Insider’s Guide to Snapchat Marketing
What is Snapchat?
Snapchat is a social media platform created for sending photos, videos, and text
messages that disappear in seconds. There are several different features such as
Stories (photos or videos that can be viewed for 24 hours before disappearing),
Memories (saved photos and videos for viewing and sharing in the future), and filters,
lenses, and stickers to give your posts and messages some fun flair!
Snapchat isn't like any other social media platform out there. It’s all about real-time
videos, personal messaging, doodles and emojis, and quirky, fun content. The content
there is full of personality and is rawer, versus being buttoned-up and refined. So, you’ll
have to approach your strategy a little differently than other social media platforms.
Brand messaging that is TOO professional or salesy will be seen as boring and not
engaging. Instead, you’ll need to think outside-of-the-box and have some fun with the
content you share.
Why You Should Use Snapchat for Your Business
So why market your company on Snapchat? There are several reasons:
• Since it’s a different type of social media platform, there is less competition. That
means it’s easier to stand out and dominate!
• There’s no algorithm that decides which subscribed content Snapchatters will
see. If they’re subscribed to your business, they will be able to see everything
you post under the Subscriptions section of the app.
• It’s extremely popular with millennials, and an effective way to reach new
audiences.
• It’s a great way to show your brand’s playful side and engage with potential
customers.
With Snapchat, you can instantly connect with market-driving audiences. Here are just a
few facts about Snapchat’s users:
• 280 million people use Snapchat each day (on average)
• 75% of millennials and Gen Zers are on Snapchat
• Snapchatters spend an average of more than 30 minutes on the platform every
day
If you’re ready to get started with Snapchat marketing for your business, the first steps
are to create a business/ads account, setup your pixel, and then create a public profile
for your business.
How To Setup A Snapchat Business Account
Setting up a Business Snapchat account is quick and easy. First, visit
https://forbusiness.snapchat.com/ You’ll click the “Get Started” or “Create an Ad” button
to get started with setup. On the next screen you’ll enter your account details. Choose
your username carefully, you only get 15 characters to tell your audience who you are!
On the next two screens you’ll input the name of your business, your location, currency,
and phone number. And that’s it! You’re done creating your business account and ready
to set up your Snapchat pixel.
Setting Up a Pixel
Once you’ve created your business account and are logged in, click on the dropdown
menu in the top left corner of the screen. From there, under Assets, click the Events
Manager link. This will take you to the pixel creation screen. You can either copy the
pixel code to add it directly to your site header, or you can opt to use the Partner
Integration feature which includes setup options like Google Tag Manager. Snapchat
will walk you through each step in the process regardless of which option you choose.
Once you’ve finished setting up and installing your Snapchat pixel, it’s time to create a
Public Profile for your business so that Snapchatters can find you!
Creating A Public Profile for Your Business
Snapchatters can keep up with your brand by subscribing to your Public Profile.
Subscribers will be able to see your public profile posts in their Subscription carousel,
and non-subscribers will be able to find your brand by search, @ mentions, and the
Discover and Highlights sections.
With a public profile for your business, you’ll be able to see analytics such as Story
views, subscriber vs. non-subscriber views, subscriber growth, and engagement. This
information is accessible both in the app and also on the web-based platform for
business. You’ll also be able to add an ecommerce store (using Shopify) to sell your
goods on the app.
To set up your public profile, follow these steps:
• Log into your Snapchat Business/Ads Manager account
• Click the dropdown menu in the top left. Under the Business section, click Public
Profiles.
• Click “Create a Snapchat Account” or “I already have a Snapchat account”
• If you already have an account, login with your profile username and confirm you
want to link it to your business account
• If you don’t already have an account, you’ll be prompted to create a username for
your public profile
• Next you can input your profile information, including your profile picture, bio,
category, location, website, and email.
• Once you are done filling out your profile details, click “Create Profile” and your
account will be live!
