It is true that Facebook, the social media giant, and the marketing hub doesn’t tolerate competition and rescind any that comes its way by buying it off. It took Instagram and WhatsApp under its umbrella as soon as they started becoming a potential threat. 

No doubt, Facebook tried to tame Snapchat as well. When it saw teenagers flying off from its platform towards the more hip option in the market, the social media giant offered to pay $3 billion in cash right away. However, it was not meant to be and Snapchat turned down the offer despite its allure.

 Disappointed and rejected, Facebook tried to launch other apps in the market, only to fail once again. When nothing else worked, Facebook pushed Instagram to behave more like Snapchat by introducing stories, face filters, disappearing messages, and live video.

 Turning down Facebook may seem like a mistake to some considering the fact that Snapchat users stand at 360 million while Instagram users have touched the 1 billion mark, but that doesn’t mean Snapchat has become history. In fact, Snapchat is a hero for standing its ground in the face of competition and this teenage-beloved platform still plays an important role in most businesses’ marketing strategies.

If you are a small business or even a multinational for that matter, looking to explore Snapchat for marketing opportunities, here is how you can leverage the platform to your advantage:

1. Explore the platform

Before you just start throwing in money at the platform to generate leads, our advice is you should toy with it first and get a grasp on all the related terminologies. Create a personal account and see how people are using it. 

You should know the ins and outs of a platform before you can start using it for your business. For starters, know the difference between stories and snaps. Snaps can be viewed for up to 10 seconds and they disappear as soon as they have been viewed. Stories, on the other hand, are basically all snaps put together and they last for 24 hours. 

Other than that, there is a very important Discover feature that you should be aware of. This feature shows users’ top stories from publishers that post often. 

Once you have got the hang of it, it is time for you to set up your business account. Just fill out the form and put in details about your business and you are good to go. 

1. Start posting content

Setting up was the easy part, the main hurdle is when you have to start creating content to feed the platform and your users. Snapchat is very different from other platforms. Since the posts disappear after 24 hours, you have to keep posting often or you risk being lost in the pile of your competition stories. 

The more you post, the greater chance you have of coming up in the Discover option. Hence, first, you need to master the art of creating worthwhile content, and then you can move on to finding followers. Imagine having followers, but no posts to share. 

Remember, you have to share interesting content to keep your audience engaged. While working on your content strategy, you can consider incorporating user-generated content, and behind the scenes. You can also get your employees on board and ask them to share interesting events. 

1. Get the word out

You have to let your target audience know of your presence on Snapchat. There are two ways you can do that: paid strategy and a free version. The paid strategy mostly entails putting up ads or sponsored lenses on the platform, making it easier for people to discover you. While it will get you the attention you wish for, it will put a pretty heavy dent on your pocket. Snapchat video ads start from $3000. 

If you opt for a sponsored lens, a filter that people can use to take funky pictures, you will have to spend around $450,000 to $700,000, depending upon the days it runs. As for the discovery ads, they start at $50,000 daily. Pretty, expensive isn’t it? 

These ads though expensive, get you the desired results. Gatorade came up with a sponsored lens during Super bowl and got a tremendous response. The filter got 160 million impressions, more than the 115 million people who were actually watching the game. 

Gatorade, however, can afford these humongous Snapchat costs. Unless you are a big multinational with deep pockets, we recommend that you try to catch followers organically. 

1. Leverage your other social media channels

For a small business that is trying to explore Snapchat marketing, the best option is to leverage other social media channels with the established following to promote Snapchat. If you have a lot of Instagram followers, for example, you can promote your Snapchat by mentioning it in your bio or crafting a story with a link to direct your followers there. 

You can also run a paid campaign on both Facebook and Instagram to create awareness about your Snapchat channel.

If you are a blog with a stable number of followers, then you can incorporate a social icon in every post to let your readers know that you are on Snapchat as well. 

1. Take help from influencers

There is no shame in asking for help or rather paying for it. If you cannot do it on your own, then you can take help from the people who already rule the platform — influencers. These digital world celebrities have a way with convincing people and they can be very effective. The best part? They come at a lower cost than what Snapchat charges. 

The key is to find the right influencers for your strategy. You can find influencers in the Subscriptions and ‘For You’ section of the platform. However, those influencers are quite well-established and might not be quite interested in your small brand or would demand a hefty price for promotion. You can dig and find micro-influencers on your own or you can simply contact an agency to connect you with affordable influencers. 

Once you have found the right ones, you have to let them take over your Instagram account and entertain their followers there. 

1. Generate leads

Now that you have worked on your account and warmed up your audience, it is time to start generating leads for your product or service otherwise all that effort is going to go in vain. Lead generation differs according to product or service. For example, a company that wants to promote internet and cable TV service such as the Spectrum Internet Service would adopt a different strategy than a company selling burgers or clothes. 

The basics, however, remain the same— you have to generate interest and then remain at the top of the mind. Some strategies that you can consider using include promos and discounts and to add an interesting turn to it, you can gamify the entire process. Let your followers have some fun and reward them handsomely in the end.  Amazon has successfully utilized this strategy. Amazon followers have to keep following Amazon’s Snapchat account to get promos and deals on certain products. 

Giveaways also help tremendously in generating leads or collecting information for your users. Make sure that when you offer giveaways you get something in return such as email addresses.

Snap, Snap!!

Snapchat can prove to be quite a useful platform for engaging and generating leads. It might not be on the top of your mind when it comes to crafting marketing strategies, but it can be a very useful addition to your marketing armor. 

Marketing on Snapchat is different than on other platforms, hence it is recommended that you get a grasp on the workings of the platform before you decide to spend your budget on it.   

1.       Baldwin Jackson is a successful digital marketer with expertise in search engine optimization and content marketing. The perfect balance of his analytical ability and creative thinking is what sets him apart from other practitioners in the digital marketing realm. He has helped a lot of small and medium-sized businesses in crafting their digital marketing strategies that are not only cost-effective but delivers results as well.

Baldwin is also a proud father of two kids and a Sports enthusiast. When he is not working, you will find him watching ESPN and NFL network. He has been able to get an amazing package on his favorite channels from Buytvinternetphone.com.