Snapchat reports that 190 million people use the app on a daily basis “to talk with friends, play with augmented reality and keep up with what”™s happening around the world.” Statista states that 28% of Snapchat users in America are 18 to 24 years old. Pew Research Center notes that “27% of U.S. adults use Snapchat.” The average user utilizes Snapchat 20 times per day for a total of 30 minutes. Those users create 3 billion total “Snaps” every 24 hours.
A Snap is an image or video viewable for a set period of time or until the recipient closes the Snap. Snapchat offers advertising capabilities to businesses that want to reach its audience.
Amazon used augmented reality to promote Prime Day in a campaign on Snapchat. Michael Kors used Snapchat lenses, ads and filters to promote its SmartWatch, resulting in a “29-point lift in product awareness and 11-point lift in action intent.” Wendy”™s created Snapchat ad campaigns “to drive 138,000 incremental store visits.”
Here are five ways to reach more people on Snapchat:
CREATE YOUR BUSINESS ACCOUNT
You need a business account to create ad campaigns on Snapchat. If you have a personal Snapchat account, visit Snapchat”™s website to log in with your existing credentials and create a business account. After you insert your business details such as your legal business name and email address, click “Get Started” and your business account will automatically be created.
PUBLISH ENGAGING STORIES TO YOUR BUSINESS ACCOUNT
You can publish behind-the-scenes content, spotlight a new staff member, showcase a product or service, ask questions and create polls. You want to do one or more of the following: inform, inspire or entertain your audience in a positive way. Ford used stories to share “5 ways to prepare for an extreme off-road desert challenge with Ford Expedition.” Users who viewed the story were encouraged to “Swipe Up” to visit a website where they could book a test drive or request a quote.
CREATE, MONITOR AND OPTIMIZE SNAPCHAT AD CAMPAIGNS
Snapchat”™s ad campaign objectives are the following: branding; app installs; app traffic; website traffic; engagement; video views; lead generation; app conversions; website conversions; and catalog sales. Marriott Rewards created a Snap Ads long-form video campaign to “drive the lift in awareness and consideration among young travelers.” McDonald”™s promoted its Cheddar McMelt burger using a Snapchat awareness campaign, getting 5.7 million people to use a lens that overlaid the Cheddar McMelt burger over the viewer”™s face. The average viewer used the lens for 28 seconds.
IDENTIFY SNAPCHAT”™S KEY TERMS
Let”™s establish Snapchat”™s vocabulary. Lenses are animations that you can apply to videos. Collection ads are “four tappable tiles to feature products.” For example, if you”™re selling shoes, you can show four types of shoes, perhaps choosing to vary their color and size. A story is an image or video that expires after 24 hours. Filters are images and/or words that go over a picture or video. Geofilters are filters that are only available in specific locations.
UNDERSTAND HOW SNAPCHAT AD ACCOUNTS WORK
There are two types of ad accounts: self-service or on-demand geofilters. Self-service accounts let you purchase snap ads, lenses, collection ads, story ads or audience filters. On-demand geofilters allow you to create and purchase filters using Snapchat”™s “Create Your Own” tool.
After you choose your ad account type, you can add team members to help create your campaigns. Your team members can be listed as an admin or member. Admins can “change business details and manage all of the ad accounts within that organization.” Members can only work on the part of the ad account that they have been assigned to.
Statista reports that over 2 million Snaps are sent every 60 seconds. Snapchat can serve as a complement to your overall digital marketing strategy. Leverage these strategies to reach more people on Snapchat.
Michael Guberti is the founder of Michael Guberti”™s Digital Marketing Services, a full-service digital marketing agency. He can be reached at michael@michaelguberti.com.
