8 Essential Elements for Success in Snapchat Marketing
Snapchat operates significantly differently from platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. While businesses typically focus on maximizing engagement…
Snapchat works in a very different way compared to other social platforms such as Twitter , Instagram , and Facebook . While businesses aim to gain the highest level of engagement on these platforms—such as shares, likes, and comments—Snapchat focuses on delivering content to target audiences using the innovative and fun features the app provides. For this reason, marketing on Snapchat requires approaches that are somewhat different from those used on other social platforms.
Table of Contents:
1. Spontaneous snaps are better on Snapchat
2. Influencers accelerate growth
3. Exclusive content is a trump card
4. Storytelling keeps you in the followers' minds
5. Video is a key component of Snapchat content
6. A content plan makes marketing more effective
7. Engaging with followers sustains your brand
8. Keeping up with new features
1. Spontaneous snaps are better on Snapchat
Have you ever asked yourself why Snapchat attracts Gen Z? The vast majority of users under 25 feel that the content shared on the app is easy to prepare; it just requires taking a quick snap with the camera, editing the image with fun additions, and launching it—in short, fast, ephemeral content.
Although other platforms like Facebook and Instagram value transparency in content, Snapchat surpasses them in this regard by a large margin. Users share light, short photos and videos without needing expensive production setups. Therefore, be sure to capture spontaneous, authentic content, and don't worry about shots that aren't perfectly filmed.
2. Influencers accelerate growth
The fastest way to grow your brand's account on Snapchat is by collaborating with influencers , who are individuals with a large number of followers. Snapchat has its own army of influencers who have the ability to share engaging stories quickly, which is exactly what you need for your account to grow at a good pace.
Use Snapchat stars as a great resource to share content about your brand and raise awareness for it. Do not rely on price alone in your selection; monitor the following indicators to make the best choice:
Audience engagement: Do not rely solely on the number of followers. While it is an important factor, it is among a group of other indicators, primarily the level of regular audience engagement with the influencer's content.
Audience nature: Choose an influencer followed by an audience you target, or one relevant to your industry, or within the age and geographical segment you are looking to reach.
When you find the right influencer, ask them to add a compelling and clear call to action to the content they share about you, such as adding a link to your website, an invitation to subscribe to your newsletter, using promotional text on the image, repeating specific phrases, or asking the audience to take a screenshot to refer to later.
3. Exclusive content is a trump card
Due to the short lifespan of content on Snapchat, a sense of urgency prevails in the app's environment—"watch before it disappears." Users check the app multiple times a day; therefore, brands must take advantage of this natural "act now" feeling to motivate users to take action in their marketing campaigns.
You can achieve this by publishing exclusive content not offered on any other platform, which captures followers' attention and encourages them to take advantage of exclusive offers. For example, Warby Parker offered sunglasses for sale exclusively on Snapchat and announced the purchase link for the limited-quantity glasses on their Instagram account, a professional marketing tactic for Snapchat marketing.
There are many other ways to share exclusive content, such as contests and giveaways, flash sales, and behind-the-scenes content like new products in development or glimpses from inside the office. Additionally, Q&A sessions where followers ask questions for a team member to answer, announcing an upcoming event, or celebrating a company anniversary.
In addition to discount codes, which are a distinct way to measure engagement on Snapchat, as you can track exactly how many people have used the discount code. Mix the aforementioned content formats throughout the days to keep followers engaged with your fresh content, making it easier to market to them repeatedly.
4. Storytelling secures a place in the minds of followers
Sharing a story is one of the important ways to reserve a special place for your brand in the minds of followers. However, the task is not always easy, as the probability of completing a story drops by 36% by the fourth snap, so the story should be structured with a beginning, middle, and end.
Your story may not exceed a minute or two, but structuring it with a beginning, middle, and end will make it more engaging. Therefore, if you are a beginner at Snapchat marketing and have not yet practiced adding stories, use a storyboard to plan your story well before posting.
Start the story with snaps that capture the viewers' interest and pique their curiosity to learn more. Update the story three times a day every four or five hours. Finally, conclude the story by reaching a final result or inviting viewers to take action, such as following your other social accounts, or tell them when you will next post new content on Snapchat. One of the simplest ways to end your story is to add the word 'The End'.
