Snap Inc. today started rolling out a new tool that will enable brands to harness its app’s augmented reality capabilities to target their audiences more directly.

The offering, Shoppable AR, is built on Snapchat’s popular Lens feature. The capability lets users overlay augmented reality filters on their faces to generate elaborate, custom-fit visual effects. Companies can pay Snap to create branded Lenses that act as product placements within the photos that consumers share with contacts.

Shoppable AR expands upon the existing marketing features by introducing the ability for audiences to interact directly with a promotion. With the tool, advertisers can now include a button in their custom Lenses to let users watch a promotional video, install an app or visit a website.

A retailer looking to promote a new product could produce a filter with a button for quickly bringing up the section of its online store containing the relevant item. Likewise, a film studio might use the capability to let users play a movie trailer. Enabling consumers to perform such actions directly within Snapchat reduces the number of steps required to to engage with a brand, which should theoretically help boost the performance of marketing campaigns.

Shoppable AR offers companies access to a sizable audience. Snapchat claims 70 million people view Lenses every day, while users exposed to branded Lenses interact with them for an average of 10 to 15 seconds.

The tool is part of an effort by Snap to sustain its revenue growth. The company saw revenue jump a staggering 72 percent in the fourth quarter to $285.7 million, beating analyst expectations.

Snap is also harnessing its app’s augmented reality features to boost user retention, an area where it performed strongly as well as during the three-month period ended Dec. 31. A few months ago, the company launched a desktop application that enables consumers to create their own custom Lens for personal use.

Image: Pixabay