Snapchat is still a powerhouse solution for a lot of businesses.
With about 218 million daily active users, it’s a platform that many brands have relied on to drive growth and increase revenues.
In this article, we take a look at how you can use Snapchat to drive conversions and how you can leverage your brand for future trends.
You’ll find that this article is less tactical than our usual work, but this is just because we are barely starting to scratch the surface of what you can do with Snapchat marketing.
Make sure you sign up for our newsletter to be updated when we release our awesome growth hacks for Snapchat in the upcoming months.
Let’s jump right in.
- 1. If You Want to Reach Generation-Z, You’ve Got To Be On Snapchat
- 2. Take the most out of 10 Seconds
- 3. Make Storytelling Come to Life
- 4. FOMO is the Way to Go
- 5. Make Sure You Link to Your Website
- 6. Augmented Reality is the Way to Go
- 7. Try Out Geofilters
- 8. Make Sure You’re Taking Advantage of Influencers
- 9. Customize Your Profile Photo
- 10. Analyze Your Insights
- 11. Snapchat is Being Used Extensively to Showcase a Brand’s Personal Side
- 12. The Ads Are Worth It
- 13. Post More Than Once a Day
- 14. Variety of Content is Important
- 15. Snapchat Allows You to Connect to a New Generation of Consumers
- 16. Carry Over the Promotion to Your Other Channels
- 17. Engage With Your Followers
1. If You Want to Reach Generation-Z, You’ve Got To Be On Snapchat
Here are the facts: 90 percent of internet users aged 18-24 use the platform in the United States.
And if you are not convinced that young people are using it, you should note that as much as 90 percent of its users are 24 years old and below, with 53% of them being in the 18-24 category.
Some people say that Snapchat must have already had its heyday, but it is apparent that it is still here to stay as a platform for the younger generation to communicate on.
For marketing purposes, you can consider Snapchat as the “Facebook Messenger” of the Gen-Z customer base.
2. Take the most out of 10 Seconds
Snaps can’t be longer than 10 seconds on new accounts.
Ultimately, you want people to get the full message that you are trying to convey.
Shorter view times might not get the message across.
So don’t go lower than ten seconds – unless you’re doing something sneaky with a particular campaign that you are running and would want users to go on a treasure hunt to find out what your brand is coming up with next.
3. Make Storytelling Come to Life
All marketing is headed toward better storytelling because it helps keep customers engaged, and it makes for exciting campaigns.
For instance, using a narrative to tie customer points is the best way to grow on a platform like LinkedIn. Since Snapchat makes heavy use of its stories feature, this is a great way to show off a campaign in a couple of panes.
Marketing on Snapchat is not a different story than marketing on LinkedIn.
Think about trying to paint a picture using a couple of slides, and it’s the perfect medium for a generation who wants quick, engaging media.
Structure a series of pictures instead of a singular still, and paint a picture in this way.
4. FOMO is the Way to Go
Snapchat’s main feature is media that disappears, and if you think about it, its whole premise is timing.
This is where creating campaigns where FOMO is the main goal.
Make sure that when you create your campaigns on the platform, you also create a sense of urgency.
This gets people excited and curious about what you’re going to do next, thus building engagement.
5. Make Sure You Link to Your Website
We all love Snapchat because you can post a link on a Snap to your website.
Although we encourage it, you do not want to do it on every snap or too often.
You don’t want to appear to be someone who’s just shamelessly plugging their brand.
Instead, use it as a portal for your audience to learn more about the campaign that you want to promote.
Here’s what.
Don’t stick in the link just for the sake of link building. People don’t like that on the platform.
6. Augmented Reality is the Way to Go
Everyone knows that VR and AR are playing a vital role in the push for more engaging forms of content, and your business shouldn’t miss out.
Snapchat offers you the ability to “lens” creators so that you can come with anything from bunny ears to cat’s whiskers for your unique take on the AR applications of Snapchat.
You can get them for as low as ten bucks.
7. Try Out Geofilters
There’s a lot of evidence that suggests that customizing your marketing campaigns to reflect the locale of an audience helps drive engagements, and it appears that Snapchat has taken this into account.
