Snapchat has announced the date for their Annual 2021 Partner Summit:
“On May 20, 2021, we’ll be streaming our Snap Partner Summit and would love for you to join to hear the latest about new products, features, and partnerships across our AR efforts, platforms for creators like Lens Studio and Spotlight, and platforms for developers like SnapKit, Minis, and Games”.
According to the Snap Inc.’s Investor Relations website, the virtual event will “feature a keynote address by Snap Inc. co-founders Evan Spiegel, Chief Executive Officer, and Bobby Murphy, Chief Technology Officer, as well as other leaders from across the company”.
The Live Stream can be viewed on Snapchat’s Partner Summit website at 10 am Pacific Time and will be later uploaded on Snapchat’s official YouTube channel.
The Partner Summits – both future and past – have had a special focus on Augmented Reality (AR), with the Summer 2020 Summit featuring a panel discussion on how Snapchat’s AR platform has affected the way social media users interact with the world and each other.
Exciting announcements from 2021 included the introduction of machine learning to Lens Studio – a software that allows users to create custom AR lenses – and the edition of Dynamic Lenses – which allows users to share data such as weather or live scores – to AR experiences within Snapchat’s Creative Kit.
Snapchat also partnered with Gucci in 2020 to launch an exciting AR ‘shoe try-on’ campaign to hype their new sneaker collection. Using Snapchat’s AR technology and Lens Studio, Gucci created a cool try-on experience for 4 pairs of shoes: they created “2 Face + World Lens combinations : 1 Lens for each gender, and two different pairs of sneakers inside each Lens”. The campaign was a major success – with phenomenal user engagement leading to high sale transactions.
As seen with Gucci – it is clear that augmented reality allows brands to boost their social media marketing efforts. Young social media users love playing with AR filters: companies are able to capitalize on this behavior by using AR technology to create custom branded filters to improve self-promotion.
Moreover – with brick-and-mortar stores shut globally – AR features give companies the opportunity to provide customers with an innovative try-on-experience – which can ultimately lead to a boost in product sales. As a whole – AR is a perfect way for companies to boost overall engagement.
If you are a brand or individual who wants to maximize AR in their social media strategies – then you should definitely tune into Snap Inc.’s Annual Partner Summit on May 20th, 2021.