Snapchat for Business: A Guide for Marketers: Social Media Examiner

October 2, 2017 admin_en Comments 0 Comment

Snapchat for Business: A Guide for Marketers

Have you heard of Snapchat?

Want to use it to connect with your customers?

Snapchat is a mobile app that lets you send public or private snaps of pictures and movie to people from your smartphone.

In this article, you'll detect how to use Snapchat‘s features to connect with your customers.

Detect a marketers guide to using Snapchat for business.

The Snapchat Demographic

Before we dive into how businesses can use Snapchat, let's take a quick look at the Snapchat demographics as provided by the Snapchat Ads page.

Snapchat has one hundred million active daily users.
86% of Snapchat's users fall into the thirteen – thirty seven age range.
Five+ billion movies are viewed on Snapchat each day.

It's also worth noting that the minimum budget for advertising on Snapchat recently dropped from $700,000 to $100,000. That's why for now, unless you're a big brand, your concentrate should be on growing your audience and sharing content with them organically.

#1: Set Up Your Snapchat Account

The very first step to using Snapchat for your business is to set up your Snapchat account. To do this, you need to download the app from the iTunes store or Google Play. Once installed, you'll be able to sign up for a fresh Snapchat account.

Very first, you'll inject your email address, password and birth date.

Come in your details.

Then you'll choose your 15-character username. This is something people will have to type in to find you if they don't have your snapcode (which I'll talk about in the section about building your audience). Thus, you want to make it something that people will automatically think of when they search for your business, like tacobell, grubhub, wwe, philadelphiazoo or something similar.

Choose a username.

Once you've chosen your Snapchat username, you'll be prompted to inject your mobile number. People who have your phone number in their contact list will be able to find you using it unless you switch that option in your settings.

Come in your mobile number if you want people to find you that way.

After you've created your account, you'll be taken to the screen where you can embark creating snaps and stories, which I'll discuss later in detail. Before you embark doing this, you want to tap on the ghost icon at the top of your screen to configure the rest of your profile settings.

Options on the camera screen.

On the following screen, tap on the settings wheel icon at the top right.

Find your profile settings.

Inject your name in your settings. You can also come in or update your mobile phone number and email address.

Configure your Snapchat settings.

If you don't want people to find you based on your phone number, tap on your number and toggle the option for permitting friends to find you.

Permit people to find you with your phone number.

Under the Who Can… section, configure your privacy settings for who can send you snaps and who can view your story. As a business, you may want to commence out by permitting everyone to send you snaps and permitting everyone to view your story.

If you embark to receive snaps that are vulgar or inappropriate, you may want to switch your settings to only permitting friends (people you add) to send you snaps and only add people you trust as friends.

#Two: Add Friends for Inspiration

If you're fresh to Snapchat, you'll want to add friends for inspiration. When you add people as friends on Snapchat, you can see their latest stories (based on their settings) and permit them to send you snaps.

They won't be able to see your stories unless they add you as a friend, and based on their settings you may or may not be able to send them snaps.

Commence by tapping on the ghost icon at the top of your screen to see your options for adding friends. On the following screen, you'll see the option to Add Friends.

When you tap on Add Friends, you're given four options.

Add friends on Snapchat.

Very first, you can type in specific usernames of people you know to add them as friends. You can search Google to see if your beloved brands or celebrities are on Snapchat. You can also search social networks to find Snapchat users.

For example, you could do the following search on Facebook and then tap on the option to see more posts from friends or groups to find people you know on Snapchat.

Find posts on Facebook from friends sharing their Snapchat username.

Or you can keep scrolling to see public posts where people and brands share their Snapchat username.

Find posts on Facebook from brands and public figures sharing their Snapchat username.

You can search Twitter for the same thing and use More Options to find usernames from people you go after or everyone.

Find tweets from people you know sharing their Snapchat username.

You can also search Google+. In the fresh layout, posts that match your search will be shown after Communities, People and Pages.

Find posts on Google+ where people share their Snapchat username.

In addition to finding usernames of people on Snapchat, you'll find lots of snapcodes in your social media searches. These are the ghost photos, sometimes customized with the Snapchat user's photo.

Find snapcodes for Snapchat users.

Sites like Snapcodes also share dozens of publicly collective snapcodes for brands, celebrities, politicians, sports starlets and more.

Browse snapcodes of popular Snapchat users.

When you find snapcodes like the ones above, take a screenshot or save the pictures to your phone.

Save snapcodes to your phone.

Then you can choose the option to Add by Snapcode. This will bring up the latest photos saved to your phone.

Browse snapcodes saved to your phone.

Tap on the snapcodes you‘ve saved so Snapchat can scan them and invite you to add those users to your friends list.

