How create a sponsored Lens on Snapchat with Lens Web Builder?

Step 1: Go to Lens Web Builder

Step 2: Create a new Snapchat filter

Step 3: Customise your Lens

Step 4: Finalize the Snapchat filter

Step 5: Create the advertisement

Recently, Snapchat released a tool for beginners to easily create a Lens in augmented reality. This platform is called Lens Web Builder and allows you to import an asset and/or a layer created from Canva or Photoshop without any particular extension or plugin. Lens Web Builder is dedicated to brands present on Snapchat that would like to launch an advertising campaign using a Snapchat filter. Lens Web Builder is therefore a filter editor in the same way that WordPress is a website creation editor (CMS).

The web builder is intuitive & offers to make Lenses easily and without having to code a single line. This means that brands can easily create filters and publish them on Snapchat without any coding knowledge or skills (Snapchat filters work with a different code language than HTML).

Obviously, this tool is only accessible by the brand itself and it cannot use an agency to create the filter. The functionality is therefore quite limited and you won't be able to create a complete or qualitative Lens with Lens Web Builder; although this creation tool allows you to edit, manage the layout and fill in the keywords of a Snapchat filter easily.

Indeed, Snapchat offers 2D (visual) or 3D assets in a library, but this means that everyone who creates a filter will also be able to reuse them. You can then choose to import your own assets but you will be restricted by the different Lenses activations that exist.

This customization tool, which is not paid, allows you to create customizable Snapchat filters that could be useful in your E-commerce strategy to generate clicks and attract users to an Url, all without plugins / extensions and with the help of a tutorial.

This web design software is one of the most important free tools and websites to create an Ecommerce shop window (for example on your Prestashop shop).

1- Accessing Lens Web Builder

To do this you need to log on to Ads Manager and click on the top left menu and select "Create an Augmented Reality Lens".

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2- Create a new filter

In order to make the use of Lens Web Builder easier and more efficient, Snapchat already offers ready-made filter templates where you just have to integrate your own elements afterwards. The second solution is to start a filter from scratch.

3- Customise your Lens

The next step is to add or remove layers in an unlimited way in your Lens depending on what you want to render. To do this you have access to a layer library which lists several categories such as eye and nose accessories, top of the head accessories, special effects or even add your make-up products for the try on.

The platform is fun enough to understand what you need to do and where to insert your elements to customise the filter. Lens Web Builder has drag and drop functionality just like creating a site on a CMS. As explained above, using Lens Web Builder is very superficial and will not allow you to make a more precise filter than what this tool offers.

You can of course try out your Lens by clicking on the little Snapchat logo on the right of the preview. This way you will receive a notification on the Snapchat app to try out your filter.

Before moving on to the next step, don't forget to record a demonstration video which will be important for the rest of the process.

4- Finalise the Lens

After customising your filter, click on "Next" and then give your filter a name and import an icon to represent your Lens.

Then import the demonstration video you made earlier. Click on "Create your Lens".

5 - Create the advertisement

Once you have created your Lens, you will be redirected to the ad creation page to enter the details.

As you can see, you can only use Lens Web Builder to create an advert behind it. Your filter will not be published in the Snapchat filter library for free.

Although Lens Web Builder is a step forward for brands, it is still a very simplified tool and does not allow you to create unique, custom 100% filters. Furthermore, if you use Lens Web Builder, you are obliged to create an ad to publish the lens.

If you want to develop a Snapchat filter that represents your brand image and is more technical, feel free to contact one of our experts to find out more!