Between its high user count and its partnerships with companies like Sony, Snapchat has turned into a major force over the last few months. The company continues to find new ways to reel-in revenue, as it has introduced a new geofilter system that could generate big bucks.
Snapchat recently introduced the ability to put geofilters into users’ pictures, providing an opportunity for brands and marketers to submit imagery into the app. Creating temporary geofilters for the service could cost as little as $5 a shot.
Geofilters create locations and symbolic drawings that can be embedded with user images to create a “you were there” sort of illusion. Companies have experimented with such images in the past, with McDonald’s, for example, showcasing just how its food products could be thrown into the fray.
Snapchat can set up these geofilters in an on-demand fashion so that they can be used for parties, weddings or business events, the company noted. They’re being offered for use anywhere between an hour, or up to 30 days, with space ranging anywhere from 20,000 square feet to five million square feet. Of course, the price for such geofilters increases depending on how much square footage is used, and how long they remain in place.
However, it’s also opening up the option to its users, suggesting that they submit ideas in terms of geofilters that could become permanent on the service. So far, nearly 500,000 ideas have already poured in, including suggestions based on Los Angeles and Santa Monica.
The company is taking its time in reviewing “on-demand” submissions, but the fact that it’s already getting such a massive response is good news for Snapchat, adding a significant personalization to its service while, at the same time, opening the door for even more potential business partners and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. Companies will also be able to keep track of how many times a geofilter is used in the app, so it can see which ones are effective compared to others.
We’ll see just how effective this plan is, and how many companies are willing to cover “a few city blocks” in the months ahead.
