
Image Credit: Filter by Dior Beauty
AR advertisements, in turn, are more brand-oriented. Their primary focus is to engage users and educate them on products through experiences like virtual try-ons, mini-games, and other immersive effects. AR ads help amplify the result of those interactions with the potential for direct sales conversions.
There is a significant opportunity to incorporate paid and organic advertising into your immersive content. According to Statista, the AR advertising market can increase to $4.3B in 2023, with an annual growth rate of 11.81%, and reach $6.72B by 2027 globally. AR ads are the tool that will help turn users into consumers.
The Integration of AR Advertisements on Social Media
Social media has become a powerful marketing channel due to its vast user base and targeting capabilities. Yet, as consumers are ever-evolving, businesses need more than 2D static advertisements to attract and hold their attention.
Organic engagement is where Augmented Reality shines. It is nothing short of innovative regarding its highly immersive effect that excites brands and their consumers. However, expanding its reach into social media advertising is a recent development you can use to your advantage.
Image Credit: Filter by Jenny Bird
Improving Customer Engagement
AR advertisements can help you build strong connections with your community through interactive branded content. Through those experiences, users actively engage with brands, products, and services. This can boost conversion rates, as consumers are more likely to consider purchasing after meaningful interactions.
Personalization and Data-Driven Targeting
AR ad targeting is just like regular ad targeting. It delivers highly personalized content based on user data. Brands can tailor AR experiences to make content more relevant to their intended audience. This data-driven strategy encourages consumers to purchase, creating a more promising ROI and satisfaction.
Increasing Direct Sales
Through AR advertisements, users can virtually try on products using AR features and purchase by following the direct link to the company’s website. This streamlined approach creates a seamless shopping experience that is fun and efficient.
Why AR Ads on Instagram are Efficient
Instagram merging AR and advertisement is changing the social media game. According to Business Instagram, “Advertisers can now drive scale of their AR effects across Facebook and Instagram using the Awareness, Reach and Traffic objectives.”
Driving Sales
Instagram AR effects motivate consumers to interact with brands and products virtually. Due to embedded call-to-actions, AR ads allow those experiences to become a conversion tool for generating sales.
Increasing Brand Awareness
AR effects are customized to highlight a brand's identity and message. This strategy helps them stand out and leave a lasting impression on their audience. Users often remember brands that deliver an engaging AR experience and share it with their followers.
User-Generated Content Sharing
Effects published as AR ads are just like regular filters that anyone can interact with. For example, when brands create compelling AR ads, users often share those interactions with their followers. User-generated content helps expand organic campaign reach, allowing for an increase in brand exposure.
Gathering Data Insights
Instagram provides advertisers with valuable data on the performance of AR ads. Data insights can include user engagement, click-through rate, and impressions, which allow brands to elevate their advertising strategies.
Image Credit: Filter by Givenchy Beauty
Creating a Successful Instagram AR Advertisement
Promotion
As AR advertisements are dynamic, using videos to represent AR ad effects is essential when promoting. AR advertising can be placed into stories, reels, and in-feed posts. All options provide similar capabilities in allowing users to test products, share videos using AR effects, and purchase products through a call-to-action link. All strategies increase engagement and the potential to drive sales.
Opening Video
The most crucial part of an AR ad is the opening, which is the first thing users see when scrolling through their feeds. Advertising content should be short, creative, and educational to grasp the consumers' attention and prepare them for what's to come. Essentially, it is all about making an impactful and positive first impression.
Branding
When designing an AR ad, consider bringing branding to the forefront. Within the virtual space, you can implement creative techniques to increase awareness of your brand and products. These techniques can include 3D replicas of products, packaging, and logos that are reactive to the user actions.
Effect Interactivity
Interactive content enables brands to attract and connect with their audience. Within AR advertisements, brands can create interactivity by designing immersive environments, gamified features, and dynamic elements that react to user movements. Whether it is beauty or fashion, interactivity inspires users to create long-term engagement, which leads to more robust consumer connections and potential sales.
Image Credit: Meta
For Instagram users, their journey through AR ads can look like this:
Encounter the ad on their feed.
Interact with the filter.
Share themselves using the filter (optional).
Visit the brand's website.
Make a purchase.
Augmented Reality advertising within platforms like Instagram redefines how brands connect with their audience. They offer immersive experiences that drive engagement and the potential to increase direct sales. As digital marketing and AR technology progress, businesses adopting this advertising strategy will be at the forefront of this digital marketing evolution, ensuring continued success.
If you have any questions about how to strategize and design an AR ad for your brand, reach out to info@maquillar.studio or book a consultation with us here.