Snapchat for business had its moment. And now it’s having it again. Says who? Google Trends!
It’s obvious that Snapchat has its ups and downs.
But right now we are in the middle of a comeback that you should be aware of.
Would you look at that!
Contrary to popular belief Snapchat is not going anywhere.
Yes, Snapchat faced some bad times.
But the platform seems to be snapping out of it now. (that’s right, bad puns are back!)
Because after two quarters of losing users, the platform’s losses seem to have stabilized.
What’s more, in the second quarter of 2019 Snapchat added 13 million daily active users while the number of Snapchat daily video views is now more than 14 billion.
And yes, fellow marketer. Your business could be among these videos too.
Want a piece of that pie? Now it’s the best time to do it.
What is Snapchat
Founded in 2011, Snapchat is a mobile app used for networking, communication, messaging, news, content creation and money-making. It’s a blast, not only for friends and influencers but also for brands.
And you know what? It’s now one of the most buzzed-about social networks.
Specifically, according to Omnicore, over 3 billion snaps, both photos and videos are posted on Snapchat every day. (2019)
Exactly my friend. Are you feeling the Snapchat rush yet?
To explain, Snapchat lets users share Snaps with friends. What’s that? Short videos and photos that disappear after a while, since you set a timer to choose for how many seconds these can be viewed.
All these are shot and edited from within the app. In addition, you can enhance your snaps with fan editing features such as selfie lenses, geofilters, text and stickers to add extra flair to your content.
Just look at how Primark uses Snapchat for business!
And hey, hold your horses, I know what you’re dying to ask. And the answer is yes.
Snapchat does include a stories feature, added in 2013, which lets you publish a collection of Snaps as well as a search feature which helps users easily find other stories within the app, from valuable brands. Just like yours!
But what really makes Snapchat so unique and popular is it’s a way to showcase the personal side of brands.
The platform today has become the go-to place for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, adding value to businesses.
As an illustration, here is Cisco‘s Snapchat, one of the most successful cases of a brand using Snapchat for business to bring out its human face.
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Wanting to make personal connections with future talent, the technology company decided to connect with the Gen Z through Snapchat and taking their employer culture to the social platform. And God are they successful!
Thanks to it’s real-time and disappearing content, Snapchat scores high levels of engagement and devotion from its users, making it an attractive and effective platform for many brand marketing strategies.
Why Snapchat for business is important
1. The audience you were looking for
I’m sure you know how Millennials and Generation Z pull the marketing strings. Specifically, by 2020, Gen Z will command 40% of all consumer shopping while 57% of Millennials have spontaneously purchased something they saw on social media according to a study about Millennial personal finance.
And since 75% of Snapchat users are under 34, then… are you thinking what I’m thinking? Exactly! Snapchat is the perfect medium for reaching those young audiences your business aims at.
Remember what Gary Vaynerchuk once said?
“If you have 1,000 followers on Snapchat, 900 of them will watch your story”.
According to Statista, Snapchat reached 190 million daily users in 2019.
Furthermore, 6 in 10 U.S. internet users who use Snapchat are 25-34 years old. If your brand aims at a young audience, increasing your social media presence with Snapchat will help you reach your goals faster.
2. A brand to remember
Snapchat is a great tool to connect you with users in your area and help them recognize your brand. Snap Ads- 10-second video ads appearing between Stories help build brand awareness and promote your business.
Specifically, according to Statista, Snapchat reached 190 million daily users in 2019.
Moreover, 6 in 10 U.S. internet users who use Snapchat are 25-34 years old. If your brand aims to a young audience, increasing your social media presence with Snapchat will help you reach your goals faster.
3. Exclusive love
Users love feeling special. And Snapchat is perfect for that! Show your audience content no one else has access to by teasing a new product or service or by “snapping” a behind-the-scenes look that will interest them.
That way you satisfy their need for unique content and make them keep coming back for more.
What’s more, a behind-the-scenes photo or video is the ultimate act of transparency for a great number of industries. But we’ll talk about that later.
Nailing Snapchat for business
Yes, Snapchat can elevate your business for free. As long as you know how to use it.
Just think that 58 percent of college students would be likely to purchase a brand’s product or service if they were sent a coupon on Snapchat! Not bad, huh?
So roll up your sleeves and delve into the best practices for organic growth on Snapchat for business.
Snapchat’s Eleven
1. Free is sweet
There’s nothing like freebies when it comes to upping social media clout. Because, hey, everybody loves presents! No matter the business you are in you can easily increase engagement among your followers by challenging them to a contest.
For instance, check out how GrubHub used Snapchat for business to run contests.
