Snapchat is the most popular social media platform among Gen Z. 83% of adults between the ages of 18-29 use it regularly. This is a massive audience that you can potentially tap into for marketing purposes. In fact, a whopping 90% of millennials use the app. For a business, this is essentially free advertising. You just need to know how to market on it. Here are three tips for success in marketing on Snapchat.
1. Create content that resonates with your audience.
Doing research into your target audience is essential if you want to ensure that your content is relevant and useful. This doesn’t mean that you need to focus on demographics or psychographics. Instead, look to the bigger picture: What does your research indicate is important to you, as a business owner, customer, or just someone who cares about your fellow man? Your answer to this question will form the basis of your marketing strategy. For instance, if you are creating content to promote a clothing line, make sure that your audience is receptive to your brand. Ensure that the clothing line appeals to men and women alike and that the styles are gender-appropriate. Furthermore, make sure that your content is of good quality. People enjoy content that is engaging, interesting, or that provides useful information.
2. Measure the success of your marketing efforts.
You’ll want to measure the success of your marketing efforts, whatever they may be, on Snapchat. This way, you can determine whether you should continue with the same approach or try something different. The problem is, there is no clear-cut, straightforward way to measure the success of your account on Snapchat. The closest thing you have is the engagement rate of your audience (how many people are engaging with your content). However, you can’t directly connect the two. People are more likely to engage with content that is entertaining or educational. Otherwise, they likely will not consume your content in the first place.
3. Find the right balance between content and stories.
As previously discussed, research plays a major role in the formation of your marketing strategy. Once you have your strategy in place, you can determine how to structure your content. Do you want to publish long-form articles on your website or social media platforms? How about publishing shorter-form articles on Snapchat? Do you want to host educational talks on YouTube? Or perhaps you want to explore the use of AI in marketing (artificial intelligence)?
The important thing to consider is what format is most comfortable for your audience. For instance, did you know that Snapchat users prefer shorter videos compared to others? Sometimes, your best strategy is simply to follow the audience that you have. If your research indicates that men prefer to read long-form articles, then invest in longer-form content. Alternatively, if your research shows that you have a large audience of women, then shorter-form articles on Snapchat might be a better fit. You might also try experimenting with different content formats to see which performs best.
The balance between content and stories on Snapchat is different than on other platforms. On other platforms, you have articles that are typically longer and more in-depth. On Snapchat, your content will appear in a feed similar to a Twitter or Instagram feed. However, each individual piece of content (story) will be displayed for only a few seconds before disappearing. This makes measuring the exact reach of your content very difficult. To give you an idea of how much reach your content has, we’ll use the case of a business owner (you) who has a marketing budget of $500. To determine how many people will see your content, simply enter the following in Google Search:
- $500 budget
- Marketing on Snapchat
- Your Website (or Blog Article)
Now, you have three results to choose from. Each result is a link to a piece of content that has been published on a site within the past year. It is important to note here that these websites are relevant to your niche and have a decent amount of content. So, you can assume that these results are good indicators of how many people are likely to view your content. In the preceding example, let’s say that your research indicates a very receptive audience among your target demographic. In this case, you might decide to go with a shorter-form content strategy on Snapchat. This could mean that you might want to host a weekly podcast or release a short-form video every other week. The important thing to consider is that you want to find a balance between content that is interesting and engaging and content that is more traditional (stories). Traditional media, in general, has a very high engagement rate. It just takes people a little bit longer to get into the habit of engaging with content that is not immediately relevant to them.
Wrapping Up
What was your takeaway from this article? Do you have any other tips or suggestions for marketers who want to be successful on Snapchat? Let us know in the comments below.