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
What Does a Social Media Manager Do?
Social media is an excellent way to build an online presence for your business. However, to be successful in social media, you must devote time, create content, engage with followers, and manage your pages. This can be overwhelming for a business owner to take on, so you should consider hiring a social media manager for your company. From content creation to building an online presence, discover how hiring for this role can benefit your company.
3 Ways to Boost Follower Engagement
Your social media followers choose to follow you for a reason. However, if you fail to engage them with content that they want to see consistently, you could lose more followers than you gain. To keep your followers loyal, it’s crucial to keep them engaged – and the secret you’ve been searching for lies in your metrics.
Curate an Effective Instagram Hashtag Strategy
The hashtags you use on Instagram are crucial to your marketing strategy. If you utilize them correctly, you'll be able to draw attention to your product or brand. However, using the wrong approach can adversely affect your Instagram account, from annoying potential followers to being penalized by Instagram's algorithm. To create an effective Instagram hashtag strategy, you need to know the best practices. Here's how to choose the best hashtags to use on Instagram.