The Magical Effect of Facebook Custom AR Ads on Consumers' Brains

Augmented reality (AR) ads are going to be a game-changer in the world of advertising. While AR has been a growing trend on social media in the past few years in the form of AR filters, such as Snapchat Lens or Instagram Filters, it has only been recently that advertisers are able to create their own custom AR ads to publish on social media. Augmented reality advertising provides a new medium that offers unparalleled brand experiences that features engagement and conversion rates like never before. 

To illustrate the effectiveness of augmented reality on consumers, Neuro-Insight, a neuromarketing and neuro analytics company, has partnered with Mindshare UK and Zappar to examine the neurological effects of augmented reality on consumers’ brains. The results of the study (Layered) are shocking, showing an unprecedented level of difference between the sample group who used augmented reality in their tasks versus the sample group who didn’t. 

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There are two main findings from Layered that we think are really remarkable. The first insight is that AR drives nearly double (1.9x) levels of visual attention in the brain when compared to other mediums, such as TV. This means that not only are consumers more engaged, but they are also experiencing increased levels of emotional intensity. And this is crucial to advertisers because increased levels of emotional intensity mean that brands will also make a more lasting impression on their target audience, which in turn helps with purchasing and decision-making. Next, it was also found that memory encoding is a whopping 70% higher with augmented reality. This is very significant because memory encoding is the key to increasing brand awareness. Without retention of the content, consumers won’t be able to recall a brand or its products and will make it significantly more difficult for the brand to become top-of-mind in the eyes of consumers. This study demonstrates just some of the qualities that augmented reality advertising provides for advertisers. 

What are Facebook augmented reality ads?

Of all the different types of ads within augmented reality advertising, Facebook AR ads have shown great promise. Essentially, with custom AR ads on Facebook, advertisers can create camera effects to allow consumers to interact with their products on the Facebook mobile News Feed. When someone clicks on the ad, a visual overlay opens up with the camera effect along with the call to action (CTA). This is part of Facebook’s overall strategy of transitioning to more of an e-commerce platform. Recently, Facebook Pay—Facebook’s secure payment service—was rolled out to several select countries. With this integration, we will see users be able to virtually try-on products and then seamlessly transition to checking out directly on the app in the near future. 

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Why is this important? Simply put, the more tedious the checkout process is, the harder it will be to get conversions. With custom AR ads and Facebook Pay working together, it streamlines the process to purchase, which in turn speeds up purchasing decisions and triggers impulse buying. 

It is also important to note the different metrics available to advertisers with Facebook AR ads. Because the AR ads are a combination of Facebook Instant Experiences and video ads, there is a considerable amount of metrics available for use. Examples of metrics include Instant Experience View Time, Landing Page Views, Link Clicks, Duration metrics, Effect Shares, and more. Click here for a full list of metrics for augmented reality ads. 

Why is augmented reality advertising so effective? 

Augmented reality advertising is becoming even more popular because of COVID-19. Many brands had to adjust their marketing strategies in order to keep their brand top of mind in the eyes of consumers when in-person brand-to-customer communication is so limited nowadays. Through pilot projects and studies, custom AR ads have proven to be effective time and time again. In one particular study by 3D model marketplace Sketchfab, it was found that implementing augmented reality advertising in a brand’s marketing strategies actually increased sign-up conversions and click-through rates by 633% and 376% respectively. 

This type of engagement and conversion, when used at a time when digital consumption has skyrocketed through the roof, has provided advertisers with a great ROI. In fact, according to Forbes, the global content consumption per day before the pandemic was just a little over three hours. Now, it has risen to nearly seven hours. With so many advertisers pushing their traditional ads (such as static photo ads) on social media, augmented reality advertising will stand out and create long-lasting impressions of the brand to consumers.

Moreover, not only have consumers been viewing more digital content, but the number of consumers using AR is also increasing at a rapid rate. Studies have shown that the size of the global mobile AR user market is expected to reach 2.4 billion by 2023. With this opportunity in mind, brands are investing in AR assets such as Facebook AR ads early on to capitalize on the technology while it is still fresh. 

How do you create a custom AR ad on Facebook?

Publishing an AR ad on Facebook is like publishing any other ad on Ads Manager. According to Facebook, these are the steps:

1. Go to Ads Manager.
2. Click + Create.
3. Select an objective that supports Augmented Reality Ads (Brand Awareness, Reach, Traffic or Conversions) and click Continue.
4. Select your audience, placements and budget and click Continue.
5. Below Format, click Single Image or Video.
6. Upload your feed video. Click Upload Video to upload a new video or Browse Library to select a video from your library.
7. Select the checkbox next to Add an Instant Experience, then select Add AR Experience.
8. Click Use Template to open the Add an AR Experience window.
9. Click Effect and choose the effect you want to use from the dropdown menu. 
10. Add the Website URL and Call to Action, then click Done.
11. Click Text Overlay and choose the action from the dropdown menu you want people to take. You can choose Tap to try it on, Tap to interact or Tap to see it in your space.
12. To preview your Augmented Reality Ad, click Preview on Mobile.
13. In your Facebook app, tap the notification to open your preview.
14. When you’re happy with your Augmented Reality Ad, click Done.

While the process of publishing an AR ad is simple enough, the hardest part of the whole process is producing these AR assets. Not only does it take expertise and experience to produce engaging and high-quality AR ads, but the assets also have to abide by Spark AR Review Policies. This is where New Future Creative comes in. We are an agency specializing in creating custom AR assets for brands. Our team knows the value of augmented reality ads and how to create one that could serve as an effective and affordable marketing tool.

Ready to get your own AR filter? Reach out to us at info@newfuturecreative.com or leave a message through our website here. We are super stoked to hear about your ideas and turn them into reality.