The 12 Snapchat Tips For Business You Need To Know

By now you should know about Snapchat's meteoric success. The new social network has taken by storm and it's hard not to meet anyone - especially 14-29 year olds - who don't use the app. On the other hand, the network is still very personal and it is difficult to measure the success of your posts if you want to use Snapchat for business, especially by its expiration date: posts are deleted after 24 hours. That is, not only do they have an expiration date, but it is not possible to reuse them.

But how to reach this extremely popular but not yet business friendly market? To answer this question, we offer two solutions: the first is to know the 6 reasons to advertise your brand on Snapchat and the other is to continue with our text, which lists 12 Snapchat tips for businesses you need to know!

1. Broadcast your participation in events

Even with Facebook Live and Twitter Periscope, Snapchat is the best app to broadcast your attendance in real time. You can use it to show your followers your booth at an event, publicize a talk or even a walk through the halls of a particular event in your business area.

But it is also recommended for your company's own events. Consider using Snapchat, for example, to launch and demonstrate a new product, post promotion results, or celebrate a hit brand, such as a hundredth customer, or a record following on the social network itself.

2. Make it easy for users to add you

One of Snapchat's main failures for business is the difficulty of making users become followers. There is no like or follow button as it does on Facebook and Twitter. They need to go to “Add Friends” and then enter their profile name so they can follow you. Because of this, we recommend using your other social networks to promote Snapchat. One of the strategies that business and influencers have been using on Twitter, for example, is to change their name to "snap + [Snapchat username]".

Another way is to offer the QR Code so that users can use their cell phone camera to add them to the social network. This strategy can be very effective for those who own a store, making the QR Code available at some visible point of your establishment.

3. Be kind of Disney

Forget the black and white that often pervades the corporate world: Snapchat users want color and fun. That's why the social network is perfect for extracting Disney from you. Put aside carefully crafted photos and videos to post on Instagram and bet on authenticity and creativity in your posts.

4. Deliver unique content

Take advantage of Snapchat's different proposition to create new types of content, impossible or even not recommended on other social media, and surprise your followers. Because Snapchat has a more personal proposition, we strongly recommend posting superfluous or even “silly” things like a new office decor or a photo of one or more co-workers full of funny filters. Use and abuse your creativity!

5. Tell great stories

Stories are one of Snapchat's main functions. Users upload 24-hour series of photos and videos that tell all sorts of stories, and using them is crucial to delivering unique content that can't be seen on other social networks. Your company's birthday party, for example, can become a Snapchat story, as well as the process of producing the materials it creates, among many other possibilities to explore.

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6. Promote sweepstakes

If you have something common to all social networks is their usefulness to do promotions and Snapchat is no different. So don't be afraid to create promotions, sweepstakes and contests to increase your followers and keep them engaged with your page. This is also true for promoting discounts and even for checking the relationship between followers and your brand.

7. Hire expert Snapchat influencers

For those with a budget to promote their Snapchat business, hiring influencers to leverage their business on the social network is also a good fit. There are a number of professionals already specialized in the social network, which you can contact. With their expertise, they will be able to create the right kind of content to promote your campaign.

Even if you do not have the capital available to call a specialist, it is worth following the profile of some of these influencers. Identifying your strategies and the type of content they produce can be very helpful when making your own. To help you with this task, we've created a post with 50 people you should follow on Snapchat.

8. Partner with business that is complementary to your

Are some of the brands that offer complementary services to what you offer already using Snapchat for business? So it's time to enjoy it. As with other social networks, you can create a partnership and swap publications to promote both brands, as well as merge both into one post. Among the possibilities described here, another good type of content to publish in this partnership is joint promotions or discounts.

9. Use Snap Ads

Another option for those with a budget to improve their use of Snapchat for business. Recently, social networking has included the option to create advertisements that are demonstrated while users are viewing the stories posted by the people and brands it follows. In the transition from story to story, the video with the advertisement appears. Like regular publications, these ads are up to 10 seconds long. If the user is interested, they can swipe up and be referred to learn more about your brand or buy the product, among others.

10. Know the geofilters

One of the most widely used paid features in Snapchat is the inclusion of geofilters. This functionality allows you to create a filter for users to use in their publications, depending on their location. If your business involves selling accessories on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, for example, you can create a geofilter for your shoppers to take pictures of your accessories and include a filter that discloses where your point of sale is.

In addition to it, there is another option, which encompasses a larger scope and therefore more costly. It is possible to create a kind of geofilter available nationally for a campaign. An online bookstore, for example, can create a special Independence Day promotion, offering a discount on history books, and enabling a geofilter for its shoppers to celebrate the date, while promoting their promotion.

11. Create Sponsored Lenses

In addition to the geofilters listed above, you can also create Snapchat sponsored lenses for business. Lenses are those facial changes that have a variety of effects, such as giving the dog ears to the wearer or including wreaths on the head. A toy store, for example, may offer a lens that turns users' faces into a teddy bear, while providing a logo of their store in the lower corner, as in the example below:

Got tacos on your mind today? Us too. Snap us your Cinco de Mayo celebrations using our @Snapchat lens today.//t.co/56BlMUqlkV

- Taco Bell (@tacobell) May 6, 2016

12. Use social networking to recruit talent

Who says Snapchat is for marketing purposes only? In addition to promoting your brand, you can also use it to bring new people to your business in a fun and inviting way. Using it this way is extremely useful if the profile you want is within the demographics represented by the social network. Internet giant AOL used social networking to promote its startup program and at the same time showcase the routine of its headquarters. The campaign gained 17 million views and increased the number of stakeholders by 18%.

With these tips, we believe we have clarified a number of issues and perhaps broken some barriers to start using Snapchat for business, delighting your followers while promoting your brand. Although it has been in existence for four years, only a few months ago the social network has found its growth and it is still time to become a major influencer within the social network. Be sure to comment what you think of our Snapchat for business tips in our comments section!