Snapchat Filters targeting Users via ‘Audience Filters’ instead of just Location

Snapchat photo marketing campaigns have just become slightly more advanced, allowing brands to not only target by location as they’ve been able to do in the past but also to target specific segments of the audience.

 This new Snapchat tool is being called ‘audience filters’. Instead of just marketing towards a location, brands are now able to target audience based on interests, age, gender, time of day, and other criteria.

 This marks a major shift in Snapchat’s willingness to bring in more advertisers. In the past, location marketing on the app was seen as the height of what one could accomplish. Now that ads can be directed towards specific users, there is the potential to maximize the effectiveness of such campaigns.

 Snapchat has already reached out to select advertising agencies, seeking to work with them on new ways to maximize the potential of the platform. Snapchat has also been eager to work with brands, help them run campaigns, and ultimately to refine its targeting capabilities.

 Currently, filters are one of Snapchat’s most used features with more than 3 billion uses per day. There are already a wide variety to choose from and the collection is always growing. The model has been proven as a very attractive advertising mechanism for brands.

 Among the first brands to use Snapchat’s new audience filters was Quaker Oats. For its marketing campaign, the company targeted mothers and working professionals. Its filters were divided into day and night categories, and its message was tweaked depending on time of day. Its campaign has appeared to be a success and continues to run on the social media platform.

 As important as geo-filters are, they only allow a brand to target a single geographic area. Geo-targeting does not consider the vast amount of people living in these areas and the diverse demographics that may make up its population.

 Consider the impressions a brand receives from Snapchatters sending out photos using a branded filter. These Snaps will reach friends, family, and, if it’s a major influencer, potentially thousands of people. Audience filters help to deliver these filters to more qualified leads with a higher likelihood of using them.

 The new audience filters have the same targeting capabilities now as the video ads and can be bought in auction on the self-serve platform. This past summer, Snapchat upgraded its Ad Manager tool, streamlining the design, testing, and publishing of ads on the platform. Snapchat continues to develop its ad technology in hopes of attracting the kind of advertising that competitors like Facebook and Google have.

 The approach does seem to be working, at least in terms of increasing its advertiser base, which has grown by approximately five times since the same time last year. That said, total Snapchat ad sales are currently below expectations, despite reaching $208 million in the third quarter of 2017.

 Though current growth may not be as high as Snapchat has projected, moves such as audience filters are creating waves of interest in the ad world. Brands and agencies in bigger numbers than ever before are coming to Snapchat to seek new ways to reach the platform’s audience.

 For Snapchat, the months to come are expected to include an app re-design to improve the user experience for both consumers and advertisers, as well as an online tutorial to help advertisers get the most out of the tools available.