Snapchat: How Geofilters Can Increase Brand Awareness The active daily user base is blowing up, and you still haven't created your Snapchat marketing plan? Find out how to utilize the app's geofilters to increase your brand awareness.
By Matthew Caramenico Edited by Dan Bova
Our biggest sale — Get unlimited access to Entrepreneur.com at an unbeatable price. Use code SAVE50 at checkout.*
Claim Offer*Offer only available to new subscribers
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
There was a time not too long ago when Snapchat was touted as an app solely for sexting. The majority of people believed it was a fad that would be gone as quickly as it appeared. The reality? Snapchat is a social media powerhouse. Look at the stats:
100 million active daily users
10 billion daily video views
65 percent of 18-24 year olds use the app
Revenue target of $300 million in 2016
For the few out there who don't see the power of this platform, you can stop reading now. The rest of us will learn and begin to reap the rewards.
Related: Why Your Company Needs To Be On Snapchat Right Now
In February 2016, Snapchat released to the public the ability to create geofilters to everyone with an account. This means that those interesting -- and sometimes funny -- add-ons you see when people snap you, can now be created and published by you. This feature is no longer reserved for the corporate giants of the world.
Brand awareness opportunity.
The ability to create geofilters is a major key to any company's viral marketing campaign. The cost per impression is insanely cheap compared to YouTube and other outlets -- so cheap that even small businesses can afford it.
The play? Your company is heading to a conference, and you are looking for that special something to impress potential clients -- to reach them in a completely understated way. You want an additional touch point to reach these potential clients before they even get to your booth or see your signage. Snapchat can help.
Snapchat has laid it all out for you. Pay them $5, and they let you draw a fence around 20,000 square feet for an hour to promote your brand. This is as easy as it gets. If you target the right locations, your geofilter will interact with highly qualified potential customers -- and everyone they know on Snapchat. We're talking massive impressions for cheap. The filter doesn't leave the snaps it was added to, so you will potentially gain conversions for the next 24 hours.
Related: 4 Ways to Boost Your Business Using Snapchat
Still not convinced?
I began to think about applications for geofilter marketing, including how I could pitch the use of this to my boss. I did a bit of research about the location of an upcoming conference that my company would be attending in San Antonio. I set up a Snapchat campaign and found out I could cover the entire event -- 184,617 sq. ft. -- for nine hours and it would cost a total of $35.
Yep, you read that right! In comparison, a YouTube ad campaign can cost you anywhere from $0.10 - 0.30 per view. To put that into perspective, you would only get 115-350 YouTube views for the price of unlimited Snapchat interactions.
Run this campaign for two conference days -- 18 hours total -- and you're looking at an ad spend of about $70 with no limit on the number of impressions. This is a no brainer!
Final thoughts.
Anyone trying to build brand awareness at an event should be running a Snapchat on-demand geofilter campaign. The bottom line -- if you are creative and use this powerful tool correctly, you have the ability to walk away with some insanely low cost per 1,000 impressions (CPM).
Related: The Quick Guide to Using Snapchat for Business in 2016
If you are headed out to an event and are looking for something extra -- something that will put you above the competition and add to your marketing touch points -- use Snapchat. If you are not including Snapchat geofilters in your marketing strategy, then you need to reevaluate. You're missing out on deep impressions and meaningful interactions.
