Min Fang — February 6, 2017 Follow @mfang5Snapchat for businesses is about connecting with users on a human level. Whether you are B2B or B2C, showcasing your company’s culture is critical to standing out as an inspiring and informative brand. The key to Snapchat is short, digestible content. Post content that people laugh and talk about. Unlike on Facebook and Instagram, brand content on Snapchat is much less constrained.
Here are some tips and best practices to get the most out of Snapchat for your business!
1. Keep it Short and Sweet
As touched on in Exploring Snapchat as a Small Business, the content on the platform is more casual in nature but can be posted more frequently. Viewers should feel something when they watch your Snaps, keeping them engaged with your brand. Although you can post many Snaps to your Story, make sure to keep it meaningful and not overwhelming.
A common mistake for those new to Snapchat is posting to their Story too frequently. Plan on keeping your Story under 1 minute long, which is around 6 ten-second Snaps a day. It’s difficult to come up with that much unique and engaging content in a day unless you are featuring a special event.
2. Keep it Engaging and Exclusive
The average active Snapchat user gets 20-50 Snaps per day. And users now spend an average of 25-30 minutes a day on the platform. This means that people are digesting small bits of content in a short time period and will happily skip over anything that is not engaging. Make sure your content is unique enough that viewers come back looking for more. Create a reputation for being entertaining and inspiring, as well as providing material that cannot be viewed anywhere else. Some companies choose to provide an inside look at the co-founder’s day to day, while others enjoying posting puns about the weather. It’s all about honing in on the type of content and entertainment that your viewers will respond to.
Keep the content different from other social media platforms, as well as other companies’. Many businesses offer sneak peeks or even backstage access to concerts or events. You want to create something of value for your viewers. Snapchat is an excellent platform for an experience that feels exclusive and real. Other companies offer exclusive promotion codes through their Snaps, which not only encourages new followers but increases viewer engagement.
Some companies have found ways for their viewers to share content back to them. For example, Grubhub sent out Snaps that required responses from the viewers. They use coupons, contests, giveaways and promotional codes to engage their audience and break away from one-way content. Here is an example of a contest they created where people were asked to send back “food doodles” and 10 random Snaps would be selected for a prize.
(Photo Credit: Fast Company)
3. Take Advantage of the Features
Known as one of the fastest growing social networks, Snapchat is constantly updating and offering new features. Take advantage! There are many static filters and interactive features that help to make your content more memorable and entertaining. New ones are constantly released so it is a good idea to keep an eye out.
One of the coolest features is the ability to customize and create geofilters! They are a fun way to engage your customers, raise awareness of events, and let people share their location. For location dependent companies Snapchat’s geolocation features can be very effective. Snapchat allows you to either create one for the community (no brand logos allowed) or an on demand one (brand logos allowed).
American Express created their own special geofilter for Small Business Saturday. They released it a few days before the event to raise awareness and encouraged people to use it when they were shopping at small businesses that day. Not only was it a great way for users to interact with their brand, but it helped spread the word about a day that benefited merchants.
(Photo Credit: Medium)
4. Partner Up
The casual and fun nature of Snapchat makes it the perfect platform for trying new things. Some companies have paired their brand with select social media influencers and offered exclusive insight into their lives or co-created content.
In 2014, the candy brand Sour Patch Kids paired up with Logan Paul (social media influencer) to create an interactive campaign in NYC. Logan spent five days going around the city recording pranks on Snapchat, playing on Sour Patch’s branding phrase “First they’re sour, then they’re sweet”. Not only could Logan draw follower’s to Sour Patch’s account, but they created content that engaged people around the city. Sour Patch also created a story line that kept viewers engaged over the five day period while reinforcing the playfulness of their brand.
5. Plan
Just because Snapchat is seen as more casual than other social media platforms does not mean you shouldn’t plan! Add Snapchat into your company’s social media marketing calendar so that you can ensure broader distribution and more varied content. It’s also helpful to plan around certain events so that you can create content that is relevant, and therefore more memorable. You want to be talking about the same things your viewers are. This could mean releasing election related content on Inauguration Day or Valentine’s themed giveaways in February. Also, Snapchat tends to release special filters for different events, so make sure to take advantage!
6. Cross Promote
Just like all social media platforms, make sure to take advantage of cross promotion. Once you post a new story, post about it on Twitter and Instagram so your viewers know to look out. Warby Parker does an excellent job of this. They make sure to promote their Snap story and provide a bit of insight into what viewers can look forward to. They actually don’t cross promote using Facebook, relying heavily on Snapchat to engage and convey brand messaging.
Snapchat is the place to have fun and try new things! It gives your company the opportunity to connect with your customers on a human level.
Special thanks to Sofia DeMay for her help on this article.
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