Creative Snapchat Marketing Strategy Ideas + Where to Start
We are all familiar with Snapchat. This engaging social media platform has been widely adopted by a younger audience, allowing for multiple connections, new trends, and sharing of different media.
With so many daily users leaning into this app – 375 million to be exact – more companies and brands are beginning to create Snapchat accounts and take advantage of the platform's advertising options.
In this blog, we do a deep dive into all the unique features Snapchat currently offers and what marketers should expect when incorporating it into their campaign strategy.
Pit Stop - What is Snapchat in a Nutshell?
For those new to Snapchat, this social platform allows users to capture, caption, and send photos, called “Snaps,” to other users. Upon receiving the photo, these users can only view it for a few seconds, then it disappears.
Due to its temporary format, and mobile friendliness, Snapchat users can have many exchanges, sending multiple snaps back and forth with more than one person.
Understanding Snapchat’s Unique Features
Over the last ten years, Snapchat has branched out from only allowing users to share photos with one another. Now, there are several ways users can engage on Snapchat and consume media, some of the unique features allowing this are below:
Photo, Video, and Other Content Sharing
Any Snapchat user can personally capture and send photos and short videos to fellow users known as ‘friends.’ Additionally, Snapchat allows direct messaging, sharing of media files, and even voice or video calling.
Stories
Snapchat Stories enable users to share a compilation of photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours.
Discovery
This section allows users to view stories, photos, videos, and even articles from popular Snapchat user accounts, influencers, or companies. Moreover, users can follow and subscribe to these accounts to receive updates when they post new content.
Snapchat Filters and Lenses
Filters and Lenses are a hallmark of Snapchat, allowing users to add augmented reality (AR) effects to their photos and videos.
Snap Map
Snap Map lets users share their location with friends on an interactive map. They can additionally choose a specific location on their map, such as a local business, then post a photo on their story that will appear to other Snapchat users in the area.
Snapchat Spotlight
Spotlight is the section users can navigate to in the app that functions similarly to reels in Instagram or TikTok feeds: showing trending short clips and snaps from different users.
The Advantages of Snapchat Marketing
So, if a marketing team has a young target audience or is in an industry that appeals to this more youthful demographic, it makes sense to weigh Snapchat as an option – this could be the growth channel they are looking for.
Another advantage of Snapchat marketing is the unique content the app leverages. The app allows photos, videos, filters, stickers, QR codes, AR, blogs, articles, and avatar personalization. This provides not only a plethora of ways users can create content, but marketers also have multiple ways they can approach putting ad content on Snapchat, whether with the help of influencers, filters, stories, etc.
Along these lines, however, the type of content marketers use for Snapchat advertising must still be concise and straightforward. If this is already an inherent goal of the marketer, Snapchat is an option to consider.
Creative Snapchat Marketing Strategy Ideas
Media teams hoping to leverage Snapchat marketing have many different strategies to choose from; here are a few to consider:
Snapchat Stories
Marketers can pay for their advertisements to appear while users browse through Snapchat stories. This approach is popular because Snapchat story ads aim to seamlessly integrate into the app's format, taking a native approach. As a result, when users casually scroll through their friends' stories, they may occasionally come across an advertisement that blends in with the rest of the content, resembling a typical story. A link is also attached that the user can click and navigate to the sponsor’s landing page.
Snapchat Filters and Lenses
Brands can invest in creating custom Snapchat filters or lenses users can interact with and explore.
These filters and lenses are particularly effective when the company organizes a specific event or implements a timely and interactive campaign that engages the audience.
For example, Pacifico recently designed a captivating Snapchat filter that allows users to immerse themselves in an augmented-reality beach landscape – perfect timing for the Summer season and much more interactive than a standard ad.
Snap Map
Snapchat allows users to willingly share their location with friends, which provides valuable location data to the platform. Marketers can utilize this feature by using specific targeting parameters when creating Snapchat campaigns. This enables them to deliver targeted messages or sales opportunities to users based on their physical location, enhancing the relevance and effectiveness of their campaigns.
Snapchat Takeover
Snapchat Takeover involves partnering with influencers or industry experts who temporarily take control of a brand's Snapchat account. This strategy helps inject fresh perspectives and diverse content, ultimately expanding the reach and captivating a wider audience. Collaborating with influencers relevant to an industry can effectively amplify the brand's message and foster credibility.
