Instagram now supports AR Ads but what are these and how are they different from AR filters? How to create AR ads?
First thing first: What’s an AR Ad?
Meta Spark has announced earlier this month, a significant change in the game of their AR offering with the introduction of AR Ads on Instagram, which is currently in an open beta.
Meta Spark has announced earlier this month, a significant change in the game of their AR offering with the introduction of AR Ads on Instagram, which is currently in an open beta.
AR Ads can help brands create immersive experiences, encourage people to virtually try out their products and inspire people to interact with their brand as any AR filters but with the difference that you can make the AR experiences proposed become a conversion tool capable of driving sales thanks to their embed call-to-action. How cool for the Marketing industry huh?!
And the magic doesn’t stop there as Advertisers also have the opportunity to link up the AR Ads to campaigns within Meta Ads Manager and therefore promote the AR Ads just as any other ad type (pictures, videos, etc…).
Note, dear marketing padawan, that you’ll still have to prepare a demo video of the AR Ad for it to look good on your target audience’s feeds, reels, stories… AR can be a great conversion tool but it would be a shame if people don’t even start the experience because the Ad prompting them too doesn’t look cool.
From the pure advertising perspective, advertisers can now drive scale of their AR effects across Facebook and Instagram using the Awareness, Reach and Traffic objectives. Adding augmented reality effects to mobile ads can significantly improve campaign performance, and we have found that advertisers see additional value in including Facebook AR ads to their current campaign strategies.
Sounds interesting. But how does the user journey look like?
From an AR ad unit, audiences can tap the call-to-action button to enter the AR Ads Camera. From there, they can:
- Interact with the AR Experience.
- Tap or hold the shutter button to take a photo or video, then share to Instagram Stories for other people to see your ad.
- Tap the call-to-action button at the bottom of the camera to continue to a URL. For example, you can encourage people to visit your website to learn more or to purchase a product.
Ok, I’m in. How to create an AR Ad then?
- Go to Ads Manager.
- Tap the green « + Create » button.
- Choose between the following campaign objectives that support AR ads: Brand Awareness, Traffic, Conversions (Facebook only), Reach
- Enter all required information and settings for the campaign and ad set.
- On ad level, select Add an Instant Experience.
- Tap the Choose a Template selector and select the AR Experience template. A new pop-up window will appear.
- Tap Effect to choose your ad effect. Only effects that have been approved are shown in the dropdown.
- Tap the Camera Facing dropdown to choose which camera, front or back, your AR effect will use.
- In the Destination section, tap the dropdown and choose your call-to-action label, then enter a website URL. The URL must start with “https”.
- To preview your AR effect on your mobile phone, tap Preview on Mobile. A notification will appear in your Facebook app.
- Tap Done.
- In the Ad Creative section, tap Add Video. Select the video you want to use for your ad and tap Next. Apply adjustments to your ad creative if applicable, then tap Done. You must use video creative for AR ads.
- Enter the Primary Text and Headline for your video ad.
- Leave Display Link blank to show the Open Camera label on the ad.
- Below Text Overlay, choose the Call to Action you want people to take after viewing your video.
- To preview your entire AR ad, tap the 3 dots in the top-right corner and choose Send Notification to Facebook. We’ll send you a notification in the Facebook app on your mobile device.
- Tap Publish.
Conclusion: AR Ads rock
Cases for AR ads are numerous and especially interesting for product tryons with an obvious focus on beauty products, jewelry, fashion accessories etc...
And as AR filters, they are quite a creative tool that has the big pro of increasing brand memorization but also bring brand experience to a whole new level. While performing better than traditional pictural Ads as this study suggest.
We see the biggest potential being for interior design, especially since today’s introduction of the Multiple plane tracker in Spark AR. I mean what about using it to try on an art piece you’d like to buy or even to explore a liflting of your home’s interior design just like the good old AR feature on Ikea app huh?
Now go out there and pitch AR Ads your Marketing superstar. We’ll support you if you encounter any challenge along the way.
Find technical and/or emotional support in your AR creation journey? Join the Lab
Do you have questions about the an AR Ad specificity, or anything else related to XR tech? Join our community on the Lab and let’s chat!
Originally published at https://lab.popul-ar.com on November 2, 2022.
