AR Revolution for Brands on Instagram

If you are an Instagram user there is no doubt you have come across Augmented Reality (AR) effects while going through your Instagram Stories. At the moment, only individual Creators enrolled for closed beta program are able to create and publish such effects using Facebook’s Spark AR platform. All funny masks, 3D models and virtual make-ups you are seeing right now on IG are created by individual people trying to improve the platform before offical release.

What it means is that brands are not yet allowed to conduct marketing campaigns using Augmented Reality on Instagram. BUT, it is about to change this summer. And frankly – the day when AR will be opened up for all brands, influencers and celebrities will be the biggest milestone and ultimate test in all of the Spark AR history.

In this article we would like all marketers and brands to take a closer look at what is about to come in the upcoming months and why everyone should get ready for it.

Why brands should be on Instagram?

1 billion active users

With 1 billion monthly active users and up to 50% of them using the app on the daily basis Instagram is already outrunning giants like Twitter or LinkedIn. And if we believe the data we have and the math, we can expect the network to reach 1,5B MAU by the end of 2019.

80% of all accounts follow a business on Instagram

If you ever wondered, if users tend to follow Instagram Business profiles here is your answer. 8 out of 10 do! Eagerness to follow brands presents a great opportunity to bring brand awareness on the next level, expose your products in the most natural way possible on social media and many more. Just imagine that Instagram is expected to account for nearly a quarter of all of Facebook’s ad revenue by the end of the year. Like the Deep Throat said – “Follow the money!”

64% of 18-29 year olds use Instagram

That means that Instagram is undeniably popular among young audience, which is great for you! Why? Because young audience tends to adopt new trends in marketing much more willingly, ergo introducing new technologies on Instagram is much easier than on any other social media platform.

53 minutes of average Time Spent on Instagram

The more time users spend on social media platform the more exposure for advertisements they have. One of the main reasons for increased time spent on Instagram was introduction of the Instagram Story feature. According to recode.net report form 2018 people spend more time only on Facebook.

Put it all in the bowl, spice it up with Augmented Reality and your audience will be served with the dish they will surely enjoy.

Why should brands use Instagram Camera Effects?

You might be asking yourself why should you use Instagram Effects instead of regular stories or posts. And that is perfectly good question to ask. Let’s be honest, you don’t see that many business effects neither on Facebook nor Instagram. However there are more than a couple of reasons to become an early adopter of AR and here is why:

Exponentially Growing Market

AR Market is already a huge one with it’s worth estimated at $3.5 billion according to Statista. And if that number impressed you, imagine that the same study claims that it will increase to $160 billion by 2023. What is more Digi-Capital forecasts that AR revenue will be three times higher than VR revenue by the end of 2020.

New followers

Users in order to see the effect have to follow it’s Creator. That means that well executed AR campaign should increase the number of followers of your brand. Also once user follows the brand’s IG profile they will be able to see all AR effects produced in the future.

Highly shareable and interactive UGC

If you are looking for an evidence that AR effects can go viral check out this post from Mikhail Murtazin‎ whose effect reach 1 billion views called Flying Face.

With gamification becoming an important part of AR experience we can only expect such massive engagement to occur more and more often.

Other Brands are already using it successfully during closed tests

Remember when we wrote that brands cannot make effects on Instagram? Well, we might have lied a little. As the statement that branded AR is not allowed on IG holds, there are some closed beta tests that are proving we are about to enter the new era of social media advertising. Pepsi, Coachella and Billie Elish, Kylie Jenner, Adidas, Gucci or Dior are examples of success stories of capitalizing AR on Instagram.

How to get ready?

Spark AR – i.e. platform for creating effects for Instagram is still relatively new, however there are already a bunch of experts in the field that can help you out with creating your first filters. Whether you are looking for a freelancer or creative studio that will take care of the whole process make sure to check our Creators Tab to connect with specialists you want to work with.