Advertisers will be able to build their own AR lenses with Snapchat's Lens Studio

Snapchat has made it easier for advertisers to build their own augmented reality (AR) lenses with a Windows and Mac desktop app.

Lens Studio will provide developers, creators, agencies and brands the tools to create and distribute their own Snapchat AR experiences.

The app includes templates and guides to help creators of varying experiences get started with AR -  from those with very basic 2D design skills to more advanced 3D modellers and animators.

It also provides a scripting API to allow developers to code sophisticated interactive experiences.

Until now, advertisers have had to work directly with Snapchat to create face and world lenses. However, the social platform has now picked seven AR development agencies (Avatar Labs, Fisherman Labs, Haus, Media Monks, North Kingdom, Trigger Global, and Vidmob) to assist advertisers.

These partners are trained to create Lenses and the move is aimed at helping make advertising on Snapchat more feasible across budgets, timelines and industries. Snapchat has also removed its minimum spend requirement for Lenses.

The platform has also made the option to buy Snap Ads that "swipe up" into a 3D World Lens (like this one by BMW) available to all brands.

Snapchat claims that its lenses are effective. It cites a Nielsen in-app poll that found ad campaigns with lenses drive an average 19-point lift in ad awareness and a 15% increase in purchase intent.

Brands will be better able to track this effectiveness themselves though as Snapchat has now made its brand and sales lift measurement tools available for Lenses. This includes Nielsen In-App Polling, Datalogix, Nielsen Catalina, Placed and Snap to Store.

"We encourage larger brands to enable third-party measurement, which has a minimum spend requirement. Snap also provides robust first-party measurement, from total impressions to play time," Snap said in a release.