Many businesses overlook Snapchat as part of their social media strategy, unsure how to promote their brand within the platform’s unique messaging functionality. However, Snapchat is a very powerful digital marketing tool, especially if you want to reach younger demographics.
While it may be different from other social media platforms, Snapchat allows you to communicate with your audience in an authentic, unfiltered way. However, you’ll need to understand how Snapchat works and what types of content perform best in order to create an effective strategy. Here’s how to run a social media campaign with Snapchat that generates real results for your brand.
Understand Snapchat’s user demographics
Before you start using Snapchat for business, you’ll need to assess the platform’s user demographics and determine whether they align with your target audience. Snapchat is particularly popular with Gen Z users, and over half of the platform’s audience is between the ages of 13 and 24. It’s also quite popular with younger millennials between the ages of 25 and 35. However, usage drops off significantly with older age groups.
Younger audiences love the authenticity that Snapchat brings to the table. Rather than following glitzy celebrities and influencers, many Snapchatters prefer to send unfiltered messages to their friends. Snapchat users can also use the Spotlight feature to find trending and entertaining content. When compared to other platforms like TikTok and Instagram, Snapchat’s Spotlight content tends to be less polished and more raw.
If your potential customers are older than 35, Snapchat advertising might not be the most effective strategy for your brand. However, if your target audience is younger, building a Snapchat campaign will help you engage with them in a more authentic and unfiltered way. Don’t overlook the potential of younger audiences—Gen Z alone represents more than $450 billion in buying power globally.
Set up a Snapchat business account
To launch your Snapchat content marketing efforts, you’ll need to set up a Snapchat business account. With a Snapchat business account, you can launch ad campaigns and monitor your performance with in-app analytics.
Here’s how to set up your Snapchat business account:
- Download Snapchat on your iOS or Android device and create a personal account. You’ll need to provide your birthday and email address to get started. You’ll also choose a username and password at this point.
- Once you’ve created a personal account, you can then create your business account. Go to Snapchat Ads Manager and log in to your account. You can do this on a desktop or mobile device.
- Enter your business name, email address, phone number, country, and preferred currency for ad spend.
- Upload a profile picture for your business. You’ll also have the opportunity to change your username if you’d like.
- Once you’ve finalized your public business profile, you can start posting and even launch your first ad campaign. You’ll also get your Snapcode, which is a scannable image you can use to share your brand’s Snapchat profile.
Craft an expert Snapchat marketing strategy
Marketing on Snapchat can help you boost brand awareness among a new audience. For your content to make an impact on the Snapchat audience, you’ll need a strong strategy that focuses on authenticity. Here’s how to build an effective Snapchat strategy for your brand.
Define your objectives
The first step when putting together any social media strategy is to set your goals. Think about what you’d like to achieve with your Snapchat campaign—this could be building brand awareness, increasing traffic to your website, or promoting new products.
When setting goals for your Snapchat strategy, it’s important to consider what’s realistic for your brand. One way to set effective goals is by using the SMART framework, which focuses on goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
This approach will help you set goals where you can easily track your progress and make adjustments as you go. It will also help you set goals that are relevant to your organization’s broader marketing objectives.
Know your target audience
Defining your target audience is another important step in building your Snapchat marketing campaign. Be specific when defining who your target customers are—consider factors like age, gender, location, and interests.
Then, research your target audience’s behavior patterns on Snapchat. Figure out which times of day they are most likely to access the app, and use this information to time your posts. Many people use Snapchat at night, so experts often cite 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. as the best time to post. However, the right time to post on Snapchat really depends on your target audience and their behavior patterns, so this can take some trial and error.
Learning about your audience’s interests can also help you find topics to cover. Optimize your posts with small business hashtags to help those in your target demographics find you.
Choose your content types carefully
There are several different types of content you can post on Snapchat. These include Stories, Filters, and Lenses. You can use a combination of these content types to reach your target audience.
Stories are images or videos that you post on your profile. You can add text, stickers, and special effects to each story to suit your branding. Many brands will post multiple stories in a row to create a narrative. When posting stories, make sure to adjust the settings so they are visible to everyone rather than being visible only to your friends. You can also submit your stories to Spotlight to reach an even larger audience.
You can also create branded Snapchat filters or lenses for other users to add to their Snaps. Filters are overlays that go on top of your images and videos to change the color or add other special effects. Lenses use augmented reality technology to transform your content. For example, some lenses transform photos into specific painting styles or add 3D objects to your images.