Add a friend using their snapcode.

In addition to usernames and snapcodes, you can add friends by having Snapchat go through your phone‘s contact list or address book. Snapchat will demonstrate you users whose numbers match or permit you to invite people to Snapchat.

Ultimately, if you're with a group of people during a networking event, you can invite everyone to tap on the Add Nearby option. This will permit everyone to add each other on Snapchat.

Add nearby people as friends.

Once you've added people as friends on Snapchat, you can tap on the three lines or number at the bottom right of your screen or swipe left.

The camera screen.

This will take you to the Stories page. There you'll find stories collective by your friends under Latest Updates.

The latest stories by friends and advertisers.

Think of this as your Snapchat news feed because you'll see public updates from those users you‘ve added as friends.

Note that stories under Detect and Live are from advertisers, and the features they have available to them are much different than the ones you'll have available to you when you share stories. We'll discuss how to do that later in the post.

As you view stories, you can “fast-forward” through them by tapping on the screen. You can also swipe down if you want to exit the story without ending it. If someone is available for talk, you'll see it at the bottom of the screen.

#Trio: Build Your Audience

When you add people as friends on Snapchat, they'll be notified in the Added Me section after they tap on the ghost icon at the top of their screen. They then have the option to add you as a friend as well by tapping on the + next to your username.

Notification received by your fresh friend.

Adding others as friends is the very first way to commence building your Snapchat audience, similar to the “go after on Twitter to be followed” tactic. The next way is to screenshot your snapcode, which comes up when you tap the ghost icon at the top of your screen. You can crop that pic on your phone to display your snapcode, username and Snapchat score.

Screenshot your snapcode and username here.

If you tap on your snapcode, you get the option to take a selfie to pack in the ghost. Snapchat will take five photos of you that will be turned into an animated GIF.

Take a Snapcode selfie.

If you don't like it, you can tap on the undo ghost icon at the top left to switch it back to the default white ghost.

Eliminate your snapcode selfie.

You can also download your snapcode from the website on your desktop browser by logging into your account. In that file, you'll get a guide to editing snapcodes as well as PNG and SVG versions you can use to create a custom-built snapcode with your usual profile photo, business logo or other picture in the ghost space. You'll need an photo editing implement to do this.

Mac users can open the snapcode and another photo in Preview. Select the other photo (your profile photo, logo, etc.), copy it and then paste it into your snapcode.

Edit your Snapcode in Mac Preview.

Alternatively, you can use a elementary free photo editing instrument like Gimp to select the white in the photo and make it semitransparent by coloring it to Alpha (learn how to do this here).

Next, open your profile photo or other photo, make sure it's smaller than the size of the snapcode picture (1024 x 1024), and paste it onto the snapcode picture. Then use the option to Raise Layer (under the Layer > Stack menu).

This should be the result once you've moved your pic into the right spot.

Edit your snapcode in Gimp.

You can now share your custom-built snapcode on your other social networks to encourage other Snapchat users to go after you. I suggest you share both the snapcode and your username so people can lightly add you.

Share your username and snapcode on other social networks.

You can also add your username and your custom-built snapcode to your website in a special blog post or on an About or Go after Us page to encourage website visitors to go after you on Snapchat.

Share your Snapchat username and snapcode on your website.

You may even want to switch your profile photo on Facebook, Twitter and other networks so Snapchat users can find your snapcode when you're building your Snapchat audience.

Use your customized snapcode as a profile pic on other social networks.

You can see people who have added you as a friend on Snapchat by tapping the ghost icon at the top of your screen and then tapping Added Me. When you get fresh friends, you'll see a count.

See who added you on Snapchat.

The decision to friend someone back should be based on whether you want to be able to view their stories and whether you want them to be able to talk with you or send you snaps.

As you browse through your list of friends, you'll notice that some users have emojis by their usernames. If the emojis are directly next to their username, it represents a particular achievement, such as snapping back and forward with someone one hundred times.

If they are to the right of the name, then it is an emoji added by Snapchat to note verified Snapchat accounts for celebrities and brands.

See friend emojis in your Friends list.

You can learn more about what each emoji means in the Emojipedia for Snapchat.

#Four: Create Stories and Send Snaps

There are two ways to keep your audience engaged with your business on Snapchat: creating stories and sending snaps. Think of stories like public tweets that people who have added your Snapchat account as a friend can see in their stories under Latest Updates.

View Latest Updates – Stories by friends.

Any photos or movies that you add to your story will be compiled into one update for your friends to view an unlimited number of times until the photos and movies expire in twenty four hours. This is of course assuming you have permitted everyone to view your stories in your Settings.

Review your Story settings.