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With the Snap above, the food delivery company asked users to send a Snapchat back of a food doodle. In response, 10 randoms followers would receive a prize next day. Would you doodle? I would and I would tell my friends about it too!
2. Do it like Gigi
Influencers couldn’t be missing from Snapchat for businessl, duh ! Especially when it comes to niches like food, fashion, gaming and the like, young influencers are especially active. And while they may spend their social time mostly on other platforms, you can still partner with them to target your followers.
Just think that 40% of millennials relate to online influencers more than they do their friends.
For example, take a look at Shiseido.
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In order to launch its Snapchat channel, the brand partnered with top YouTube influencer Jen Chae who took over the Japanese cosmetics brands’ account.
Chae’s Snapchat takeover was themed with the hashtag #DayWithJenChae, consisting styled snaps from her daily beauty routine with Shiseido products.
3. Tease biz
New kid on the block? Bring it to light by using Snapchat for business! Let your audience know what the future holds with a short video or photo showing what it is or how it works and how cool it is.
Snapchat, with its disappearing content, is the perfect tool to create anticipation, excitement and buzz for your next product launch.
In order to promote the arrival of Gilmore Girls on Netflix, the company took over 200 coffee shops to recreate the fictional café Luke’s from the tv show.
For the campaign, a number of coffee shops dished out free coffee in Luke’s branded cups that included Snapcodes.
The code directed users to a custom filter they could apply to their photos.
As a result, the filter was viewed 880.000 times and the campaign reached 500.000 people. Not bad for a one-day campaign if you ask me!
At the same time, bear in mind that content on Snapchat only lasts for 24 hours.
And though followers can screenshot your teaser, it is possible that you don’t get the right timing. But hey, marketing is all about experimenting!
4. Staff stuff
It’s not only products that intrigue users. It is also everyday moments from your brand’s life. Customers are greedy. They want to have access to everything, know everything, understand everything. And this includes the vibe and tone of your company. Snapchat for business is here to feed your customer’s quriosity and create a strong brand name.
Who are you? Who are the people working behind all this? Are you having fun? Show the character of your brand by introducing your team members, capturing team activities and even snapping internal messages. Followers love that stAff!
5. The email trick
Oh, how hard you try to boost engagement through Snapchat. Ain’t it a shame to let it go to waste? After all, what you really want to do is sell!
Keep your followers engaged and turn fans to leads by encouraging them to sign up for your email list.
Consider including a photo of your latest newsletter or, even better, let them know that by subscribing they will receive a promo code and other exclusive privileges.
Not only will they interact with your brand but will also build your email list and gain valuable prospects pronto!
6. Less is more
Yes, your content is great. But why not give your followers something they will appreciate even more?
Keep them coming back to your account by rewarding them with discount coupons and flash sales. Not only are they a great way to connect with your audience but they also create a feeling of exclusivity.
And you can be sure the news will spread and you will get even more followers because, hey, who doesn’t like offers?
7. Behind the curtains
If there is one place perfect for showing your fans exclusive content they can’t find anywhere else, then this is Snapchat for business.
Check out Snapchat champion MTV.
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For Teen Wolf’s last filming day the popular channel let the entire cast take over their Snapchat account, taking followers behind the scenes, getting their fans hooked on both the show and MTV. Well-deserved high five for them!
Make your friends part of your brand story by giving them sneak peeks of how you business rolls, how your products are made, where you bake your delicious cookies and how you saw your handmade hair bands.
8. Story glory
I’m sure you don’t need me to stress the importance of storytelling in marketing. But, in case you were born yesterday, messages delivered as stories can be up to 22 times more memorable than just facts.
What’s more, not only does storytelling gets your message across more effectively but it also increases your brand favorability in your audience’s eyes and lets your brand’s “personality” stand out.
Remember that the point of storytelling is not to sell but to approach your audience and let them know you better.
So tell a story your customer base can relate to and take your followers on a unique journey that leads to trust and loyalty. It’s your best opportunity to show your brand’s human face so make it good.
Besides, Snapchat for business offers a great range of tools and features to help you tell your story.
Short video skits, how-to’s and exclusive footage, even if they are not planned and prepped with a storyboard, can captivate your audience instantly, as long as you stay original, creative and entertaining.
9. What’s the frequency, Kenneth?
Since, you know, the “life” of a Snap is only 24 hours, more than on any other social media platform, frequence is key on Snapchat. If you don’t want your content to disappear from the top of mind framework you should be posting from 1 to 5 times per day.
