I’m sure you have heard of Snapchat. And, if not Snapchat is a multimedia instant messaging app that is notorious for its main feature ‘snaps’.Which are pictures and messages that are available for a short amount of time before they become unretrievable to the receiver. In case you’re wondering, snaps are meant to disappear. In addition to snaps, there are geofilters, stories, discover, and spectacles. The platform has over 200 million active users and according to the Pew Research Center as of this year, about 65% of 18-29-year-olds use Snapchat. Thus making it one of the most popular social media platforms following Facebook.
Snapchat is a powerful tool for creators to utilize especially to market your brand. For instance, about 4 in 10 users said they discovered a new brand through posts and celebrity endorsements on the app alone. You just need to know the strategies and basics to make the most out of it. First, consider a Snapchat public creator profile. A creator profile is given to a user if they have engaging followers or make community lenses. Here are a few things you can do to help.
Snapchat Creator Profile
You have to meet the criteria first. You must have at least 100 subscribers, have a snap profile for 1 week, and lastly have at least 1 interactive friend. The next step which will guarantee you a creator’s account is to create a community lens. You can do so using lens studio. Which is free software where you can create, share, and post with other Snapchat users. This app allows any user to be a creator. Another way that may be more time-consuming is to build your online presence and grow your following to get recognized as a creator by Snapchat. Do so by writing engaging stories and posting good high-quality content. Ensure that your stories have substance so that they’ll end up on the for you page. This will encourage others to share your content. For example include music, geofilters or captions to spice up your stories. Host a contest on your account and give away a small prize. People love winning things big or small, you are sure to get more followers with this approach.
Once your creator’s account is made you can post advertisements and get paid for them. Video ads on Snapchat create twice as much purchase intent than other ad formats. Snapchat beat Facebook ads by 8%. Just imagine the amount of profit you can be making with Snapchat alone as a content creator.
Partner with Publishers
Snapchat gave Buzzfeed and NBC Universal the green light to create branded content with creators. Partnering with publishers can put your brand on top with a new audience. Not only will you gain new followers but also earn profit. It doesn’t get any better than that.
As a creator, you want to see and follow what other creators are doing within your niche to do so get rid of that mind-blogging content that’s featured on your discover page. Simply tap on your profile from Snapchat’s viewfinder page and hit settings. From there select manage, here you’ll find two options called ‘advert preferences’ and ‘lifestyle & interests’. Both of these options will allow you to filter your discover page to more of what you will like to see.
Sharing and Engaging
Share your content on all platforms outside of Snapchat. It’s hard to be discovered, so it’s crucial that you share your handle or link in other places. Promote your Snapchat on your other social media pages, websites, blogs, email signature, events, etc. Snapchat has made it easier to share your content. To do so tap and hold your story, options will appear to share on another platform.
Take advantage of the app’s new Audience analytics feature. Snapchat Insights allows creators to see story views and view times it is usually broken down by the year, month, or week. This tool can be found when you tap on bitmoji in the upper left corner of your camera screen. Tap the insights tab. In addition to view time, you can also see the gender and ages of your viewers. You’ll want to know your audience’s peak times so you’ll know when to post your content. This will ensure that they’re seeing your content and as a result, It will keep them entertained and wanting more.
Context and Trends
Utilize the app’s context cards. This feature is very convenient for creators. You can post your content along with a context card which can be found on your story by swiping up. You can put important information like reviews, directions, phone numbers, hours of operations, weblinks, etc.
Be sure to keep up with the trends. Every month or so Snapchat updates trends. Post content concerning these trends or interact with the audience to keep yourself relevant.
Snapchat lets you create your own filters directly from the app. Whatever you create will be geotagged and available for a short period of time. To create a filter simply go to profile then settings, from there select filters and lenses. Once you’re all done select the geolocation and time where you want your filter accessible. Keep in mind this feature is not free. It costs only ten dollars.
Feature image by Thought Catalog on UNSPLASH.COM
