3 Steps to Create Face Filters and Drive Engagement

Among the creative tools that help in the promotion of business and personal brand, face filters have become especially popular. 

For example, an illustrative example is the success of the Michael Kors brand, which offered its subscribers to “try on” popular models of sunglasses, which led to higher sales. 

In fact, you can easily create face filters on your own. With our simple guide, you will learn about the three steps you need to do to get a successful creative.

In this article we will pay attention to the following aspects:

• What are face filters and their key benefits 
• 3 steps to create face filters 
• 2 use cases of face filter SDKs

What are face filters

At first, AR face filters caught the attention of Snapchat users. Over time, this tool has also become available to the audience of popular social networks such as Instagram and Facebook.

In simple terms, face filters are certain templates, by applying which the user can:

• change his own appearance;
• present himself as a funny animal;
• express his civic position.

If business leaders decide to create face filter, they can attract the attention of the audience and increase the number of potential customers, subscribers and even fans. For example, we can demonstrate on a real example the improvements that the company’s product will help achieve and attract the attention of new customers. This is relevant to all companies that work in the field of health and beauty. An illustrative example is the case of Mental Growth, who were able to use the FaceYoga filter to show their potential customers what they would be able to achieve if they started to follow the recommendations on a regular basis.

At the same time, companies that work in any field can achieve the following results by using filters:

• increase traffic to social media accounts;
• improve user engagement and interest for the brand;
• create the effect of “virality”, in other words, engage the audience through the use of simple content.

For example, we can mention the success of Ulta’s marketing campaign. Using AR-filters, the brand managed to increase engagement by 700%, while minimizing the costs of promotion.

3 Steps to Create Face Filters

There are three ways to create face filters: from scratch, SDK and open-source solutions.If creating from scratch or using open-source requires at least a basic knowledge of the features of development, the SDK is a simpler technology. The program itself already provides templates and even ready-made solutions.

The developer only needs to install the appropriate face filter software. Here it is important to understand that it is impossible to do without the face filter SDK (which means software development kit). Fortunately, today’s applications do not require any special training and work on most devices, and a minimum amount of free time is enough to understand the basic principles of their work. 

Now let’s look at the main stages of the work.

Step 1: Determine what type of filter to use

There are different options for augmented reality filters. If you have a desire to experiment and try to create a similar creative tool, you should first decide on the type of filter itself. Such variants have gained particular popularity:

1. Face tracking. These are popular masks with all sorts of decorations like a crown or a crown of thorns on the head, and here it is possible to “try on” ears like a kitty or a dog. They look funny and are popular among young people. 
2. Beauty filters. They correct the tone of the skin or allow you to create the impression of light makeup, get rid of so-called “flaws”, and seem slimmer. They have gained particular popularity among girls.
3. AR-games. They are more difficult to develop, but they look unusual. They allow the user to try himself in a game using a filter (for example, blinking his eyes, “catch” falling objects from the top of the screen). They attract attention and are particularly suitable for the promotion of brands.

Also, popular options include filters that allow you to “visualize” some object in the room. Each of the types may be relevant to a certain audience.

Step 2: Create three-dimensional objects and other creative elements

As practice shows, this is the step that scares a lot of people the most. In fact, there’s nothing difficult here. If we are talking about drawing full three-dimensional objects, then you can use the “classic” Adobe Photoshop as the basic software. 

If, however, such complications can be avoided, it is quite reasonable to use a face filter SDK. For example, Banuba is becoming quite popular. You can create a filter from scratch or use ready-made templates that are offered by experienced developers. For example, the “standard” options include all sorts of stickers and “boxes” with thoughts. They can be complemented with funny phrases and expressions. 

When making a creative from scratch, feel free to experiment. Do not be afraid to “play” with shades, shadows and other elements. The main thing is that the features of the program allow you to do it. All sorts of animation, changing the background and much more – combining all these parameters together, you can create a really unusual filter.

Before downloading the ready-made filter so that users can access it, you need to test it. To do this, you should download the appropriate application to your smartphone or tablet.

In case any flaws are detected, this can be eliminated immediately. You should not neglect this step.

Step 3: Integration

Once the filter is ready to use and tested, it can be uploaded to an app or social network, and used for other purposes (for example, video conferencing or creating unusual photo content). If we’re talking about integration with a social network, the filter is pre-loaded on a PC and then uploaded to Instagram or Facebook. In other cases, you can use the filter directly in the application where it was created, without first testing it.

When the filter reaches the users, do not think that the process of its creation is complete. In the future, you need to constantly analyze the statistics and understand how effective a particular solution was. If you notice that the coverage is too low and the statistics do not match the expectations, then it makes sense to change either the filter itself or the specifics of its distribution (for example, some companies hold contests, in which you can get prizes for creating photo content with their filter).

2 Use Cases of Face Filters SDK

Let’s look at two top cases that demonstrate the successful use of face filters SDK:  

1. The Indonesian cosmetics company Looké decided to attract users’ attention by launching a “virtual try-on” makeup experience. For this, they launched a full-fledged app that was downloaded by over 50,000 users. You can clearly see the result of the advertising campaign in the infographic.
2. The Burrow company, which is one of the leaders among the furniture manufacturers, gave the users an opportunity to look at how a certain object will look in the interior using augmented reality. As a result, the returns went down and the sales went up.

According to statistics, two of three customers prefer online stores with the possibility of using AR-viewing. This confirms once again that the implementation of technology should become the new reality for all entrepreneurs who strive for success.

Why to choose Banuba Face AR SDK

Banuba Face AR SDK is an application that allows you to create advanced 3D filters using face tracking technology.

Using the program, you can complement the filters with:

• animation effects;
• voice acting;
• unusual 3D elements.

The SDK allows you to realize any creative fantasies. For example, it is possible to make users change the color of their hair, the shape of the face, make a “virtual” makeup.

Using the SDK, you can create filters that are supported by most smartphones running on iOS and Android (97% and 80%). 

At the same time, business owners will be able to fully appreciate the results, which the use of AR-technology will help them achieve. 

They include the advantage of being constantly “heard”, popularity, sales growth and closing “objections” of customers.

Conclusion  

Modern methods of promoting brands and public personalities require non-standard approaches. The use of AR filters should not be neglected, because they are now very popular among users.

Many customers think that augmented reality requires complex development and a lot of time. Such a point of view is wrong. Modern software opens up almost unlimited prospects for anyone who is ready to spend a little time and understand the peculiarities of AR-reality. You only need to use your imagination and realize your ideas.