Tell a story with multiple snaps, add text, play with filters, use emojis and music and stay creative to keep your followers’ attention no matter how often you post. Don’t forget that the more you Snapchat through the day, the more likely you’ll be seen.
10. Shared power
Snapchat is your Eldorado when it comes to user-generated content (UGC). A powerful tool for your brand, UGC makes you look more authentic while it also helps you earn more followers with minimum effort.
Copa90, the soccer media company, drew 31 million Snapchat viewers during the World Cup, with nearly 40% of them swiping up to view more.
How? They started publishing Snaps from passionate young fans right in the center of the action, using first-person storytelling to show the World Cup from the fans’ perspective. 
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To establish a powerful online presence with the help of UGC you can ask for photo entries featuring your products, request video submissions, or ask for people to snap photos of themselves using your products or services.
11. Weave your web
Yes, since 2017 you can add links to your story. Which means more traffic to your website, hooray! All you have to do is take a photo or video and click the paperclip icon before uploading your story and add a link to your website or post.
Users only have to swipe up in order to follow the link. Check out this example by Fendi‘s Snapchat ad in three steps.
This is a great way to drive traffic to your website and offer a more complete experience to your visitors.
Where the money is
And now, it’s time to move on to the moneymaker: the ads!
Before delving into the types of ads Snapchat offers, let’s take a look at how you start creating your ads.
How to use Snapchat for business
Ready to create your first ad? Let’s see how to set up Snapchat for business. To get started, head over to Snapchat Publisher and sign up.
Once you are logged in you’ll have to choose the objective of your campaign.
After you choose, click on the Create Ads option at the top left of the screen and this page will show up.
If you are a newbie at Snapchat’s Ad Manager then Instant Create is probably the best choice to get started.
Once you’ve selected Instant Create you are ready to start creating your beautiful ad!
Types of ads
Since Snapchatters today use the app over 20 times per day, spending an average of 30, using Snapchat for business seems like the perfect platform to invest in for your advertisement.
And it gets even better. Because there are now 6 different ways to advertise your brand on Snapchat.
Let’s dig in a little, shall we?
1. Collection ads
This recently launched new advertising format is basically a carousel-like collection of ads, formatted like product catalogues, made for commerce.
It allows you to display four images of products, on which users can tap to get more details and the links open directly within Snapchat.
According to Snapchat “online retailer Wish.com earned a 17 percent higher engagement rate with the Shoppable Snap ads compared to standard Snap ads featuring the same product. eBay saw five times the engagement rate, and Guess saw 4.1 times the engagement rate with Shoppable Snap ads“.
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2. Story Ads
Here’s the Story Ads I promised you! This type of ad lets you feature a series of 3 to 20 snaps to tell your story. What differentiates it from the other ads is that it only appears in the Discover feed.
Your stories are shown in the content section of Snapchat, alongside popular content tailored to your audience’s needs ad.
With one click users can see your story.
And the best part? You can also add an attachment so they swipe up and dive even deeper into your new products, navigating outside of Snapchat.
Here’s a little piece of advice by Snapchat itself
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3. Sponsored AR Lenses
They are fun, popular and easy to create. AR lenses are filters that can overlay everything from bunny ears to sunglasses onto a user’s photo and you can create your very own special lenses relevant to your business.
All you have to do is develop a frame, filter or lens, pick a subject and get started.
To make it easier for brands to create their own lenses, Snapchat for business has launched a new program called Lens Creative Partners. Through it you can discover certified AR creators to build branded lenses.
It’s a great interactive way for users to create unique memories with special lenses relevant to your business and it’s also a great tool for reaching millennial users.
I mean, who wouldn’t want to see their face turn into a delicious taco or a Starbucks cup?
And who knows? You might even see your Lenses going viral and being shared on other social media platforms too!
4. Filters
Let’s be frank. Snapchat filters for business are the most fun, cool and creative ad types the platform offers. Take Taco Bell for example and its famous 2016 silly Cinco De Mayo filter.
The top campaign in the app’s history, Taco Bell’s sponsored filter turned user’s faces into a giant taco shell. And it got more than 224 million views in one day!
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Moreover, Snapchat now lets brands create their own branded on-demand geofilters, a form of advertising that reaches Snapchat’s demographic.
Geofilters are a fun way for users to share their location through filter overlays and can be seen by 40 to 60% of daily users. They are specific to locations and special events ant usually reflect the place, the people or the culture of the location.
For example, W Hotels was one of the first brands to launch a geofilter campaign, creating traditional postcard style filters to give their visitors the chance to share their experience at the hotels with their friends on Snapchat.
