You’re afraid that they’ve moved on. Aren’t you?
Your engagement on other platforms isn’t growing and you’re worried that your tribe is converging somewhere else.
Their attention is on Snapchat and you know it. But you’re also aware that you don’t know enough about the app to be successful.
What’s worse is, deep down, you know that if you miss the Snapchat train your odds of becoming an influencer or growing your brand’s following will be greatly diminished.
All your competitors will figure it out and leave you in the dust. You’ll miss the opportunity to target the millennial generation, the chance for sales and conversions with customers who have made the app their playground.
You could put your head down and fumble with the app till you get it. Then if you concentrate and work hard you’ll figure it out.
But the truth is, like most things, hard work alone won’t get you ahead with Snapchat.
Especially not as quickly as you want to get ahead.
What might actually matter more is the little-known intricacies of the app that you can leverage.
Here are ten secrets, hacks and tips that will help boost your snapability:
1. Create amazing snaps with this impressive filter hack
We’re all aware of the limited number of filters Snapchat offers, but did you know that you can use two or even three filters (if you’re feelin’ crazy) on one Snap?
Well, surprise, surprise, you can.
Take your amazing pic, swipe left to find a filter you like. Hold down on it with one finger while you swipe left again to find the other filter of your dreams.
And, presto you now have the overlay you always wanted along with the filter you can’t resist.
2. Get more text space in your Snaps
Ugh, I think we can all agree that we have a lot to say.
Snapchat caps your text at 31 characters. Nowhere near enough when you need to caption that Snap properly.
Luckily, there’s a way around this heinous limitation.
Go to the Notes app, select and copy a few lines of blank space. Go back to the Snapchat text area and paste it in.
You now have as much space as you need to either tell customers about your upcoming sale or share your Iced, Half Caff, Ristretto, Venti, 4-Pump, Sugar Free, Cinnamon, Extra Whip, Dolce Soy Skinny Latte.
3. Unlock powerful custom geofilters
You know that upcoming sale that you’re trying to market till you’re blue in the face?
Well now you can create a custom geofilter to promote your event. Even better, the CPM is really low as compared to other platforms.
You can geographically target the area you want the filter for (hence the name geofilter) and pay accordingly.
What’s great about a custom geofilter is that people see it, use it and they wind up promoting your event to their Snapchat friends. It’s exponential gain at a fractional cost.
4. Use filters others can’t find and show your expertise
Yes, the colors of Snapchat filters are limited but there’s a way around that..
After you’ve taken your stunning selfie, pick an emoji who’s color you like.
Now simply zoom up from the edge using the end pixels of the emoji until it becomes as transparent as you like.
And just like that, you now have a filter that others don’t, you savant!
5. Explode your Snapchat growth with co-marketing
We intersect with each other. In our personal lives and businesses.
We think that we’re alone but thankfully we’re not. And Snapchat allows us to capitalize on our intersection spectacularly.
With this app we can take co-marketing to stratospheric heights.
How?… Simple:
Two small business owners can now exchange logins and ‘hijack’ each others Snapchat and get in front of a new audience.
They can now bring fresh and interesting content to each group and grow their own audiences.
This costs nothing but has the potential for great ROI as each business owner will be gaining snapchat friends and the chance for conversations, impressions and sales.
Worth a shot right?
6. Tap into video chat to send your customer care into hyperdrive
Customers want to feel special, now more than ever before.
It’s expected that the buying and post-sale experience is as personalized as possible.
Using the video chat feature of snapchat allows you to do just that, in real time.
You can video chat with your snapchat friends bringing solutions to your customer’s problems and providing personalized service.
7. Add stunning visual variation to snap text
Snapchat allows you to have multicolored words by changing the color of each letter individually.
This is good for increasing visual appeal, for branding purposes or when having some fun with your snap friends.
Simply take a pic in the app, add the text you wish and increase the letter size to something that you like.
Now, place the cursor somewhere in the word, hold it down and tap select when the option comes up.
Move the two cursors, one before and one after the letter whose color you’re changing.
Select using the color bar the color you want and there you have it, pretty colors for all.
8. Orient your snaps so that they get viewed more
This one’s more of a quick tip. People aren’t turning their phones anymore.
You should know this. Think about it, do you turn your phone sideways?
Didn’t think so…
In fact, snapchat was created in part with this in mind. Yes you can use landscape orientation but if you knew this would lead to a lower view rate, less impressions or less relationship building power, would you still do it?
When making content for Snapchat, remember always how your audience is using their phone. Don’t go producing stuff for snapchat in a way that’s easy for you or that suits you but alienates your audience.
Produce good content, vertically and get more interactions.
It’s that simple.
Like this…
But not like this;
9. Leverage Snapchat to conduct market research
Some marketers hate Snapchat because of it’s time sensitive nature.
Don’t be one of those guys. Be the person who sees the upside of this and capitalizes on it.
Realize that all other content that you put out, on every other platform is there for a long time. But not so with our new favorite app…
If you want to experiment with a new way to tell your story, or want to tell it differently, why not use Snapchat to do it?
You can see how many people viewed your video, for example, and ask for feedback on it.
And the best thing? If you messed up it’ll be gone soon anyway.
If you feel that you’re onto something, you can now reiterate and roll it out onto your other platforms.
This should have been what every marketer was begging for…
10. Expand your color palette like the pro you are
The color slider offers a range of eye catching hues, but what if you want more?
Well luckily there’s a way past this color limitation.
To get black – simply press down on the color slider and drag your finger downward.
To select white – press down on the color slider and drag your finger left, across the screen.
Pastelles – If you drag your finger from the color slider left across the screen and to the bottom you’ll be able to select colors that aren’t even on the color slider.
Wrap
Imagine logging into your Snapchat account now, no longer afraid or worried.
In fact, you’re brimming with confidence because you know everything about Snapchat.
You’ve found your tribe again, and then some.
You’re well on your way to becoming a Snapchat influencer, you’re even handing out advice of your own now.
Sales are coming in that you can attribute to your prolific usage of the app, you’re speaking with customers and building relationships in a massively scalable way and you’re ahead of your competitors.
Look at you go!
Implement what you’ve learnt here and that reality won’t be far off.
But do yourself and your business a favor, don’t wait, get going now.
The train’s leaving the station, you have your boarding pass; it’s time to hop onboard.
Your tribe and many a new opportunity awaits.
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