Commonly referred to as Snap, what exactly is Snapchat? Launched in 2011, it is a mobile app for Android and iOS devices. One core concept of the app is that any media you send will only be made available to the recipient for only a short period of time before it becomes inaccessible. Why is that so? Because it is designed to encourage a more natural flow of communication between users.
When Snapchat started, it was focused on private, person-to-person sharing but now it has evolved into a variety of features – live video chatting, messaging, sending short videos, creating caricature-like Bitmoji avatars and sharing 24 hour chronological stories that are broadcasted to all your followers and “Discover”; letting brands show ad-supported short-form content.
It also allows you to store media in a password-protected space which is helpful especially if you feel certain files are private and confidential. That’s not all, there are other features available like the ability to add geo-filters and AR-based lenses to maps.
Based on a survey done in January 2020, 218 million users were active on Snapchat each day and that means millions of Snaps are created, sent and seen every day. It is highly popular among millennials and if your business’s target audience is more of the younger crowd, especially those under 35 years old, this is relatively a good platform to market your branding.
Some of you might not be familiar as Facebook and Instagram are more commonly used for promoting your business but fret not, we got you covered.
Here are 5 best practices to help you with your branding:
1. Research and execution
This is necessary when planning your marketing strategies. Always do your research first on competitors and what kind of campaigns attract followers as well as conversions. Concurrently, it will help you decide what your objectives are and finally, branding that you want to tell people about. Eg. Your business might be selling burgers, but if you are a vegan or a firm believer of healthier eating; you can sell plant-based meat burgers especially when people are so health conscious nowadays.
Once you have identified your business branding objectives, look and feel; create a content calendar so you will know what content to post, when to post and how much time you should spend on follower engagement. Remember this – consistency is key when it comes to branding. Make sure your concept, look and feel are consistently the same so your branding presence on Snapchat can be increased.
2. Let your audience know you are on Snapchat
If Snapchat is a new marketing platform for your business, the first step is to inform your target audience you are here. As Snapchat is designed differently from social media giants like Facebook and Instagram, you will need to use some new techniques to attract more Snapchat followers.
There are 3 ways to do this:
- Cross-promote your Snapchat username: If you have already gained a following, you can schedule or share posts on Facebook and Instagram etc to share your Snapchat username.
- Create an “add me” url: Under the “settings” icon in your Snapchat business account, you can click on “username” and see what is your unique url (snapchat.com/add/yourusername) so you can put it in your posts or marketing materials.
- Create a snapcode: A snapcode is a badge that people can scan with their mobile phones. Like a QR code, users can add you easily. It also allows users to find your brand’s unique filters, lenses and content. You can add this to marketing materials or even merchandise.
3. Brand engagement
According to statistics, Snapchatters are 60% more likely to make an impulse purchase. While chatting with friends, users are likely to discover new businesses. With the current design of Snapchat, chats happen on the left side of the screen while brands (Eg. Cosmopolitan magazine, MTV) and content creators can be found under “Discover”, on the right side of the screen.
Due to users spending such a long time chatting every day, they are spending 35% more time in the “Discover” section where constant exposure to brands makes them purchase something. That is what you call the effect of brand awareness on consumer buying behaviour.
4. Make the most of sponsored AR lenses
Snapchat’s artificial reality (AR) lenses change the way users experience the world. You can superimpose digital effects, animations or graphics on top of a real-life image. Snapchatters can interact with the superimposed image and the AR effects move as your real-life image moves.
75% of Snapchat users engage with AR every day so it will be good to use it in your branding as it allows users to interact with your branding and increase engagement at the same time. Especially for businesses in the makeup, fashion, cooking, travel and fitness industries; they will definitely do well due to the aesthetics etc.
5. Advertising and tracking metrics
To make the most out of Snapchat and to test which type of ads works the best for your target audience, you might want to try various ad formats as part of your marketing strategies. There are 4 types of ad formats – Snap ads, Collection ads, Story ads and Dynamic ads. You can increase brand awareness and drive traffic to your website, resulting in potential purchases.
Similar to Facebook, Snapchat has an analytics tool – Snapchat Insights. You can see who is viewing your content and check which campaigns are doing well; letting you know and understand user preferences as well as tweaking accordingly to produce better strategies the next time.
In conclusion, Snapchat features are not exhaustive to these few but these are some of the best practices for marketing on Snapchat. We hope this helps you to kickstart your new marketing journey!
