Snapchat for Business

Your brand may be ignoring a major promotional platform – fix the problem using these methods.

When it comes to user engagement, Snapchat is the undisputed king. As told by this VentureBeat post, Snapchat has over 100 million daily users, 60 percent of whom regularly upload photos. That was back in 2015, and Snapchat’s daily usage shows no signs of slowing.

So how can your brand capitalize on this hot social media trend? Your brand can create a profile or Geofilters. But with Snapchat being a new platform with many features that can be confusing to navigate even for daily digital dwellers, we have provided a few tips to help build your brand, stay up-to-date on the latest trends and increase user engagement, all in a “snap.”

Snaps
“Snaps” are Snapchat’s main feature. They let users send pictures with text, Emojis, Geofilters or finger drawings to each other that disappear after a few seconds, never to be viewed again. Why the self-destructing messages? The origin of the idea behind Snapchat is obscured, but the ephemeral messaging system has become extremely popular among millennials. Snaps are instant moments of interaction that your business can use to promote campaigns, build hype and tease new events or releases. Use the quick viewing apparatus to your advantage! Create Snaps that hint at exciting things your brand is doing without giving the full story. These “cliffhangers” are great for getting people interested in your brand, and if executed well, will leave your users wanting more. To increase conversions, create call-to-actions that lead users to your webpage or to events that you may be promoting.

Stories
When a user uploads a Snap, they have the option to add it to their Story. A Snap Story is a “slideshow” of all the images a user chooses to add to it. For most Snap-chatters, it becomes a running story of what’s happening in their day. For brands, it can be a great way to tell stories and promote content. Your brand can use this “slideshow” feature to tell well-crafted stories, live post from events and deliver media presentations to your customers. Uploaded Stories last for 24 hours, so make sure to time your release to allow for maximum viewing.

Geofilters
Snapchat Geofilters are much like Instagram filters; they let you change the lighting, color and appearance of your Snaps. Geofilters are a bit different. They allow users to add a layer of content on top of their Snaps and can be targeted geographically. For example, users in the Tallahassee area can apply the Florida State Seminoles filter, adding a “Go Seminoles” sticker to their Snap. Snapchat has opened up Geofilters to brands to use their graphic design skills and visual branding strategies to create fun, attractive filters that users will love. This means that if you come up with an interesting Geofilter, your customers will advertise for you! Geofilters are a paid feature, and the cost of employing them depends on the complexity of your filter and the length of time you want it to exist. But if your brand is targeting users aged 16-24, Geofilters are a dynamite way to build your brand recognition.

Here at RBOA, we’ve used Snapchat Geofilters to add viral marketing to our clients’ tool belts. Our Senior Account Manager Brianna Barnebee used Snapchat Geofilters to promote the opening of a new Tallahassee restaurant:
“As social media managers, it’s our job to embrace the latest social media trends to increase exposure for our brands,” said Barnebee. “As Snapchat continues to increase in popularity, especially amongst millennials, we need to figure out how we can utilize this platform to best meet the needs of our clients.”

Barnebee helped create Smashburger Geofilter campaigns for its grand opening event at The Hub. With FSU right across the street, Smashburger created pre-opening Geofilters located at popular areas of campus as well as a Geofilter for opening day both at the restaurant for attendees and on campus. Barnebee then worked with Smashburger to create a filter for its limited time offer Spicy Cowboy Burger where users could place their face into cowboy attire on the screen.

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Discover
Another way that Snapchat lets brands advertise directly to users is via their Discover page. The Discover feed is a list of promoted Stories from nationwide brands. While Discover pricing has been prohibitively expensive for most brands, the company recently announced a new pricing model. Use Discover to share high quality content such as brand updates or stories that will engage users and entice them to learn more about your business. Access to the Discover page is still fairly pricey, but if your brand has a nationwide audience and the resources to invest, this tool gives you access to an unparalleled number of highly engaged users.

Update: Snapchat adds video advertising between user Stories
Snapchat recently announced powerful new advertising tools that will soon be available to brands everywhere. Now, advertisers will be able to insert video ads that users will see in between their friends’ Snap Stories. This is the most intrusive form of advertising that Snapchat has employed to date, and we’ll have to wait and see how it truly affects the user experience. There has already been pushback from consumers, so it might be a good idea to wait until this new feature is a bit more established and accepted.

Also included in the new updates are better analytics for advertisers, featuring a dashboard that allows brands to see who is viewing their content. By introducing these new advertising methods and creating better return on investment measurement tools for brands, Snapchat is showing a commitment to monetized content on its platform. Some have predicted that these updates foreshadow a Snapchat IPO, but there haven’t been any official announcements. These changes are big, and should make Snapchat a more attractive medium for advertisers. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the latest features before delving into the world of Snapchat marketing.

Need help executing your brand’s Snapchat campaign? Contact RBOA’s social media experts.