Geofilters, Events & Experiential Marketing


You can’t walk a few blocks in New York City without seeing some form of advertising, whether that be a poster plastered to brick, a conveniently placed sticker, or someone handing you a flyer. Snap brings this concept to experiential marketing with Geofilters. Companies are starting to use Geofilters to engage people in specific locations. For as little as $5 for a few hours, events are also creating custom Snap Geofilters to tell a broader story - from a guest's perspective. So...what is a Geofilter?

Geofilter lets users overlay specific filters - available only to people within a pre-determined geofence - on photos and video taken in Snap. For example, riders at SoulCycle can snap a video with their yellow logo or a heart fills your screen when you snap with jewelry at Tiffany. Prices vary based on how many hours you want to offer your filter and how big your geofence is (must be between 20k and 5 million square feet). The upload tool allows you to see different pricing options when creating your Geofilter.

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How can a Geofilter enhance events? Creating an effective event hashtag has been around for a while but to increase the digital impressions for your event - at (currently) low costs - consider creating a Geofilter for your next event. Snaps might not live as long as hashtags but the ability to personalize an event with special filters that also reach other people in the area is appealing. If you are looking for a filter not offered through Snap, there are quite a few ways to help create the perfect personalized filter for any event, like Pepper Filters or Canva.

How is this changing experiential marketing? Business are taking note of this new on-demand Geofilter option and implementing experiential marketing campaigns around it. These campaigns bridge online & offline for people in very meaningful ways. One of the more successful campaigns has come from Delta Airlines, who recently joined Snap. Not only do they have their own Geofilters, they created a scavenger hunt around them. Delta’s Dreamhunt challenged the people of Los Angeles to find specific Geofilters around the city to win amazing prizes centered around key industries in the city. Bloomingdale's created something similar with their in-store scavenger hunt, Swipestakes. Geofilters were hidden in local stores across the country giving customers the opportunity to win a meet and greet with Rebecca Minkoff, tickets to Maddie & Tae or gift cards to the store.

As on-demand Geofilters gain popularity, why not be an early adopter and make one for your next event while it's still almost free?

Happy snapping!
-DTE Team

Photo Credit: Snapchat, Delta