Remember, public profiles are discoverable and a great way to be found organically and
build a following.
How To Leverage Your Existing Community
Many of your current community members probably have a personal Snapchat account
already. To help build your Snapchat following, reach out to them and tell them how to
find you there! Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
• Change your social media profile pictures to your Snapcode
• Share a link with followers that goes directly to your Snapcode by adding your
username to this URL: https://www.snapchat.com/add/USERNAME
• Talk about Snapchat in your YouTube and TikTok videos and invite followers and
viewers to join you
• Promote your Snapchat account in emails that you send to your existing
audience
Pro tip: Create content or an offer that is only available on Snapchat. Promote it via
email and social media to encourage existing community members to join you on
Snapchat and subscribe to your account there.
Strategies for Gaining Followers
Snapchat may be different than other social media platforms, but gaining followers
organically works the same way. The basic concepts are really pretty simple:
• Be a hub of valuable information
• Be trustworthy and credible
• Be entertaining
There are two main ways to share content with Snapchatters: posting Snaps and
creating Highlights.
Snaps and Stories
Your public profile’s Story feed is called Our Story. Our Story is simply a collection of
the Snaps you’ve posted in the last 24 hours, that play in the order that you created
them. These can be viewed by your subscribers, as well as non-subscribers that come
across your Story via search, or the Spotlight and Discover sections of the app. These
types of Snaps are a great way to share the day-to-day, behind-the-scenes of your
business. But remember, the Snaps in your Story only stick around for 24 hours before
they disappear.
When you create a Snap, you can add a website link as an attachment by tapping the
paperclip when previewing your Snap. You simply enter your link and then tap “Attach
to Snap.” This is the perfect way to share more info with viewers since Snaps are so
short by nature.
You can also create longer pieces of content by stringing together multiple Snaps. Don’t
go overboard though, try to keep it just a couple of Snaps for one content piece.
Highlight
Highlights are videos or images that stay on your public profile permanently and are a
fantastic way to really show who your brand is. You can add Highlights directly from
your camera roll or from your previously posted.
Here are a few Highlight ideas to get you started:
• Your most popular Stories
• Groundbreaking moments in your business
• Behind the scenes content
• An About You video
• Q&As
• Story series
• How-to guides
• Product demo videos
Remember to choose videos and images that are clear and easy to understand. The
title you choose has a lot of impact on potential engagement, so be sure to use text that
grabs interest.
Making Money with Snapchat
Making money with Snapchat starts with building trust. This is especially important on
Snapchat because sales-heavy content doesn’t do very well on the light-hearted
platform. Instead, you want to position yourself as a reliable, knowledgeable person (or
business) that wants to help them solve their problems and/or achieve their goals.
When people recognize you as the go-to for their industry, they’ll be begging to buy
from you!
A few ways you can make money using Snapchat:
• Offer a free report and upsell them on the landing page
• Offer a free training and upsell them via email
• Offer a special discount just for Snapchatters
• Promote your new product launches
• Collaborate with an influencer to promote your products
Another way to make money on Snapchat is by creating a store right there in the app!
The Shop button is a new feature that you want to take advantage of if you have a
Shopify store.
The Shop Button
If you have a Shopify store for your business, you can now include the new Shop button
on your public profile on Snapchat. When visitors click on the Shop button it will launch
a native store that features your products – they won’t even have to leave the Snapchat
app! Not only can you feature your products on your profile, but you can even attach
your store or individual products to Snaps just like you would add a website link.
Since this feature is fairly new, it may not be available on your account yet. If it isn’t, you
simply need to submit a request to Snapchat support to have them manually add it to
your account.
Ways To Expand Your Reach on Snapchat
Discover Feed
There isn’t an exact method to follow to get your content in the Discover section (those
darn algorithms!) but Snapchat recommends posting 3 or more Snaps at a time and
keeping the user in mind when posting your content. Snap Stories that DON’T look like
ads get engaged with the most in the Discover section. Also it’s important to note that
Discover filters out content from other regions – US users won’t be see content from
other countries in their Discover feed.
