snapchat - Express Writers

How to Use Snapchat: A Guide for Businesses on Snapchat

December 31, 2020August 2, 2016 by Rachel Moffett

With Snapchat continuing to grow in popularity, it should come as no surprise that many brands are joining and creating “stories” of their own. However, the social media app has left many people confused about how to use it and the ways it could benefit their businesses. A Guide to Snapchat For Businesses & Marketers To help you out, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide on how to use Snapchat, five key points on how to make the platform work for you, plus some amazing Snapchatters you need to follow! How to Use Snapchat: Adding Filters & Stickers Once you’ve taken a photo or video for your Snapchat story, you have a choice to post it as is or you can do a little editing first. To add a filter to your content, all you have to do is swipe left or right to see the available filters. Snapchat offers a timestamps, temperature, speed, and color filters for both photos and videos. You can even speed up videos, slow them down, or have them play in reverse. You can really get creative here! One thing that many people don’t realize with these filter is that some of them have other options that aren’t readily seen. For example, if you tap on the timestamp filter, it actually changes to the date. (There are currently two versions of the date you can use.) You can also toggle the temperature between Fahrenheit and Celsius and switch between miles per hour and kilometers per hour for the speed. Previously, Snapchat only provided users with standard emojis for adding to their photos and videos. Now, theres a wide selection of stickers for you to choose from. All you have to do is tap the sticker icon (the square icon in the top right-hand corner) and move through each category of stickers to find the one that’s just right for your snap. You can even design your own Bitmoji through the Bimoji app and link it for use in Snapchat. One way you can really get creative with stickers is to create a full-color background for your snaps. How do you do this? All you have to do is choose a sticker with the color you’d like, place it on your snap, and expand it until it covers the entire screen. How to Use Snapchat: Face Filters 101 The great thing about Snapchat is that it’s one social media platform where you can really have fun with your content. You can draw on your photos and videos, add stickers, and even apply face filters to yourself and others. If you’ve been wondering how to try this out for yourself, the good news is that it’s actually pretty simple. To apply a face filter on Snapchat, all you need to do is long-press on your face (or the face of the person you want to apply the filter to), then a selection of available filters will pop-up on the lower half of the screen. Swipe through them and choose the one you like the best. Once you’ve picked your filter of choice, you can take a photo or video with it applied to your face. These filters update on a regular basis, so you’ll want to check them often. (You don’t want to miss out on the coolest new filter, do you?) Occasionally, you’ll even see sponsored face filters (also known as Sponsored Lenses) from companies. If you’re a business owner, this is something you may want to take advantage of. You can even create standard filters for users to add to their snaps. Standard filters can be made available only to people within a certain geographical location so you can be sure to target the right customers. Snapchat Memories One of the newer features on Snapchat allows you to post straight from your camera roll or share previous snaps. If you think you may want to share a snap again one day, you can save it before submitting it to your story or save it after it’s been posted. All you have to do is tap the icon as shown in the screenshot. The photo or video you just took will automatically be saved for you to use again and again. Five Key Ways to Make Snapchat Work for You If you’re ready to start using Snapchat as part of your online strategy, these tips will help you out: 1. Tell a great story As with any social media platform, you should make sure you’re sharing valuable content your audience would be interested in. What would they like to see from you? How can you solve a problem they’re facing, through your Snapchat story? You should also make sure everything is cohesive when played in full. Your story should make sense to your viewers. 2. Give them a behind-the-scenes look Allow your followers to get a look into what a day in your life is like. You can show them your work process and allow viewers to meet the members of your team. People want to get to know you and the others behind your business. You can even get your audience excited about an upcoming product with a little Snapchat teaser 3. Team up with influencers If you want to expand your reach on Snapchat, consider teaming up with influencers in your niche. You can have someone take over your Snapchat for a day as a way to attract new followers and provide great content for your story 4. Provide incentives for followers You can choose to host giveaways through Snapchat, offer exclusive discounts, and more. Get your audience involved by having them screenshot your snaps or ask them to send you a snap in response. 5. Don’t worry about being perfect Snapchat is meant to be a fun, genuine platform. Your snaps don’t have to be polished and picture-perfect. Instead, you should enjoy yourself and be real with your audience. 10 Snapchat Accounts to Follow 1. Gary Vaynerchuk: If you aren’t familiar with Gary … Read more

The Snapchat Rage- Should Your Business Be on SnapChat?

