What is a Snapchat Lens? A plain-English guide for brands
Snapchat Lenses are augmented reality effects people play with in the Snapchat camera. Here's how they work, where people find them and why brands use them.
The short answer
A Snapchat Lens is an augmented reality (AR) experience that runs inside the Snapchat camera. It can change your face, place 3D objects in the world around you, or turn the camera into a small game. Lenses are built in Lens Studio, Snap's free desktop app, and people use them to create Snaps and Stories they share with friends.
Key takeaways
- A Lens is an AR effect that runs in the Snapchat camera, in real time.
- There are three broad types: face lenses, world lenses and lens games.
- Lenses are built in Lens Studio and published to Snapchat after review.
- People find lenses in the camera, through Lens Explorer, links and Snapcodes.
- Brands use lenses because every capture is a shareable piece of content.
How does a Snapchat Lens work?
When you open a Lens, Snapchat's camera tracks what it sees, such as your face, your hands or the floor in front of you, and draws digital content on top of it in real time. Move your head and a mask moves with you. Point the camera at a table and a 3D character can stand on it.
Under the hood, a Lens is a small package of 3D models, textures, animation, sound and scripts. It is built in Lens Studio, Snap's free tool for creating AR, then submitted to Snapchat, where it is reviewed before it goes public.
What kinds of lenses are there?
Most lenses fall into one of three groups:
- Face lenses track facial features to add masks, makeup, accessories or full transformations.
- World lenses use the back camera to place objects, characters or portals into the space around you.
- Lens games turn the camera into a quick, replayable game you control with your face, hands or body.
We break each one down, with what it is best for, in Face, world and game lenses explained.
Where do people find lenses?
- In the camera: the Lens Carousel shows lenses right next to the capture button.
- Lens Explorer: Snapchat's searchable library of community and brand lenses.
- Links and Snapcodes: a scannable code or URL that opens a specific lens, useful on packaging, posters and social posts.
- Shared Snaps: when a friend sends a Snap made with a lens, there is usually a quick way to try it yourself.
- Sponsored placements: brands can pay to feature a lens in the carousel through Snapchat's ad platform.
Why do brands use Snapchat Lenses?
A banner is something people scroll past. A lens is something people do, and every time someone captures a Snap with it, they create a piece of content featuring your brand and send it to people who trust them. That is why lenses can travel so far: across the 150+ lenses we have built, they have reached over 500 million total views.
Lenses also come with clear numbers. Snapchat's lens analytics report metrics such as views, plays, shares and play time, so you can see exactly how people engaged.
How do you get a lens made?
You can learn Lens Studio and build one yourself, or work with a studio like WinkVolt. A typical custom lens goes from idea to live in one to three weeks: we shape the concept, prototype the interaction, build and test it on real phones, then publish and measure. See how long a lens takes for the detail.
Frequently asked questions
- Are Snapchat Lenses free to use?
- Yes. Anyone with Snapchat can use public lenses at no cost. Brands pay for building a custom lens and, optionally, for sponsored placements that promote it.
- What is the difference between a Lens and a Filter on Snapchat?
- A Filter is a static overlay, such as a frame or a location graphic, applied after you take a Snap. A Lens is interactive AR that reacts to your face, body or surroundings in real time while the camera is open.
- Do I need to code to make a Snapchat Lens?
- Simple lenses can be made in Lens Studio with templates and little or no code. Interactive lenses and lens games usually need scripting, 3D art and testing, which is where a specialist studio helps.
- Snapchat Lenses
- Augmented reality
- Lens Studio
- Brand marketing