Snapchat introduces new reward program for AR creators

Snapchat revealed a new program called the Lens Creator Rewards Program on Tuesday. This program aims to encourage AR (Augmented Reality) lens creators and developers by providing financial rewards for creating popular Lenses. If their Lens gains significant interest in the United States, India, or Mexico, creators could earn up to $7,200 per month from the program. 

In the beginning, the program will give preference to high-performing Lenses in these three countries. Nonetheless, creators from 40 eligible countries will also have the chance to earn rewards if their Lenses perform strongly in the selected markets.

In an interview with TechCrunch, Sophia Dominguez, Snap’s director of AR Platform Partnerships and Ecosystem, explained that the company’s approach is to start on a smaller scale. Snap wants to gather feedback from its community before rolling out the rewards program to more markets.

“We wanted to start with these three markets, but then also make sure that it was global by default, because our Snapchatter and lens creator ecosystem is pretty global,” Dominguez stated. “So we wanted to start small and measure the feedback we get from our community on both sides, like what do Snapchatters think, are they seeing more interesting types of Lenses? Is this encouraging for Lens creators to create new sorts of Lenses? Is this inspiring? And, if it’s successful, then we’ll definitely roll it out further.”

The specific requirements for the program have not been mentioned by Snapchat. However, Dominguez clarified that the company will consider multiple metrics, including views and specific Lens-related data. Snap will also assess the amount of time users spend using Lenses. Further information about eligibility and requirements will be made public as the program is gradually implemented.

After creators receive a reward, they will be notified via email, informing them that their Lens is eligible for the reward. Additionally, they will receive notifications within their creator hub.

In an email to TechCrunch, Paige Piskin, a prominent Snapchat creator, expressed her belief that the rewards program will present Lens creators with fresh revenue opportunities. She also thinks it will serve as a source of inspiration, encouraging more people to venture into creating Lenses.

“I’ve been a Lens creator for close to four years now, I started out designing for a hobby/passion and it transitioned into a full time career,” told Piskin. “In the past few years my effects have generated billions of impressions and close to a billion shares across platforms, but I have never been able to monetize that traffic (the way a content creator can with ad revenue). I absolutely love creating, especially fun character and makeup looks, and now with the new rewards program I feel very excited and encouraged to create more lenses, and explore new capabilities and techniques.”

Snapchat proudly announced its extensive AR community, consisting of over 300,000 AR creators, developers, and teams. Together, they have collectively designed more than 3 million Lenses, which have been viewed an astounding 5 trillion times by users.

Additionally, a few years ago Snap found AR’s role in shopping is getting more significant and has been taking steps to improve its AR technology. For instance, Snap teamed up with Amazon to let users virtually try on eyeglasses, and partnered with costume company Disguise Inc to let users try on and buy Halloween costumes using its AR lenses last year.