December 31, 2020February 9, 2016 by Adam Oakley

You’ve probably heard of Snapchat: the funky video messaging app that allows your friends to send you ten second clips of the action at Walmart or a dog doing something funny. But did you know that Snapchat is good for more than just hilarious and short-lived videos and photo? In fact, hundreds of companies are getting in on the Snapchat revolution and some experts are even calling it the future of social. Gary Vaynerchuk, a top marketer, entrepreneur, and someone I like to follow regularly, says that “every marketer should at least be familiar with Snapchat.” He’s also warned us: “don’t be on the wrong side of history,” and “get into Snapchat before you miss your chance entirely.” This begs the questions “Why?” and “How?” and, in the face of other popular livestream apps like Periscope and Meerkat, “Is it really worth it?” The Snapchat Rage: Worth it or Not for Businesses? Here’s what you need to know about the Snapchat revolution. Snapchat by the Numbers According to NewsCred, Snapchat might be quite a bit bigger than you thought. The service currently has more than 100 million daily users and upwards of 8,796 photos are shared every second on the Snapchat platform. What’s more, users watch an average of 6 billion videos every single day and 54% of users engage with Snapchat daily. With all that traffic, it’s no wonder that companies are beginning to flock to the app. NewsCred goes on to report that a huge 30% of agencies, brands, and media planners are planning to include Snapchat content in the advertising campaigns they run surrounding the Super Bowl. One of the reasons Snapchat is becoming popular among so many brands is the fact that it is incredibly user-friendly. For example, vertical viewing is now one of the most popular forms of mobile interaction and it accounts for 29% of the total time people spend on their screens. Because Snapchat was born in the world of vertical viewing, it’s hugely popular among people who consume video content on their phones. In fact, Snapchat users are nine times as likely to watch ads in full on the platform simply because they don’t have to rotate their phones. Snapchat and Millennial Consumers Snapchat is and has always been dominated by Millennials. The platform was founded by a 24-year old and Millennials account for upwards of 71% of the Platform’s regular users. This is important due to the fact that Millennials are currently the most powerful market group in the world, with an annual spending power of upwards of $2.45 trillion. What’s more, Millennials are the largest group of smartphone owners in the U.S., with more than 85% of the population owning smartphones and 41% of them using their smartphones to make purchases on a regular basis. Thanks to the instant-access nature of Snapchat, it’s clear that this app may be one of the best ways for marketers to gain access to the lives and pocketbooks of Millennial customers. How Companies Use Snapchat: The H&M Example Now that it’s clear why Snapchat is such an appealing way for companies to deliver content to a younger audience, let’s consider which companies have already used the platform effectively. For an example, consider H&M Poland. H&M caters to a predominantly Millennial group of customers, but they took their already effective marketing one step further when they recently partnered with an exclusive party organizer called Boiler Room. To publicize the partnership, promote engagement with their “H&M Loves Music” line, and draw customers to an upcoming event, H&M used Snapchat to launch the first ever “Urban Chase” campaign in Poland. To do this, the company hid tickets to an upcoming sold-out Boiler Room event in their stores and then used Snapchat to dispense messages and hints that would allow a few of their lucky followers to find the tickets. This simple strategy not only publicized the event, but it drew users to H&M’s Snapchat account and provided a ton of positive publicity for the event. In fact, H&M gained 943 Snapchat followers through the campaign, enticed 200 people to participate in the game, reached 3.8 million unique users, and earned 344,000 livestreams. If that’s not brand success on Snapchat, I’m not sure what is. The Verdict: Is Snapchat Worth all the Buzz? For companies who want to find a successful means of displaying ads, distributing content, and engaging with the Millennial audience, Snapchat is a fantastic platform. While social media platforms are popping up everywhere nowadays, Snapchat has exhibited its staying power: It’s currently the third most popular social app among the Millennial market and it shows no signs of phasing out anytime soon. When thinking about Snapchat, it’s also wise to consider the fact that, even though social media platforms continue to change, the rules of engagement within them do not. To put it another way: Snapchat is indicative of a trend that’s been building for years – successful content in today’s marketing environment is consumer-driven. While the technology used to deliver that message may change in the coming years, the rules of the game won’t, which means that Snapchat is a fantastic place to hone marketing skills and connect with users right now. While there are certain companies for whom Snapchat may not be a good fit (those targeting an older marketing group, for example) the H&M example goes to show that companies targeting a Millennial audience can do well to begin engaging on the platform. In today’s world, consumers want to interact with their favorite brands via social media and Snapchat is an innovative and effective way for companies to provide that. Within the next several years, it’s likely that we will see Snapchat continue to evolve. The platform will likely begin to offer new services and marketers who want to be successful in the Millennial market will need to creatively adapt their marketing strategy in order to provide quality Snapchat content their users will love. Need social media content and/or management for your … Read more