New Snapchat filters let advertisers use personal information to target you

They should be significantly more useful to brands than geofilters

Aatif Sulleyman

Wednesday 15 November 2017 20:31 GMT

A Snapchat logo is seen through broken glass in this illustration picture, May 11, 2017 (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic)

Snapchat is letting advertisers use personal information to target users with filters.

Brands can now target specific audiences based on their age, gender, interests and even the time of day.

Snapchat is calling the new feature “audience filters”.

12 useful Snapchat features you didn't know existed

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1/1212 useful Snapchat features you didn't know existed

12 useful Snapchat features you didn't know existed

Shoot 60-second Snaps

Android and iOS users can record up to 60 seconds of Snapchat footage with Multi-Snap (the previous limit was 10 seconds). All you need to do is tap and hold the circular Record button, and keep holding it for up to 60 seconds. Snapchat will split the footage into 10-second segments, which you can edit individually, though your recording will play continuously when you send it to your friends or add it to your Story.

12 useful Snapchat features you didn't know existed

Draw with emoji

You can draw with emoji rather than regular digital brushstrokes by tapping the pen icon after you’ve shot a snap and then hitting the symbol under the colour palette.

12 useful Snapchat features you didn't know existed

Create your own Geofilter

You can create your own Geofilters, for occasions like weddings and birthdays, or even for places that are special to you. Go to Settings, hit On-Demand Geofilters and choose when and where you’d like it to appear.

12 useful Snapchat features you didn't know existed

Use multiple filters

Once you’ve applied a filter to your snap, tap and hold the screen with one finger and swipe with another to layer another filter on top of it.

12 useful Snapchat features you didn't know existed

Save data

You can reduce the amount of data Snapchat munches through by enabling Travel Mode. Find it by swiping down from the main camera screen, going to Settings and scrolling down to Manage Preferences.

12 useful Snapchat features you didn't know existed

Understand emoji

From here, you can also learn what those emoji that appear next to your friends’ names mean. Change the ones you want to change by tapping on them.

12 useful Snapchat features you didn't know existed

Message symbols

It’s also useful to understand what Snapchat’s different-coloured arrows and squares mean, so you’ll no longer be unsure whether you can open a message in public or not.

12 useful Snapchat features you didn't know existed

Snapcodes

Create your own Snapcode GIF by swiping down from the main camera screen and hitting the Snapchat icon and then the camera button.

12 useful Snapchat features you didn't know existed

Collect trophies

You can find out how many Snapchat trophies you’ve earned by tapping the trophy icon above your Snapcode. You can unlock more by trying out new things with the app.

12 useful Snapchat features you didn't know existed

Hide things you don't like

The Featured section is definitely one of the worst Snapchat features. Fortunately, you can hide stories you have no interest in seeing by tapping and holding it, then selecting Hide Story.

12 useful Snapchat features you didn't know existed

Snap Map

Snap Map caused a huge amount of controversy when it launched, with people afraid that the feature could expose children to danger. You can access it by pinching the camera screen, and hide yourself from fellow Snapchat users by tapping the Settings icon and enabling Ghost Mode.

12 useful Snapchat features you didn't know existed

Share music

You can Shazam a song within Snapchat by tapping and holding the camera screen. Once it identifies it, you can share the song with your friends.

They should be significantly more useful to advertisers than geofilters, which only enable them to reach users in specific locations.

Quaker Oats is one of the brands to have already tried it out, reports AdAge.

It targeted mothers and working professionals, and tweaked the message on its filter to suit the time of day.

“Geofilters and audience filters have fundamentally different targeting strengths,” Abhishek Jadon, the director digital strategy at PepsiCo North America Nutrition, told AdAge.

“Geofilters allow you to target very granular geographic areas, whereas audience filters can be targeted based on a host of behavioral attributes.”

Snapchat is facing fierce competition from Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, which have clones its Stories feature.

The app is set to undergo a drastic redesign in order to make it easier to navigate and attract more users.

Earlier this month, it started rolling out a tool called Snap Pixel, which lets advertisers track what you do online after viewing one of their ads, and gather information about you.

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