Augmented reality filters, or simply masks, have become a real trend on Instagram. Brands, celebrities, and regular users create their own masks. In this article, we explain how a mask can help promote an Instagram account and provide a detailed guide on creating one.
How masks are useful for business
1. Attracting new subscribers
Instagram Stories are currently at the peak of popularity. Fun effects attract users' attention; masks go viral and spread across the web. People take selfies with them, share them with friends who also become interested and want to create stories with the new mask. This way, more and more users become aware of you, increasing interactions with the account and the number of subscribers.
For example, in the winter of 2018, "Dodo Pizza" created an unusual AR filter — a dancing Dodo bird. This brought the pizzeria's account 8,000 new subscribers in 2 weeks!
As the saying goes, it's better to see once than hear a hundred times. Kylie Jenner used this principle by creating a mask for Kylie Cosmetics, which allows users to try different shades of lipstick. The ability to apply lipstick in virtual mode helps subscribers choose a color and make a purchase.
Many brands of clothing, glasses, and jewelry create masks for Instagram that allow users to try on items. Subscribers welcome such innovations enthusiastically!
3. Increasing brand awareness
The Russian cuisine restaurant "Teremok," specializing in pancakes with various toppings, developed a creative mask. Users were invited to try on their favorite pancakes from the restaurant's menu on their faces. Subscribers enthusiastically embraced the idea, leaving a lot of positive emotions.
A mask is a great way to promote your product or service. The brand name will be indicated in the story of each user, presenting the mask developer. If you created the mask yourself, this is free advertising for you. Even if you had to pay a designer for its development, it's a one-time expense, providing long-term benefits of increased subscribers and clients.
5. Event promotion
The magazine Glamour decided to celebrate its 15th anniversary with a festive mask GlamQueen featuring a muffin and branded crown. This helped the event receive many mentions in top media. Now the magazine's account has a whole collection of masks.
Advertising with popular bloggers provides a great effect. And when it's not just a boring post, but a bright mask in the story of a favorite, it has every chance to go viral.
It's great if you can make a barter arrangement with the blogger. Exchanging brand products for mask advertising is a two-pronged approach: attracting subscribers both with the mask and your product if the blogger gives positive feedback and users appreciate the product.
Mask creation guide in Windows 10
1. Download and get acquainted with the mask creation program
Masks are created in a special program Spark AR Studio. Previously, it was only available for Mac OS devices, but now also for Windows 10 (unfortunately, the program cannot be installed on other versions of Windows).
Download the program from the link above, install it on the computer, and open it.
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Scene — manipulation area; masks are added here.
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Assets — area with materials, textures, and imported objects.
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View window — central screen area where objects are controlled and resized using arrows; here is also the "simulator" that shows how your mask will look on a mobile device.
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Inspector — the right panel where objects are modified.
If you have Photoshop on your computer, it's simpler. You'll just need to download the face layout template on which you'll apply the mask. You can do this here.
Next, we'll create the texture, i.e., our mask. These two files will help understand the best way to draw and place the intended object.
In this area, the main thing is your imagination. You can choose any inscription or image, like a brand name or logo, and place it on the chosen face area. We'll play around with this alien.
Disabling background layers is very important, don't forget to do it!
Return to the Spark AR Studio application and create a new project: right-click in the Scene area, click Add, then FaceTracker.
We get FaceTracker0. Right-click on it, then Add again and select FaceMesh. We have a base where textures can be placed.
But that's not all. On the left, click FaceMesh0, then on the right panel on "+", on the Materials tab — select material0. And voila! Our alien appears on the model's face.
We go the same way FaceTrecker0 → Add → FaceMesh and add another material through + Add Assets. Then on the right panel, in the first line, Shader Type, open the drop-down list and select the last item — Retouching.
5. Testing the mask
When the work is completed, the mask can be tested on a smartphone. To do this, click the phone icon with an arrow in the lower left corner. A window appears where you need to select Send to App and click Send next to Instagram Camera.
6. Saving, exporting, and uploading the mask
To save the mask on the computer, open File on the top panel and click Export and Upload. The file size with the mask should not exceed 40 MB. In the window that appears, this parameter will be checked, if everything is OK, a green circle with a checkmark will appear. Click Export File, give the file a name, in our case, let it be alien_mask, and click "Save." The file will be saved with the.arexport extension.
Then in this window, click Upload and wait for 100% load. The browser will automatically open Spark AR Hub — the service for publishing the effect.
The owner’s name and Instagram account will be automatically filled. Below it will be suggested to take or upload a demo video and a mask icon (cover), which can be made in Photoshop according to this instruction.
It remains only to choose visibility settings: as soon as possible or on a specific date and time. Mark whether the effect is used to promote a brand or product and familiarize yourself with the legal agreement.
When everything is done, click "Send". Approval of masks usually occurs without problems; the process can take up to 10 business days, but most often it does not last more than a day.
How much does a mask cost
A simple mask can easily be made by an SMM specialist. Adding a logo to a cheek, as we did with the alien, will take no more than 15 minutes. But if you want an animated or variable mask, something with gamification or another wow effect, you can contact a designer or a specialized agency.
The cost of the service, of course, depends on the complexity of development. A simple mask will cost 500 rubles, a gamified one may cost 20,000 rubles or more. The average price for a mask of medium complexity is 5,000 rubles.
Try to create a mask following the tutorial in our article. Perhaps the process will captivate you, and you can effectively use masks in your business without spending a dime.
