Snapchat is super simple to use and can be a great way for businesses to give people an inside look into their company. So, when I read that Snapchat recently released a new feature to allow businesses to create on-demand geofilters, I was super excited to jump on the bandwagon.
A Snapchat Geofilter is basically a stamp put on your photos based on your location. See some examples below:
A client of mine, U See It, has a college tour coming up this week, so I immediately got to work to set up a filter for the tour. I designed the filter (see images below), and then I got to work submitting it to snapchat for their approval process.
Snapchat's blog said prices for on-demand geofilters start at $5, and the pricing is based on the duration and the geo-fence. I first started out with making the filter available at the University of Florida Campus on the 24th of March, and immediately I encountered some issues with the on-demand filters:
PROBLEM 1: THE GEO-FENCE HAS TO BE UNDER 5,000,000 SQUARE FEET.
This is great for a small event in one location, but the UF Campus is much larger than that. I had to settle for making the filter only available at the stadium/union.
PROBLEM 2: IT WAS GOING TO COST OVER $3,000 TO MAKE THE FILTER AVAILABLE FOR ONLY 3 HOURS
Snapchat's blog says pricing for on-demand filters starts at $5. I figured the pricing would vary, but I, in no way, thought it would cost thousands of dollars to make the geo-filter available on one campus for 3 hours!
Long story short, we are not going to be using on-demand GeoFilters from Snapchat for the upcoming U See It tour. I am upset that I couldn't deliver this awesome brand awareness product to my client for his upcoming tour, so I started to do some digging, and I discovered another problem that Marketing Land encountered when using an on-demand filter.
PROBLEM 3: THE GEO-FENCE WAS COLLIDING WITH ANOTHER EVENT AND THEREFORE THEY COULDN'T USE THEIR FILTER.
This means even if you create a filter and get it approved it may still not be available during your event!
I am disappointed with my experience attempting to use Geofilters so far! I do plan on using GeoFilters in the future for some other clients, and hopefully we can get somewhere in the realm of the $5 pricing that Snapchat mentioned when they released this feature.
Related Posts
How to Create a Social Media Posting Schedule
Boost your performance with a social media posting schedule by finding the best time to post on social media and applying it to your content calendar.
Steps for Rebranding on Social Media
People's perception of your brand is often shaped by how they interact with you on social media. Therefore, rebranding a company can be overwhelming since it can compromise your online reputation. Having just rebranded, Page One Digital wants to share our steps for rebranding on social media!
Get Lucky! How to Go Viral on Social Media
Looking to get lucky by going viral on social media? We all know that creating viral posts isn't the primary goal of a social media strategy. It can, however, boost brand awareness, increase engagement, and build loyalty. By creating viral content, brands can gain a massive following. And guess what? It's not as hard as you think... Here's how to go viral by crafting a unique social media strategy.