FACEBOOK INTRODUCED A NEW ADVERTISING PLATFORM
The social media and tech giant, Facebook, has announced the arrival of several tools for businesses that will be introduced into the social platform and other media outlets as well as Instagram.
Augmented reality will now allow users and customers to try on products such as sunglasses through Facebook. Then, utilising the power of social media, the platform allows sharing what you look like to the community or straight to the store.
In the summer of 2016, the Pokémon GO game created a global firestorm obsession, which still continues, with augmented reality at its core that changed the direction of how application and games were developed. With the number of augmented reality users growing, in May 2018 Facebook announced the release of a new toolkit that would allow software developers to repurpose augmented reality to allow potential customers to connect with their brands and effectively experience their product before actually purchasing or downloading.
For example, Sephora, one of the first businesses that were given access to the feature, can use augmented reality to allow customers to 'try on their cosmetics'. First, on Facebook Messenger, augmented reality will now make its way to the news feed, with a number of businesses testing out the new advertising tool, such as Micheal Kors, who uses the tool in ads to allow people to try on a pair of sunglasses and then decide to purchase based on their experience.
Additionally, in an attempt to rival YouTube, Facebook also announced the release of a new video creation kit which will allow users to create mobile-friendly advertisements by using images and overlays while incorporating your business’ logos. Early access to this kit, claimed a "77% increase in performance compared to the original static assets that ran on Facebook."
After the release of Instagram's new IGTV extension, the social media outlet under the Facebook umbrella will start to expand its shopping department as well, with tags acting as links directing to products previously found in posts, now expanding to stories for select brands, and available to all businesses by the holiday season.
The campaign feature 'collection' that combines video, images and products in a catalogue-like format also available in the near future.