Snapchat has become a big part of people’s lives these days, and if were to ask the majority of younger people out there, they’d tell you that they were constantly using Snapchat to share their days and communicate with people. One of the problems with such a service, which is of course free to download and use, is how their creators can actually make any money out of it. The simple answer to this sort of thing is ads, but that hasn’t always worked well in the past, and it’s clearer than ever right now that ads aren’t something the majority of younger users are happy to put up with. One area that Snapchat has tried to monetize is through filters and such, and now their expanding these offerings.
Snapchat is now introducing on-demand geofilters. These will allow users to create their own custom filters, and then use them whenever they like. These new filters will allow users – or perhaps even businesses and brands – to create their own filter, then create a particular geofence. The geofence uses the store or party venue’s location to make sure people only there can use the geofence. These won’t be free however, and this is where the moneymaking part of Snapchat comes in – as these will cost $5 each. Creators can choose how long they want these geofilters to last for, anywhere from an hour up to 30 days, which should give events, party organizers and more a lot of flexibility to get Snapchatters working. There’s a little video embedded below that does a decent job of explaining how this can work.
This is a pretty nice idea from Snapchat really, it can be used by both those organizing their own party as well as small businesses holding a concert or some sort of event. That $5 could end up being well spent for small businesses that want to get the word out, but how these companies brand the event will be the real key element. The feature will only be available to those in the UK, the US and Canada at first, but will be hitting more countries soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_ZjEeEez_0