Social media continues to change how people interact with each other and with businesses. One of the most popular platforms for the younger generation is Snapchat, which is an image and video-based platform. Users can send and receive private photos to each other, or they can create ‘stories’ that are broadcast to their followers. Between custom geo-tags and filters like the ever popular dog or the nerdy-chic glasses, Snapchat users enjoy sharing amusing photos and videos with their friends, making this platform immensely popular.
Snapchat has 190 million daily active users. As of May of 2019, the platform had also reached 90 percent of 13 to 24-year-olds and 75 percent of 13 to 34-year-olds. This incredible penetration rate means that a business on Snapchat that understands how to engage with prospective customers can reach an impressive number of people within their target demographics.
Not only do a large percentage of people use the platform, but they also use it regularly throughout the day. Snapchat reports that their users use the app an average of 20 times a day, accumulating in 3 billion snaps a day.
Learning how to use Snapchat for business can open up a number of potential opportunities. Snapchat wants to help organizations better understand how they can capitalize on the platform, and thus have developed a guide for Snapchat campaigns throughout the year. Here is what businesses should know about Snapchat’s latest business updates and guide that will help them create stronger marketing campaigns for the coming year.
Snapchat’s new guide to major events
Snapchat has published a new guide to the events that occur throughout the year. These events include holidays, such as Father’s Day and other events, that might impact Snapchat usage. Businesses can take advantage of this guide to increase brand awareness, encourage User Generated Content (UGC) and optimize social campaigns. The guide looks at events throughout the year to predict expected engagement. This can help organizations plan their Snapchat campaigns around major events around the world.
Snapchat also recognizes that this type of data can vary dramatically from one location to another. Therefore, they have created regional variations so that businesses in different locations can tap into more accurate data for their customers. Currently, the platform has a regional-specific guide for:
- France
- The Netherlands and Nordics
- Australia
- The UK
- Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
- Germany
- Canada
Organizations can use this guide to better understand the trends that impact Snapchat usage and build stronger, more attractive campaigns. Businesses should use the guide to gather helpful information, such as tips on when campaigns should be launched, so that they can capitalize on upcoming events. This information will also make it easier for businesses to plan ahead and start to think about how they want to engage their users throughout the year.
How users can use these business updates to increase engagement
Armed with the information contained within this business update, here is how organizations can put this data to use and optimize their Snapchat campaigns.
Build your Snapchat business account
Before you begin to build holiday-specific campaigns, brands should begin by nurturing a strong following on the platform. You want to attract as many followers as possible so that when you employ your new Snapchat strategy around these business updates, you will make a bigger impact.
To begin building a strong Snapchat channel, consider these tips:
- Post often. Your channel should be regularly used so you increase the chances of attracting the attention of those on the platform. You can post images related to major industry events you attend, employee celebrations, behind-the-scenes looks, or new products.
- Incorporate user-generated content. Encouraging your users themselves to post content can drive high engagement rates. Create contests, fun filters, and unique hashtags that encourage people to create content that then gets linked back to your account. New followers and users will feel more enticed by content created by other customers.
- Offer customers unique bonuses for engaging with you on Snapchat. For example, those who follow your stories might get special coupon codes or bonuses not available elsewhere. This increases the desire of social media users to engage with your platform and keep an eye out for these special bonuses.
- Engage with influencers. Snapchat influencers might have thousands of followers, and the exposure they can offer your brand is enormous. Working with influencers to promote your account, a sponsored filter you have created, or otherwise drawing attention to your brand can have a tremendous impact on your success. Read our blog on how engaging with influencers can help your business here.
Read the Snapchat yearly guide to get a better idea of how usage rises and falls throughout the year
Once you have started taking steps you build your Snapchat channel, download your guide to these Snapchat business updates. Read through the entire thing to start to develop a better idea of how Snapchat usage rises and falls throughout the year. To better understand Snapchat for business 2019, you will want to see how the entire year looks; this includes noting where the dips and rises occur. You can then start to plan how to use these events for your brand-specific campaigns.
See which campaigns will tie in nicely with your brand
Once you see how the year pans out, you’ll want to determine which events and holidays will fit best with your business needs. Look at the campaign patterns and see which ones fit best with your organization. Think about the demographics that each campaign targets and the type of posts they engage with, and how these correspond with your organization.
Plot out the campaigns you would like to target. Look at the recommended start dates and other tips that Snapchat suggests and use them to start creating campaigns.
Build campaigns that tie in with important trends in Snapchat usage throughout the year
Once you have outlined the Snapchat business strategy tips that will align with your brand’s marketing, now the time has come to begin employing the campaigns. Using a variety of different Snapchat engagement options, including contests, custom filters, lenses, hashtags, and posts to your story, engage with your audience and make it clear that you are interested in similar trends and topics as they are.
You can also create paid ads that will boost your ability to get your content in front of an interested audience. Create ad campaigns that tie nicely with popular trends.
Track your progress
As you employ your new Snapchat strategy, you want to continually track your progress with important Snapchat engagement metrics. See how many screenshots are taken of your posts, how many unique views your posts get, and watch how these numbers compare to your previous material. This will provide valuable insight into whether you have successfully engaged people in important trends.
Bringing it together: Understanding the Snapchat business announcement
Snapchat has released some informative statistics that will help brands improve their Snapchat marketing. Brands can use this information to drive better engagement by following these steps:
- Building your Snapchat account through regular usage
- Reading through the business updates
- Determining the updates that will work best with your campaign
- Track your progress
Snapchat offers a powerful way to reach an incredible number of people, particularly among the younger demographics. These Snapchat business updates offer important information about how people use the platform and what interests them. Using this information will allow brands to boost their engagement and success.
If you want help getting your social media campaign to the next level, reach out to the professionals at Ballantine. With decades of experience in marketing, we can help you build solid campaigns that will bring your business leads.
I'm the Director of Digital Services and Partner at Ballantine, a family-owned and operated direct mail & digital marketing company based in New Jersey. and started in 1966 by my great uncle!