Topic Stickers
Add Topic Stickers to your stories to make them easier to find. These are basically
hashtags that help people discover your content. Users can browse trending topics or
search for specific topics to see what relevant content is available. Don’t be spammy
with Topic Stickers – make sure you choose stickers that best represent what your
content is about.
What About Snapchat Ads?
Snapchat has a self-serve advertising platform called Ads Manager that allows you to
create and launch ad campaigns, monitor performance, and optimize ads to improve
results. The interface is simple and it’s a really easy to use platform.
When you first create an ad campaign, you’ll need to select an objective. There are 10
objectives to choose from:
• Awareness
• App installs
• Drive traffic to website
• Drive traffic to app
• Engagement
• Video views
• Lead gen
• App conversions
• Website conversions
• Catalog sales
Snapchat advertising targeting lets you choose from various demographic options,
interests, behaviors, and more. You can also create custom audiences from your
existing customer list or past website visitor data. The daily minimum spend requirement
for an ad campaign is only $5.00, which means you can get started right away even if
you don’t have a big ad budget.
There are a variety of different ad types available on Snapchat. Here are some of the
most popular advertising methods:
Single Image or Video Ads
These are full screen mobile ads that can be used for any advertising objective. They
appear between or after native content, and because they are full screen, they never
have to compete with other ads or content for a user’s attention. These ads are great for
adding links that let users swipe up and take action.
Lenses
Lenses use augmented reality to create interactive moments by placing objects and
animated characters into Snaps. Most people are familiar with AR lenses like the flower
crowns and puppy ears, but there are tons of different possibilities available!
Story Ads
Story Ads are displayed as a branded tile in the Discover section of the app. The ad
content is made up of a collection of 3-20 images or videos that you select from your
existing content library or upload in Ads Manager.
Product Catalog Ads
These shoppable ads are a great way to show off the products and services you offer
online. There are three formats available: single image/video, story, and collection.
You’ll need to have a product catalog setup in Ads Manager in order to use this ad
format.
Snapchat also offers a more advanced Dynamic version of Product Catalog Ads if you
have the Snap pixel installed on your website. Dynamic Ads can be used to retarget site
visitors and display ads for the exact products they were looking at on your site.
Commercials
Snapchat Commercials are available in two different formats: Standard and Extended
Play. Standard Commercials are non-skippable ads that are 3-6 seconds long.
Extended Play Commercials can be anywhere from 3 seconds to 3 minutes, but only
the first 6 seconds will be non-skippable.
Filters
Filters are probably the most well-known feature on Snapchat. These are artistic
overlays that show up after a user takes a Snap and then swipes right or left. They
usually contain stylized text, emojis, graphics, etc. that tell where the Snap was taken,
such as a specific venue, landmark, or event. If you’re familiar at all with Snapchat for
business, you’ve probably heard the term “geofilter” more than once. Geofilters are free,
location-based filters BUT they are not able to be created by businesses, only by
personal users. However, Snapchat does have a location-based filter ad option for
businesses called On-Demand Filters.
On-Demand filters work just like geofilters: when Snapchatters are in the location you’ve
selected, they’ll be able to access your On-Demand Filter in the filter carousel. You
simply choose a specific area and time period that you want the On-Demand filter to be
available, and Snapchat charges you a flat, one-time rate for the ad.
If you like the idea of a filter, but don’t want to be limited to a specific location, there are
also Filter Ads available in the Ads Manager. They work exactly the same as any other
filter, but instead of being location-based, you can have them show up for an audience
you define with a variety of different targeting parameters. These Filter Ads are charged
based on impressions, rather than the flat rate that On-Demand Filter Ads offer.
Regardless of which option you choose, you’ll be able to upload your own custom-
designed filter or choose from a variety of filter templates to help you get started.
