Snapchat is Making it Easier for You to Create Custom Geofilters

Snapchat is making it’s custom geofilters easier to use.  It first launched the custom geofilters in February of 2016, but now Shanpchat users can create and submit custom filters directly in the app.  You used to have to go to the studio website to make a custom filter.  Which, seems counter-intuitive, don’t you think?  What’s the point in having a feature that you can’t use directly in your app?  Why make it harder for people to use your app?  Doesn’t that deter people from wanting to use it?  Maybe it’s just me, but the more user friendly an app is, the more I like it.  Plain and simple. Literally.

But now you can do that right in the app.  It’s located in settings, under a menu that’s called “On-Demand Geofilters”.  You can pick from a list of pre-set occasions.  Like weddings, or birthdays.  From there you can select a template, customize using text, Bitmojis or their Stickerlibrary.  The geofilters can cover between 20,000 and 50,000,000 square feet.  But it’s going to cost you about $6.

Is this simply a money grab?  From a business perspective, I would say no.  It seems like a viable marketing tool.  For personal reasons, however, it doesn’t seem to provide a lot of benefit.  Which leads me to believe that it’s all about that cash.  I mean, you can’t blame Snapchat for trying to make some money.  But it just seems a bit under handed to charge people for these.   There are free geofilters, but if you want to make your own, that’s when it will cost you.

Further to that, what’s up with requiring people to submit them in advance?  An article I read from 2016 indicated that you should submit them about 3 or 4 days in advance.  Just in case you need to re-submit them.  I’m all for monitoring these kinds of things, but that just seems a little excessive.  And requires a lot of advance planning.  Which isn’t always my forte.  That being said, the reason for this article was to talk about the updated features.  Specifically being able to create them directly in the app itself.

Doesn’t it seem antiquated that you would have to go somewhere else to create and submit a custom filter? Maybe I’m being too hard on Snapchat, but it’s 2017.  We want technology at our fingertips.  We want things to happen instantly.  And when they don’t, we freak out.  Or worse, we abandon the technology and find something else.  This process takes about a day.  Honestly, I don’t have a lot of patience for certain things, and this doesn’t seem like it would be worth my time.

Maybe I’m being too hard on Snapchat.  I think this is a great idea for business in general. It’s a great marketing tool and it will likely enhance and bring you more business.  From the personal side of things, it is simply just for fun.  Like I said earlier, you can crate custom filters for weddings or birthdays.  Which is ok, but does it do anything for you?

The last thing I will say about the update is this – it’s only available in the United States.  For now.  But when will that expansion take place?  Only time will tell.  I mean, I really like this for businesses or to promote events, but I’m not loving the fact that it costs $6, just so you can send someone a happy birthday message?  As I read this, I realize how cynical I sound, but how many of those are you going to create or purchase?  Snapchat is onto something though.