Over the past year, we have been a little apprehensive to tell small business owners to start using Snapchat. There are some great reasons for businesses to not use Snapchat. The biggest reason that we’re cautious about it is because it seems to take 10x the effort to do it well when compared to other social networks. Generally, we advise our current customers to jump on board because they have us to lean on for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, leaving them time to develop their Snapchat.
They need that extra relief, because growing your Snapchat following and producing great content takes a lot of effort.
The Internet of Effort
There’s a growing emphasis on adding value to the lives of your followers. A few years ago, a company could get away with sending out promotional posts on Facebook, oversharing, or just making text posts (with no images) and drive engagement. Those days are over.
Now that there’s a content over saturation in the world, consumers (and your friends) are likely to be more particular about who they follow so that they have more control the flow of content into their lives. This is especially true on Snapchat, which has a feed that in unlike any other social network.
Snapchat’s feed doesn’t show you previews of the content. You actually have to sit there and watch it or ignore it for 24 hours until it goes away. Your other option is to stop following that person or brand and free up some space. Because Snapchat content consumption requires more time from the consumer, it’s imperative that brands create content that is educational, entertaining, or edifying.
Growing Your Following
The thing about traditional media is that it can (when done well) still work for raising awareness of your Snapchat presence. When it comes to Snapchat, you need a little help in growing your network. That’s because there aren’t any account discover features built into the app. You either need to see someone’s Snapcode, know their username, or have their phone number in your contacts list on your phone. Growing your following takes extra hustle on your part.
Here are a few ways that we’re helping our customers growing their Snapchat following today.
Print Material: From brochures that stand on tables to giant, eye catching posters that hang by the entrance, we’re helping grow the Snapchat following of our customers with unique designs made with print. The cool thing about Snapchat is that it’s easy to add users once you know their Snapcode (our’s is pictured to the right). All you have to do is open your Snapchat like you were taking a picture, and the app will identify the code and prompt you to add that user as a friend. Try these print marketing strategies to grow your audience:
- Create a large poster that grabs attention
- If you have a restaurant, cafe, or waiting area, create standing brochures for your tables with your Snapcode on it.
Digital Effort: If you have something great to share on social media, then your fans will love jumping from one social network to Snapchat with you. Sharing your Snapcode or link to add you (snapchat.com/add/) is a great way to increase your followers. You don’t want to go overboard by Tweeting or posting your code onto Facebook so that the message dominates your content, but you do want to raise awareness. I grow my personal following by pinning my Snapcode on my Twitter account so that anyone who visits my profile is exposed to a new way to connect. It’s a great way to passively grow my following. Here’s what you should implement to grow your following:
- Share your unique Snapchat link (ie. our’s is http://snapchat.com/add/trustworkz) on social networks that you have already built up like Twitter. The link works best on networks primarily used on mobile because it will automatically open up the Snapchat app for someone. If they use a desktop computer to click on the link, it won’t prompt the person to follow you.
- Post your Snapcode to Facebook and Instagram. Sharing your Snapcode on Facebook and Instagram will allow your followers to take a screenshot of your code and upload it to their account to follow you. This takes a little effort on the users part, but it also means that they care a little bit more than most others because they’re willing to do more to follow you. Don’t disappoint them with promotional content. Their Snapchat feed is valuable.
- Add your Snapcode and Snapchat link to your email signature. With mobile devices making up the majority of email consumption today, adding ways to connect via Snapchat to your email signature is a smart move for growing your following.
If you want to grow your following, you need to implement some old school marketing tactics and get a little scrappy. More importantly, you need to make sure that you’re creating great content that will keep you in their newsfeed. Real estate on Snapchat is extremely valuable, and users will keep their following count down in order to manage their feed.
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