The Brilliance of Snapchat Geofilters for Wedding Venues

The Brilliance of Snapchat Geofilters for Wedding Venues

It’s the evening of a big wedding at your venue, which means that guests are invariably taking out their phones to document and share the occasion. But where are those images ending up? Facebook and Instagram, sure. Another big player you may not have considered is Snapchat. With 2.5 billion “snaps” (a photo or video sent on Snapchat) sent each day, there’s a tremendous opportunity for wedding venues to capitalize on the service’s popularity – without having to create their own content. It’s called the Snapchat Geofilter, and it can help get eyes all over your venue. Let’s take a look at how Snapchat Geofilters are a perfect fit for wedding venues.

How Snapchat Geofilters Work for Wedding Venues

After a user takes a “snap,” they’re able to add a Geofilter – a graphic overlay on the image – that offers some context about where the snap was taken. For example, on Cape Cod, the Geofilter would include the words “Cape Cod” and a small illustration related to the Cape in some way. Users don’t have to download anything additional to access these special filters. As long as their location services are enabled in Snapchat, the filter becomes available to them in a designated geographic location (hence the name “Geofilter”).

Some Geofilters are only available in an area as small as a backyard; other times, they cover many square miles. For a long time, Snapchat dictated which Geofilters appeared where – until they introduced self-serve Geofilters. Now anyone can make their own for a small cost.

Why Snapchat Geofilters Are a Great Fit for Wedding Venues

If you’re responsible for the marketing efforts of a wedding venue, a lightbulb in your head should’ve just lit up. Here’s how you capitalize on this: Make (or hire someone to make) Snapchat Geofilters for couples in their early-to-mid-20s – that feature the couples’ names and the name of your venue. Guests using Snapchat (and there’ll be many of them) will see that there’s a Geofilter dedicated to their friends and use it on their snaps. When the recipients see the image with the Geofilter, they will instantly know at which venue the wedding was held. It’s a low-cost way to drive attention, build awareness of your business, and get relevant attention from someone who could be your next client.

How To Make A Snapchat Geofilter

1. Go to the On-Demand Geofilters section on Snapchat’s website and hit “Create Now.”

2. Select either “Create Filter” or “Create Lens.” A lens is essentially a traditional filter, or Geofilter, with an additional filter for the Snapchatter’s face. You’ve likely seen Snapchat’s general face filters including the ever-popular flower crowns and animal ears.

3. Select either “Upload” or “Design.” If you choose Upload, you’ll be able to use a Photoshop or Illustrator template to craft a Geofilter, whereas if you hit Design, you’ll be able to build one right on Snapchat’s website. There are many third parties online that design Geofilters if you want something custom but you’re not sure how to make it.

4. Pick a date and time range that you’d like the filter to be available. The longer it’s available, the more expensive it’ll be, but it only needs to be up for the duration of the wedding.

5. Pick the boundaries of the Geofilter by plotting points on the map. Remember, guests don’t need to download anything to access this filter. It will simply become available once they are in the appropriate geographic location.

6. Pay with a credit card. Snapchat will send you a confirmation email.

7. Log in to access management tools, and – most importantly – performance metrics, so you can see how the Geofilter is performing.

That’s it. At its best, it’s a subtle, inexpensive, far-reaching ad for your venue – but it’s up to the guests to add it to their snaps, so make sure that it’s well-designed and celebrates the couple.

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