Snapchat’s has introduced in September 2015 more than 3,000 lenses, and they’re they are largely responsible for popularizing augmented reality. 70 million people interact with the lenses daily for more than three minutes on average. Snapchat is democratizing the format so that anyone can create their own lenses and attach them to posts. They will launch it soon and it is called lens studio, a desktop app for Mac and Windows. You can apply the lenses to photos and videos shared on Snapchat. There are limitations to the types of lenses that can be created using lens studio and how they can be distributed on Snapchat. For the first time, will enable any advertiser to incorporate a lens in a Snapchat campaign without the involvement of Snapchat’s sales team.

There are limitations to the types of Lenses that can be created using Lens Studio and how they can be distributed on Snapchat. But there are also loopholes built in that, for the first time, will enable any advertiser to incorporate a Lens in a Snapchat campaign without the involvement of Snapchat’s sales team.

Lens Studio creates the first opportunity for advertisers to include the Lens into a Snapchat campaign without requiring going through Snapchat’s team. To date, advertisers have always been able to attach Lenses to Snap Ads, but they had to work with Snapchat’s creative team to produce the Lens and its sales team to place the buy. Not anymore though, brands will be able to promote World Lenses produced through Lens Studio by attaching deep links to those Lenses to Snap Ads bought through Snapchat’s Ad Manager.

That way, brands will be able to promote and extend the reach of their Lenses. Deep linking enables Snapchat users to swipe up and tap a link, which will bring them to a specific place within another application, such as a playlist in a music app or a product page in an e-commerce app. When users utilize a Lens unlocked via Snapcode or deep link, it will be added to their Lens carousel where the regular Snapchat created, and Sponsored Lenses can be found. The Lens will appear in the carousel for 24 hours, the typical lifespan for any Lens. However, since the Snapcodes and deep links remain active for one year, the Lens can be re-added after that in a 24-hour window.

In addition to Snapcodes and deep links, users will be able to share their Lenses within Snapchat. Once a Lens is activated, an “i” icon will appear on the screen then the person can tap to share the Lens in a private message with friends on Snapchat. In turn, those friends will be able to share the Lens with their friends and on and on, that will make it easier for the potential brand’s independently produced Lens to reach the level of popularity previously limited to a Snapchat-produced Lens like the dancing hot dog or the Gatorade bath.

The creators can create their own lens through Lens Studio and publish it without going through the sale or creative teams of Snapchat and that they will be able to track the status of their created Lenses within Lens Studio, where Snapchat will report stats, plus the number of times a Lens was viewed and the number of times it was shared. This will bring more audience, more engagement and more interaction between the brand and its followers.

Source: marketingland.com