How to be Great at Snapchat Marketing

When researching social media platforms to advertise on, you have no doubt come across Snapchat. Snapchat is a great platform to reach younger consumers, specifically consumers within the 18-24 age range. In fact, over 80% of consumers in the age range 18-24 use Snapchat. Additionally, Snapchat has a lot of unique ways for businesses to market to consumers that can only be done on Snapchat. For example, they allow brands to create posts the same way a user would, which makes consumers more likely to interact with your posts. For more information on how you can be great at Snapchat marketing, keep reading.

snapchat marketing strategies

How to Set up Your Snapchat Business Account

The first step of learning how to market on Snapchat is learning how to create a Snapchat business account. Unlike other social media platforms, creating a business account on Snapchat follows the same process as creating a personal account. 

After you have downloaded Snapchat on your device, open the app and select the signup option, open Snapchat and select the signup option. Enter your name, birthday, email address, username, and password. Since this is a business account and not a personal account, make sure to make your username the name of your brand or company. Next, enter your phone number and wait for a verification code to be sent to your phone number. Once you receive the verification number, enter it. 

At this point, Snapchat will ask you if you want to upload your contacts. It is recommended to only do this if you have a lot of business contacts or if you need more Snapchat followers. If most of your contacts are personal, then you will probably want to skip this. And just like that, you now have a business Snapchat account and you have completed the first step to Snapchat marketing. 

What are the Different Types of Snapchat Marketing?

Now that you know how to set up your business account on Snapchat, you should look into the different Snapchat marketing strategies you can use. There are several different ways to advertise on Snapchat. It is important that you look into each one to see which one will be best for your business. It will depend on your company, product or service, and your goals for the campaign. The Snapchat marketing strategies include: sponsored lenses, sponsored geofilters, long-form videos, promoted articles, app install ads, and website advertisements. 

types of snapchat advertsiements

Sponsored Lenses on Snapchat

One of the Snapchat marketing strategies brands will often use is creating sponsored lenses. Snapchat lenses are filters Snapchat users can use to modify their faces when taking selfies or their surroundings when using the back camera. The biggest advantage to this is that users like to use the filter and share it on either their stories or send it to individual Snapchat users. 

This works really well if your brand has a mascot or symbol that you can in some way incorporate into the filter. As long as it is in line with your brand, you really cannot make a bad filter. A good example of a brand using filters as a Snapchat marketing strategy is L’Oreal. L’Oreal made a Snapchat filter that applied makeup to a user’s selfie. This was really effective because it showed Snapchat users what they would look like wearing L’Oreal makeup.

Snapchat Sponsored Geofliters 

Creating geofilters is a common type of Snapchat marketing that many firms use. A geofilter lets Snapchat users use an overlay when they are in a certain location. Geofilters let a Snapchat user take a picture with an overlay of a specific city, neighborhood, or even a location as specific as a store. 

For example, if a Snapchat user is near your business they can use an overlay that promotes your business. When you are researching how to market on Snapchat, you should look to Starbucks for inspiration. Starbucks used geofilters for its Starbucks frappuccino happy hours campaign. Every time a Snapchat user was close to a Starbucks, they would be reminded that during certain hours they could get a frappuccino for half price. 

Geofilters obviously work better for companies that have in-person businesses. Online-only businesses obviously can still create a geofilter, but it will probably not be as effective. If you have a physical business location, you should consider using geofilters as a form of Snapchat marketing. 

set up a snapchat business account

Long-Form Videos on Snapchat 

When researching how to market on Snapchat, you might want to consider using long-form video advertisements. Long-form Snapchat video ads have an advantage over other video ads because Snapchat allows the ad to play for up to 3 minutes. 

The ad will start by showing Snapchat users a 10-second preview of the ad. During the preview,  the user can choose to click through the ad or continue watching it. Those first ten seconds are crucial because you need to convince the user that they should continue to watch the full video. Make sure you include something that will catch the user’s attention within the first ten seconds. 

Long-form videos are often used by companies that want to promote a trailer for a movie or TV show because they can show the trailer’s entire length. The only problem some advertisers face is that their content is often shot horizontally and Snapchat videos can only be shown vertically. However, if you have a longer video that can be viewed vertically, you should consider using long-form video as part of your Snapchat marketing plan. 

Promoted Articles

If you use blog articles to promote your business, you might want to consider running an article advertisement on Snapchat. Snapchat has a Discover tab located under a user’s friends stories. The Discover tab for every user will feature several different promoted articles. If you already write articles to promote your business, this is probably your best Snapchat marketing option.

Even if your business does not already write promoted articles, you might want to consider doing so as a new promotional strategy. For example, if your company is in the fashion industry, you could write an article about the latest fashion trends and use examples of your clothing. Additionally, you can provide links within the article so Snapchat users can easily purchase your products. Other than the article itself, you will also need to create an image to entice users to read your article. The Snapchat brand guidelines recommend that you layer the title of the article over an image that allows you to still clearly read the title. 

snapchat marketing advertisements

App Install Ads

If you wish to promote an app, using an app install ad is a no-brainer. This will allow Snapchat users to easily download your app. App install ads are different from the other forms of advertising because as the ad for your app is playing, Snapchat users will see an “install now” option at the bottom of the advertisement. This allows the Snapchat user to install your app without leaving Snapchat. This encourages the Snapchat user to download your app more than a normal advertisement would. 

One of the advantages of running app install ads on Snapchat is that Snapchat does not have a desktop version. This means that every Snapchat user who sees your ad will be on a mobile device and be able to actually download your app. Desktop users would not be able to directly download apps. If you are not sure how to create your advertisement, you can always look in the Snapchat brand guidelines. They offer templates you can use to improve your advertisement.  

Snapchat Website Advertisements

The website advertisement is similar to the app install advertising, except instead of linking to an app download, the advertisement links to your business’s website. This is a good type of Snapchat marketing for any business that does sales directly through their website. Additionally like the app install ads, the Snapchat users can visit your website without leaving the Snapchat app. In fact, Snapchat users can even make purchases on your website without ever leaving the Snapchat app. 

Website advertisements can be either short video or image advertisements. It is recommended by the Snapchat brand guidelines that you feature the products you sell on your website in the advertisement. As long as the advertisement is in line with the values of your brand you cannot go wrong with a website advertisement. You can even create a website advertisement that links to a specific page of your website. This is useful if you are featuring one specific item from your website and you want to link to that particular item.   

FAQs about How to be Great at Snapchat Marketing:

  • How old are most Snapchat users?
  • Is Snapchat good for marketing? 
  • How do you set up a Snapchat business account?
  • Can Snapchat be used for marketing?
  • How do you promote on Snapchat?

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