Creating your own custom filters or lenses is a very effective way to get your followers engaged with your content. They can use your filters and lenses in their own posts, which helps boost your brand awareness. You can even collaborate with influencers who already have a strong following to create user-generated content for your campaigns.
Build a publishing schedule
To generate a following on the Snapchat app, it’s important to post consistently. As with any social platform, posting consistently on Snapchat will help you generate more engagement and keep your follower count on an upward trajectory.
Create a publishing schedule before you launch your campaign to help keep your posts consistent. This also allows you to plan your posts in advance and make sure you’re posting a variety of different content types. Tools like SnapSchedule and Vista Social can help you schedule your content in advance so you don’t have to post manually.
When building your publishing schedule, consider when your audience is most likely to be online. Use analytics tools to determine the days and times when your users are most active, and schedule your posts accordingly.
Keep tabs on the latest social media information
Social media trends can change quickly. It’s important to stay on top of trends and new social media features to ensure that your content remains relevant. Take time to check up on relevant creators and hashtags for your industry, which can help inspire new ideas.
Monitor influencers with audiences that overlap with your customer base. What types of content do their audiences interact with the most? Regularly checking in on these influencer profiles can give you valuable insights into what’s current and what will resonate with your ICP.
Leverage Snapchat ads
In addition to your organic content strategy, you can use Snapchat advertisements to boost your brand awareness even further. Snap ads can take many different forms, from single images to complex videos and story collections.
You can also create sponsored lenses and geofilters. Geofilters are sponsored filters that are only available in certain locations for a limited time. The exclusivity of geofilters helps generate engagement and buzz.
Snapchat uses a flexible ad spend model. This means you can spend as much or as little as you want, depending on your budget and goals. Spending more will generate more exposure and broaden your reach.
To make your Snapchat ads stand out, invest in high-quality graphics, images, and videos. You only have a few seconds to make an impression with your Snapchat ads, so they need to have a very compelling hook. Snapchat videos have a maximum length of 60 seconds, and many users will scroll away quickly if they aren’t interested in your video.
Your ads should also fit in seamlessly with the user-generated content on Snapchat. Many successful ads capitalize on popular trends or use a format that’s similar to the Snapchat stories that influencers create.
Engage with your audience
To build a loyal following on Snapchat, you’ll need to interact and engage with your audience consistently. One of the biggest benefits of using this platform is that you can have casual interactions with your audience and connect with them on a personal level.
Take advantage of this by creating interactive content like polls, user challenges, and behind-the-scenes livestreams. Not only does this help generate engagement, but you’ll also get helpful insights into the behaviors and preferences of your target audience.
Another way to engage with your audience is to respond to relevant Snaps and comments, both on your posts and user-generated content. It’s particularly important to respond to Snaps followers send directly to you and make a positive impression. Your Snapchat activity is a reflection of your brand as a whole, so make sure to keep your responses aligned with your brand voice.
Measure success over time and adapt
When you create a Snapchat business account, you’ll get access to a variety of helpful analytics tools. You can use these tools to monitor your Snapchat campaigns in real time and see how they perform. Important metrics to track include views, follower counts, and engagement levels.
It’s also important to track your conversion rate. This is the percentage of people who interact with you on Snapchat and then go on to visit your website or make a purchase. This information can help you calculate a return on investment for your Snapchat campaigns. With these metrics at your fingertips, you can adapt your Snapchat strategy over time as you learn what works and what doesn’t.
Use Bitly for advanced tracking analytics
One way to track your conversion rate is with Bitly Analytics. With Bitly, you can create short branded links to use in your Snapchat ads and stories.
With Bitly links, you can connect users to your website or other digital assets seamlessly. Bitly Analytics allows you to track how many people tap your links, the geographic location of your customers, and referral sources to your website. This will give you more information about which Snapchat ads are sending the most traffic to your site, as well as who your site’s visitors are.
Take your Snapchat marketing strategy further with Bitly
Snapchat can be a great resource for marketers looking to expand their reach. With the right strategy and tools, businesses can leverage Snapchat’s unique messaging functionality to connect with younger audiences, including millennials and Gen Z.
To create a successful Snapchat marketing strategy, you’ll need powerful analytics tools to help you monitor your performance. Use Bitly links to connect your Snapchat ads to the rest of your digital marketing campaign. Bitly’s detailed analytics tools will help you track your Snapchat followers as they interact with your content and help you optimize your marketing strategy!
Ready to learn more about how Bitly can boost your Snapchat marketing success? Get started with Bitly today!