Alex Ditty — May 5, 2017 How to maximize your presence
Undoubtedly, this platform presents challenges for marketers… there are a few things missing that marketers have grown accustomed to… like discover functionality and visible metrics. But there’s one area where Snapchat has a leg up on other platforms.
It’s no secret that young consumers reject traditional advertising because they simply don’t trust it. In an era of fake news and social media highlight reels, people value authenticity more than ever. Most people are very good at spotting B.S too. And this is where Snapchat can play a key role in your marketing strategy.
Initially, it was not clear how brands could leverage the platform for marketing purposes— brands and marketers had never worked with disappearing content before, and the lack of visible metrics threw a wrench into traditional ROI-based marketing strategies. However, these challenges are both double-edged swords: by limiting the lifespan of the content, the sense of urgency encourages higher engagement, and by foregoing publicly viewable followers, views, and likes, Snapchat stands out as the one social media platform that cannot be interpreted as a popularity contest. These factors help the platform appeal to a broader audience— one that just wants to have fun on social media without feeling the need to compete with anyone.
Despite Instagram’s recent introduction of the Stories feature, Snapchat is still overall the most laid-back, candid, and least-produced platform, so it encourages authenticity. As a brand on Snapchat, you are able to reach and engage with your target audience in a low-pressure environment. It’s an opportunity to show your brand’s personality and build closer ties to your customers, especially if your target demographic is millennial or Gen Z. Not to mention, while most brands have a presence on Instagram, Twitter, and/or Facebook, there is far less brand competition on Snapchat.
So you know why you should be on Snapchat. But what about how? Here are a few best practices.
INFLUENCER TAKEOVERS
Inviting relevant influencers to take over your Snapchat channel will help you build a following as well as bring you brand to life through the eyes of an influencer. Ask influencers to share a day-in-the-life via your Snapchat channel, conduct product demos, or document their experience at special events like store openings.
CROSS PROMOTE
Since account discovery is all but impossible on Snapchat, cross promoting Snapchat campaigns on other platforms is key. Share your username or snapcode with your Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram audiences. If you have an influencer doing a Snapchat takeover, make sure that they share your username on their other platforms too.
A Snaplytics study showed that significantly more new followers add users by username rather than snapcode, so make sure your username is easy to remember and consistent with your brand’s other social media handles, and then share it far and wide.
UTILIZE SCREENSHOTS AS A FORM OF ENGAGEMENT
Other than Views, Screenshots are the only easy to measure engagement metric. Take advantage of that. One option is to utilize screenshots as a voting mechanism: tell your audience to screenshot their favorite product, their vote for what product they want you to work on next, or even what they think you should name the new office hamster. Alternatively, you can prompt your audience to screenshot the next snap and then include a URL to a special webpage or an exclusive discount code (see how Warby Parker used this tactic in the next section). This then becomes a solid metric of engagement, as it indicates your audience is interested in purchasing your products or engaging with your brand further.
SNAPCHAT EXCLUSIVE OFFERS OR PRODUCTS
Share exclusive offers on your Snapchat channel, whether it’s the opportunity to participate in a Q&A with your CEO, exclusive discount codes for Snapchat followers, or even unique limited edition products announced only via Snapchat. Look to Warby Parker’s special edition Haskel mirrored sunglasses— Warby Parker shared the URL for the glasses exclusively on Snapchat and they sold out in 24 hours. This is a phenomenal example of leveraging the urgency and intimacy that Snapchat offers. Followers feel like VIPs, and they’re inherently moved to action due to the nature of disappearing content.
SET A CONSISTENT SCHEDULE
With disappearing content, you may feel pressured to constantly churn out content. However, you don’t need to always have an active Snapchat story. They key is to develop and maintain a consistent posting schedule so that your audience knows when they should be tuning in for your content. Just look to Everlane as an example— their Snapchat followers can count on the Everlane team to answer viewers’ questions every Tuesday as part of their Transparency Tuesdays series. You can still post somewhat sporadically, but it helps to have a few anchor points that your audience can always look out for.
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