The next time you’re thinking of creating a filter for your brand, why don’t you try out a geofilter? It allows you to create hyper-targeted engaging filters for your audience.
Disney’s geofilter is a good example, and W Hotels launched a great campaign with its use of filter “postcards.”
8. Make Sure You’re Taking Advantage of Influencers
Paying for micro-influencers won’t break the bank, and in fact, it’s been a tested strategy by numerous brands that are on a budget.
Don’t shy away from getting famous people to promote your brand, but make sure you do it subtly.
This isn’t like Instagram or Facebook; young people get annoyed with standard product placements.
9. Customize Your Profile Photo
There’s not much you can do on your profile, but if you want to stand out, you’ve got to do something about your profile photograph.
The profile picture is the little spot where the ghost is surrounded by QR information.
You want this profile pic to be able to convey your brand at a glance, so it can be your logo, or if you’re managing your personal brand, it could be a real pic of you.
Whatever it is, it has to appeal to the demographic that Snapchat appeals to.
10. Analyze Your Insights
Monitoring your analytics helps you create agile marketing campaigns and helps you adapt to changing trends. However, using the in-built analytics tools that Snapchat has isn’t enough.
If you want to get to know your audience better, we advise that you use a third-party tool that allows you to really break down your audience in terms of their characteristics.
Quintly has a Snapchat Story Studio tool that helps you track everything from loyalty to your KPIs.
11. Snapchat is Being Used Extensively to Showcase a Brand’s Personal Side
A lot of companies have taken to Snapchat to show the personal side of their brand.
And, in our opinion, it’s an opportunity to combine great storytelling with a brand awareness campaign.
Don’t be afraid to get your team on your Snapchat or post photos of what you’re doing at the office. People love “behind-the-scenes” action.
12. The Ads Are Worth It
We all like free, organic marketing campaigns, but Snapchat ads might actually be worth it.
It’s said that the swipe-up rate of Snapchat ads is five times higher than those of comparable social media platforms even though Instagram copied this feature three years ago.
This means that a Snapchat ad can do more for you than other social media platforms, especially if your market is younger.
13. Post More Than Once a Day
You should post at least 4-5 or even 6 times per day on Snapchat.
Snaps only last for 24 hours. This means everyone is posting regularly and so your snaps might end up at the backburner if you’re not active.
The trick to making a mark on Snapchat is to post on a regular basis.
This not only keeps people engaged, but it also helps your brand leave a mark in their minds. Consistency is one of the most important attributes of being a top social media marketer.
14. Variety of Content is Important
Regardless of whether you’re on Snapchat for organic or paid campaigns, you need to provide a variety of content choices to the people who choose to follow you.
Remember, you are catering to a younger demographic who craves fresh content on a regular basis, so sticking with just video or photos alone isn’t enough.
Aim to come up with a content calendar or guide so that you can plot out what you want to do and when.
15. Snapchat Allows You to Connect to a New Generation of Consumers
Are you thinking of the survival of your brand?
Then look at people who will eventually have the disposable income to spend. That’s your next generation of customers.
We all know that Snapchat takes care of the younger demographic, and by effectively positioning yourself, you can start generating brand awareness for market continuity.
16. Carry Over the Promotion to Your Other Channels
Snapchat functions just like other social media channels, and you need to be able to make them interdependent of each other.
In this way, you get people who are following you on other channels on to your Snapchat profile.
This increases your reach and builds your follower base.
While you’re at it, make sure you know how to incentivize people to follow you on Snapchat.
You can give something out for free when they follow you, or you can offer a limited edition item.
17. Engage With Your Followers
Engagement is the aim of the game.
Here’s why.
People like it when brands speak to them. It makes them feel special, and it tells them that the brand is personal.
You need to incorporate this into your marketing campaign. Aim to engage with your followers by offering them special codes, replying to their snaps, and calling them out.
This creates an air of fun and establishes communications with your prospects.
As you can see, there are a lot of things that you can do to make sure that your profile stands out from the competition. However, what matters the most are posts that you put out on your account.
Don’t forget your demographic, ensure you post consistently, and in a couple of weeks, you can turn any Snapchat account into an organic lead generation machine.