Over 150 million people use Snapchat every day and over 60% of daily active users create content every day. That’s a lot of pressure to be imaginative, creative and “sticky” enough to compete with the 10 billion videos watched on the platform every day.
Snapchat is now a legitimate part of many brand’s marketing strategies to reach the elusive millennial audience. MacDonald’s even uses it as a recruitment tool. And if that’s not the sign that the platform has been embraced by the corporate titans, I don’t know what is.
So this means that you have to compete for eyeballs by creating compelling, “snackable” content that leaves your followers wanting more. With short attention spans and a very short window of time – literally – to grab a viewer’s attention, we have compiled a list of nine top tips to help you create engagement on Snapchat.
1. Set the scene
First impressions count and you only have seconds to make an impact, so spend some time setting up the right lighting and sound. The more of a quality product you exhibit the more this will be reflected in your audience numbers and profile.
2. Be a creature of habit
Start and end your day with a check in or greeting for your fans so they can adopt you into their daily routine.
3. Share the love with a takeover
Hand over your account to fellow influencers for a day. This is a neat way to both gain new followers and potentially branch into a new area you want to develop. Getting ‘outside’ your own channel enables you to distribute your messages on hundreds of influencers profiles – if you can engage with them you can gain a whole new audience and seriously up your social currency.
4. Behind the curtains
Give your fans a sneak peak behind the scenes at an exclusive event to create a sense of theatre. Creating a story with multiple snaps allows you to produce your own mini trailer to intrigue your fans.
5. Q&A
Create a series of 10-second interviews which can act a promo for a longer version on your website or YouTube – for when 10 seconds just isn’t enough!
6. Familiarity breeds content
A recurring series or a “Snap Opera” gives your account a personality and clear narrative and so a reason for followers to keep checking in.
7. Plan ahead
If you’re using Snapchat for business plan as you would for Instagram or any other marketing channel. Align a content plan with new products or launches and use assets like photography or video to bring it to life and consider adding things like promo codes or contests to engage followers. If it’s a personal account, think about what you are doing that day and what might be visually engaging and make your audience part of the experience.
8. Content is king, but distribution is queen
If you are spending time, effort and/or money on a Snap-filter don’t forget about distribution. Use your own network of influential friends to screengrab your filter, post and share it with their audiences – both on the Snapchat platform on other social media.
9. Ask and you shall receive
If you don’t ask, you don’t get. Sometimes all you need to get engagement is to tell your followers that’s what you want. Create simple calls to action, encourage them to share their content and repost it so they feel it’s a two-way conversation rather than a broadcast.
Snapchat is starting to mature as a platform as its users mature from moody kids to fully-fledged millennials with a keen eye for aesthetics and an understanding of the value of engaging content. To compete, you need to ensure that you maintain loyalty and engagement by constantly switching up content and approach to keep things interesting.