5. Video is an essential component of Snapchat content
Our era truly deserves the title of the video marketing age, as everything revolves around video; starting with YouTube, then Facebook 'Watch', Instagram, and Snapchat. Snapchat gives you 10 seconds to create a video clip through which you can let viewers see your brand for themselves rather than just telling them about it.
Video excels at engaging other senses like sound in addition to visuals, and you may be able to interact with them in a more vivid and warm way. Snapchat is a fun application, and one of the biggest obstacles facing new marketers on Snapchat is shyness or boredom. Shyness refers to the hesitation you feel before executing your ideas in front of the camera, while boredom refers to posting content with the same mindset used for other social platforms, such as reusing polished photos and choosing long display times (exceeding 7 seconds).
Enjoy using the app's filters and lenses in your photos and videos; viewers do not want to feel like they are watching an ad like the ones they see everywhere else. Therefore, you need to create interactive content associated with the creative and fun atmosphere of the platform. For this, use features like drawing on the Snap, adding captions, inserting information like the date, time, and temperature, or adding a poll, using one or more filters, and using lenses.
You can even go further and allocate part of your marketing budget to create a custom filter for your brand, designed by a Photoshop or Illustrator designer, then sent to Snapchat to be reviewed and published within hours.
6. A content plan makes marketing more effective
Social media marketing requires prior preparation and goal setting. Therefore, a clear Snapchat content plan is essential before you start, in order to ensure the greatest possible effectiveness of your marketing efforts. To clearly define your content strategy , you must first determine the goals you seek to achieve through Snapchat marketing and establish metrics to measure your success. Then, research your industry competitors and observe their effective marketing practices on the app.
This is followed by considering your brand's persona, which should appear consistent across all your social media accounts in its Snapchat content. Finally, you must create a content calendar that includes content types, posting dates, and time allocated for interacting with your followers. And do not forget that Snapchat marketing begins with promotion through your other accounts.
The intuitive component for the success of your Snapchat marketing efforts is followers. Followers will not discover your new account from thin air, of course; therefore, you must try to target your followers on other social media accounts. If you have just created your new account, there is no escaping the need to leverage your current audience and inform them about your new account in various ways:
Add your account link to the bio of your Instagram account.
Add your account snapcode to the end screen of your YouTube videos.
Include your account snapcode or link in your various marketing tools (website, newsletter, email signature).
7. Engaging with followers sustains your brand
Suppose a group of new followers, immediately after hitting follow, wants to get to know your account for the first time. On Snapchat, unlike other platforms like Twitter and Instagram, viewers will not be able to follow your old content, which disappears after 24 hours. Consequently, if there is no fresh content posted to your account, you will have lost an important opportunity to capture their interest.
This highlights the importance of consistency in adding content to engage with new followers, especially when a large number of users add you all at once after posting your Snapcode on social media or having it appear on an influencer's account. In such cases, it would be appropriate to quickly post a brief story introducing new followers to your business. Other ways to deepen engagement include using the (Swipe Up to Call) and (Swipe Up to Text) features, making it easy for viewers to contact you with a single swipe.
Snapchat separates content from friends and brands in its interface. Because of this division, you will need to engage with your followers to keep your brand top-of-mind. Engagement on the platform means viewing photos and videos created by others, following other users' accounts, collaborating with other brands, and watching and replying to messages from your followers.
8. Stay updated on new features
Snapchat is an incredibly innovative app, and its developers continuously add new features. Therefore, it is important to stay informed about the latest features added periodically to discover which ones suit your brand and keep your Snapchat marketing activities up to date. Among the relatively new features launched by Snapchat:
Snap Map: Which allows users to share their geographic location and also enables them to search for well-known businesses within a specific geographic area.
3D Camera Mode: This feature brings images to life by adding a third dimension; when the user shakes the phone, the holographic effect appears. This feature can be useful for businesses when announcing new products or showcasing them in an unconventional way that highlights their various aspects more clearly.
In conclusion, remember that the main goal of Snapchat marketing is to convert followers into customers. Since it is not possible to measure how much viewers like your content on the platform, you should encourage followers to take action and move them to a place that will deepen their connection with your brand.
Whether this action is a link to purchase a product, a link to read blog posts, or to subscribe to a newsletter.
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Mohammad Ghanem Al-Sawas
Marketing Department Manager
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