Snapchat Commercials
Snapchat also runs commercials that appear similar to story ads; however, they typically have longer durations and restrict users from skipping them during the first six seconds.
Snapchat Discovery Ads
Using Snapchat discovery ads is challenging, but it is possible. To post in Discovery, marketers must have a publisher account on Snapchat. This requires approval to become a publishing partner and working with Snapchat to post compliant content.
Utilizing Snapchat Advertising
If a marketer decides to utilize Snapchat advertising, they should ensure they are using it as a piece in their integrated marketing campaign. If the marketer were to use Snapchat as the only method in the campaign, this might not drive the specific conversions or results they want.
So, they should use Snapchat and other methods like search, native, or content marketing. This creates a multi-touch funnel that can engage the users more than once and slowly push them towards more future engagement or conversion.
A user has much more propensity to lean in if they may see something on Snapchat, then have a chance to engage more via search or another method, and vice versa.
Getting Started with Snapchat Marketing
Getting a Snapchat marketing campaign off the ground takes multiple steps. Here is a path below to get started:
Set Campaign Architecture
Before getting into Snapchat and executing the campaign, the marketer needs to do their homework. This requires identifying the target audience, overall objective, budget, and any metrics they will use to measure campaign success.
This step also requires determining which Snapchat ad strategy to try (stories, filters, commercials, etc.). Not all marketers running campaigns will handle the creative and ad content side, but this is the time to prepare these.
Prepare Snapchat and Calibrate Campaign
Once the marketer makes the decisions above, they can begin setting up the campaign within the Snapchat marketing interface. They can easily register if they do not already have a Snapchat business account.
Upon registering, the marketer can create a new campaign inputting all pertinent parameters – the kind of ad to run, who Snapchat should target, the budget, bidding strategy, etc. Additionally, the marketer will input the language and creativite to use.
Activate, Analyze, and Optimize
After the campaign is set up, the marketer can press “go,” activating and turning the campaign live. During and after the campaign's succession, the marketer will monitor for any problems and look at the specific data and insights indicating performance.
Based on this performance, the marketer can comb over the results, looking for key insights that indicate success or a need for improvement in the campaign. If the Snapchat ad performs well, the marketer can lean into this method, figuring out how to maximize its future results.
If the ad method performs poorly, they can return to the drawing board, test new targeting parameters, change the budget, or choose a different Snapchat ad method.
This testing and optimization process will continue as long as the marketer continues to use Snapchat as their marketing method.
Tips and Best Practices for an Effective Snapchat Marketing Strategy
When using Snapchat advertising, it is essential to have a compelling reason to choose it as a platform. Simply because Snapchat targets a younger demographic or has cool media features does not guarantee its effectiveness. Marketers should seek evidence that the target audience will respond to Snap ads. Additionally, it is essential to consider whether Snapchat can target users in a particular region.
Suppose the marketer believes that Snapchat is a suitable choice. In that case, they should prioritize leveraging the app's targeting capabilities, which include location, age, interests, demographics, and gender, to reach their target users effectively. However, it is advisable to wait to divide budgets and audiences. Instead, starting with a broader approach and casting a wide net allows the team to gather actionable data and insights.
Based on the results obtained, the team can eliminate strategies that are not performing well and focus on those that are yielding positive outcomes. This iterative process helps to refine and define the target audience more effectively.
In Conclusion…
Snapchat offers a unique advertising opportunity due to its longstanding presence in the social media market, much like Facebook and Instagram. This has led to a solid user base not only among Gen Z and younger generations but also among millennials.
As a marketer, it's vital to see Snapchat as just one component of your comprehensive advertising strategy rather than relying solely on it to drive significant conversions. By incorporating Snapchat into your campaign, you can leverage its potential to attract more users and enhance brand awareness, making it a valuable addition to your overall marketing efforts.
Before incorporating Snapchat into your campaign, it is a good idea to carefully consider your reasons for doing so and choose the most suitable ad option that will effectively engage your target audience. If the initial performance on Snapchat is less impressive than desired, don't worry. You have various additional features at your disposal, such as story ads, commercials, or even creating a custom filter or becoming a publisher for Discovery. These options allow you to experiment and find the best approach to maximize your advertising impact on Snapchat.