Church Marketing Sucks

We created an introduction to Snapchat for churches, but one of the simplest, easiest ways churches could use Snapchat required going a little deeper. So we’re exploring Snapchat geofilters for churches.

Even if you’re not super active on Snapchat, this can be a simple way to engage people on the channel.

What’s a Snapchat Filter?

One of the fun things about Snapchat is it offers all kinds of lenses, filters and overlays to help you enhance your photos and video. Just take a picture and swipe to the left. You’ll go through some standard filters (photo filters, mph, temperature, altitude, time, etc.) and then geofilters will come up (if there are any in your location).

You might also see sponsored filters from major brands like 7 Eleven or Beats by Dre.

To get even fancier, there are sponsored lenses that offer animation and face morphing. To access these lenses you need to be on the camera screen. Make sure a face is in view (you might need to switch to the selfie camera) and hold your finger on the face. Snapchat will map the face with some snazzy technology, and then a host of filters will come up. You can swipe through these to apply different ones.

Some of the lenses will morph your face like a fun-house mirror. Others let you swap faces with someone else in the frame.

While writing this, 7 Eleven offered a filter that encouraged me to open my mouth, and then I was puking a rainbow and sporting a slurpee afro—weird, yes, but it was an offbeat and, well, fun promotion for their “Bring Your Own Cup Day” slurpee promotion.

Sponsored lenses are big money in the advertising world right now, reportedly ranging from $350,000 to $750,000 each. Ghostbusters even did a first-ever “dual-lens” campaign, using both cameras on your phone.

That’s probably out of your church’s price range. But you can do a sponsored geofilter for as little as $5.

So What’s a Geofilter?

Geofilters are specialized filters based on your location. These geofilters are activated by your location and only visible when you’re in a certain area. So you might see text overlays promoting your neighborhood or a local attraction you’re visiting.

This can get really interesting with local events and attractions. Since you have to actually be there to see the geofilters, it’s like a hidden code or special bonus for using Snapchat. It’s also yet another way that Snapchat feels more real and authentic.

Some of these are free community filters that anyone can create and submit for approval. While they’re likely to reject a church-focused filter, it could be a fun community service to create community filters for your neighborhood or a nearby park.

Sponsored Geofilters for Churches

Snapchat also offers sponsored geofilters, where just about anybody can pay to offer their own geofilter.

Here’s how it works:

1. You create your own image overlay. Design it yourself following Snapchat’s guidelines, or use a service such as Pepper (for $5, they’ll do the nitpicky graphic work for you).
2. Go to Snapchat On Demand to pick your location. You’ll get a map location where you can zero in and define a specific area. Depending on the size of your church and/or campus, you should be able to fit your church building and surrounding area.
3. Pay up. You have to pay for the privilege, but it’s surprisingly cheap (at least right now). Sponsoring a 25,000 square foot area for two hours will cost only $5.

That’s it.

Examples of Snapchat Geofilters for Churches

Let’s see how it looks for churches. Here are just a couple quick examples of church geofilters:

We've got a Snapchat geofilter and we're super pumped. Check it out at our Lake Forest Campus next time you're ther… pic.twitter.com/LKt6nu6iAU

— Saddleback Church (@Saddleback) January 25, 2016

The party is about to drop at #MaxwellPier! Check-in with our geofilter on Snapchat and hang with us on this beautiful #4thofjuly! We've got games every hour and cold drinks are covered. Bring a snack to share and a friend and we'll see you there!

A photo posted by Hoboken Grace Community Church (@hobokengrace) on Jul 4, 2016 at 8:59am PDT

On Snapchat? Swipe for our geofilter on Sundays at church! #sundayvibes #snapaway

A photo posted by Hoboken Grace Community Church (@hobokengrace) on Jun 4, 2016 at 4:54pm PDT

Hoboken Grace actively encourages people to check out their geofilters with Snapchat Sundays.

Strategies for Snapchat Geofilters

You can imagine the possibilities. Create a special filter for your annual picnic and encourage people to share selfies branded with your church logo. Celebrate baptisms with a Snapchat filter and create a unique way to capture a special moment—and have people share that gospel moment with their friends.

We’ve got a few tips to help you make the most of Snapchat geofilters:

• Use a Church Account – Every sponsored geofilter will note who sponsored it, so you might want to create a specific Snapchat account for your church. That way people will connect with your church, not just the person who set it up. Your church doesn’t even have to be actively using Snapchat to do this.
• Don’t Do Too Much – Get creative with your geofilter, but remember that the point isn’t your brand or message, it’s the images people are creating and sharing. So leave plenty of room for people to see what they want to see. It often helps to keep your overlay to the bottom quarter of the screen.
• Keep It Simple – Some overlays try to get fancy with funny clothes or hats, though it can often be tricky to position your phone just right for the desired effect. Sometimes it’s better to keep it simple.
• Plan for Any Background – Depending on the area you define for your geofilter, you likely don’t have much control over the background of people’s images. It might be a bright sunny day outside, or they might step inside and the images get darker. So make sure whatever text you use is readable regardless of the background. You might need to get creative and add a background for your text.
• Plan Smart – This can be a cheap approach, as long as you keep the guidelines in check. You want to limit both the time frame and the location. A short window of time (your morning worship service, an afternoon picnic) and a small geographic area will give you a pretty cheap price ($5-10 in many cases). If you try to go for a long period of time (all day, all month) or try to claim a big chunk of real estate (it maxes out at 5 million square feet), it can get pricey. Do both and it gets crazy: One month at the max size rated over $30,000. But you can also be creative—a huge area around your church for only a few hours might run $150. A compact area around your church for a month? $200. You’ll have to tweak and see what works for your area, but it can be extremely affordable.

Snapchat Geofilters for Churches

There you go. Even if you don’t entirely understand or embrace Snapchat, geofilters can be a simple and fun way to explore this relative newcomer to the social media sphere.

Remember: Social media networks are always changing, and everything we say here may be obsolete next week. Also, big props to Greg Swan of Space 150 for sharing about Snapchat with Social Media Shepherds, a local church comm meetup in the Twin Cities, and giving this non-expert the necessary insight to not sound like a complete buffoon.

More:

Need more help? We’ve got a few tips:

• Be sure to check out our introduction to Snapchat for churches.
• Check out 63 awesome geofilters for some inspiration.
• Lauren McAllister has some stories of how her church used geofilters (including stats!).
• Kenny Jahng offers a free 16-page ebook detailing how to make custom geofilters.
• Lindsey Moss at Church Media Tech offers detailed screenshots of the process, including a quick interview with a pro.
• More detailed instructions for creating a geofilter.