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And hey, I know you don’t know how to make a Snapchat filter for your businees and it might soung to complicated for you. But I have good news for you:
a) It’s super easy
b) It’s totally worth it
5. Commercials
Since 2018 offers unskippable ads within its shows. They last 6 seconds and are like actual TV commercials.
There are no particular rules here since users can’t skip them. But since Snapchat is a platform for young audiences it’s best to embrace a playful feel so your ads are more engaging.
6. Snap Ads
A few years ago, Snap Ads were expensive and could only be purchased through Snapchat’s sales team or third-party ad tools.
But today any business can be advertised on Snapchat without breaking the bank.
Through them, you can drive Snapchatters to your website, app, etc, all in a single swipe.
The insider’s club
Why use Snapchat for business? I think I’ve covered your question so far. And now you can’t wait to conquer Snapchat, right? Not so fast mister! I know it’s the most playful and exciting platform out there, but in order to become the King of Snaps, you have to know how you will hit all the right notes. Are you taking notes?
1. Be original
Snapchat is not like Facebook or Instagram. It’s not about the perfect, edited highlight of your day or business. It’s the complete opposite. People are on Snapchat because of its unfiltered character and the advantage of seeing the other side of the camera – you.
For this reason, you should never post the same content you post on the other social media platforms.
This is not the way Snapchat works. And don’t struggle to get the perfect ‘snap’.
Post real, raw photos and videos that give your fans a different view of your business so they have a reason to follow you and never miss a Snap.
2. Be friendly
You’re not alone in this. Your business needs its audience and your audience needs your attention to keep following you.
Not just ad after ad that only talks about your product.
Like in any other relationship, Snapchat is all about the give and take.
So if a follower sends you a message, do respond. It shows you care about your customers and gives a human face to your brand.
3. Be found
As great as Snapchat maybe, with no search function available it can be hard for you to build your following on it. Therefore, you must promote your presence on the platform via other channels.
Facebook, Instagram, e-mail, they can all work in your favor.
Switch you avatars on social media for your Snapcode image, periodically post it on your newsfeed and spread the word with a fun newsletter that calls subscribers to join you on Snapchat.
So you get the picture. Get creative, catch your followers’ attention and make the most of all the social media platforms you are using for your business. Cross promotion is key for Snapchat!
Track in a snap
It goes without saying that if you are using social media for your business you should be tracking your efforts.
And Snapchat is no exception.
By using the platform’s analytics you will gain insights about your audience, see what works best, discover key engagement times and eventually boost your ROI. But, where should you start?
The 5 Key Snapchat for business Metrics
It’s not that long ago that Snapchat only offered its users views and screenshots in lieu of analytics. However, now Snapchat opens up, letting you see insightful analytics that will help you craft the perfect social media marketing campaign.
Let’s have a look at the top 5 Snapchat metrics you should be tracking.
1. Unique views
Find how many people opened your Snapchat’s first frame for at least one second. You can find it by looking at the number of people who opened the first snap of a story every 24 hours.
This doesn’t mean they finished your story or have gone past the first frame but you can still get important insights and it is very accurate.
2. View time
With this metric, you can see for how long users watched your story. You can view the year-to-date information and the time in weeks and months too.
This is a great metric to keep an eye on since you can easily understand how engaging your content is and when it’s time for a change.
3. Completion rate
Want to measure the percentage of users who watched your story from beginning to end? Great news for you since now you can see your completion rate on your “Story View Percentage” page without having to do the math yourself.
4. Screenshots
There may not be a Like button but thank God for the screenshot metric! This one tells you how many users took a screenshot of your snap and
You can easily find out. Just check at the number next to the triangle that shows at the left bottom of your story.
Ooops! Zero screenshots for me. Oh well.
5. Fallout rate
Determine when people dropped off when viewing your story by dividing the difference by the views from the first snap and multiply by 100.
This formula will help you gather useful data and create a more engaging and useful content for your fans.
Snapping it up
Well, there you have it! Your Snapchat for business 101 to nail the ultimate millennial social media platform and get a piece of the pie.
This is a platform with so many engaging opportunities for you to interact with your customers. And if your target audience is teenagers and youths, then using Snapchat for business is totally worth your time.
Surely, fun and irreverent, this platform can prove key to reaching your marketing objectives and there are only so many ways to do that without spending a dime.
In brief, for the best results stay original and creative and share content you don’t share on your other social media accounts.
And if you want to go the extra mile, take advantage of the Snapchat ads the platform offers.
Happy Snapping y’all! Oh and feel free to share your thoughts, comments and questions or shoot me an email at [email protected]. So interested to know how Snapchat works for your business!