Snaps are more like private messages. They are meant to be observed only once, albeit you can replay snaps once within twenty four hours.

To create stories or send snaps, take photos or record a 10-second movie on Snapchat using the app. Very first, use the icons at the top left to turn on your flash (if needed) or select day / night mode.

Take a photo or movie in Snapchat.

To take a photo, tap on the circle at the bottom of the screen.

Photo Editing and Posting Options

If you take a photo, you have several options for editing it.

Browse the Edit options for your photo.

At the top right, you can tap on the icons to add an emoji, add text or draw on the photo.

Add emojis to your picture.

If you swipe left on the photo, you see filter options. You can use filters to adjust the contrast and coloring of the photo, add a timestamp or add frames based on your location.

Add location filters to your photo.

Tap on the icons at the bottom left to determine how many seconds the photo will stay on the screen, download the photo to your phone or automatically add the photo to your story.

Set the duration a photo should stay on the screen in your story.

Tap on the icon at the bottom right to choose to add the photo to your public story or send it privately to one or more people as a snap. Note that if the friend doesn't go after you and doesn't have his or her settings configured to get snaps from everyone, your snap won't be delivered.

Send a photo to your story or as a snap.

Alternatively, if you want to share a photo taken outside of Snapchat, you can send the photo to Snapchat. For iPhone users, find the photo in your camera roll and use the Send option to send it to Snapchat.

Share a photo taken outside of the Snapchat app.

Note that when you do this, your editing options are diminished only to adding text or drawing on the photo and sending it as a snap. Photos you have taken outside of Snapchat cannot be collective as a part of your story.

Browse the options for editing a collective photo.

Movie Editing and Posting Options

To record a movie, tap and hold the circle at the bottom of the screen until you're finished recording.

If you take a movie, you have similar options for editing it.

Browse the options for editing your movie.

For movies, instead of having an option at the bottom left to determine how many seconds the photo will stay on the screen, you have the option to toggle the sound recorded in the movie on or off.

Toggle off the sound in a movie.

Note that if you have music playing on your phone's music player, it will be recorded with your movie.

Tap on the icon at the bottom right to choose to add the movie to your public story or send it privately to one or more people as a snap. Note that if the friend doesn't go after you and doesn't have settings configured to get snaps from everyone, your snap will not be delivered.

In addition to adding movies to your story or sending them as snaps, you can also add movie to live stories if you‘re in the same location as and event. Learn more about this option here.

If you want to get some engagement for photos or movies in your story, you can use the text or drawing contraptions to ask people to take a screenshot and share it or swipe up to talk.

Swipe up to talk when prompted.

You can view snaps and talk messages sent to you by tapping on the box or number at the bottom left of the camera screen.

Tap on the box or number at the bottom left to see snaps sent to you.

Note that if your settings are configured to receive snaps from friends only, people you haven't added as a friend will not be able to talk with you.

You can also earn trophies on Snapchat based on your activity, such as hitting a specific score or sending specific types of snaps. You can read this guide at Huffington Post on how to unlock Snapchat trophies. You can see your current trophies by tapping on the trophy icon at the top of the screen.

See your trophies by tapping the trophy icon at the top.

#Five: Edit Your Story and View Analytics

When you send a snap, it's delivered almost instantaneously; therefore, you have no options to edit it. When you add photos and movies to your story, you do have a few options.

Your story will always emerge at the top of the Stories area. Each photo or movie you add will expire after twenty four hours. The amount of time your friends have to view your story is indicated by how utter the circle is.

If you tap on the dots to the right of your story, you'll see your Story analytics.

Find the edit options and analytics for your story.

You can tap on the arrow that emerges next to your story to download it as a movie before any parts of it expire so you can share it elsewhere if you choose.

Save your Snapchat story to your phone.

When you tap on an individual picture or movie in your story, you can tap on the icons on the left to see who has viewed your story and who has grabbed a screenshot of that part of the story.

View your Story analytics.

You can also use the icons to the right to delete the individual pic or movie from your story or save it to your phone.

Delete an photo or movie from your story.

#6: Talk With Your Friends

In addition to sending snaps, you can also talk with your friends on Snapchat. To do this, tap on the box or number at the bottom left of your screen. Then click on the talk box at the top left.

When you select the friend you want to talk with, you have two options. If the camera icon at the bottom right is yellow, you can send a snap by typing in some text and clicking on the yellow icon.

Talk on Snapchat.

You will then be able to send an photo or movie with the text.

Send a talk snap.

If the camera icon at the bottom right is blue, your friend is also on Snapchat. This means that you can movie talk with your friend by tapping and holding the blue camera icon. Learn more about the functionality of movie talking here.

#7: Curate and Download Content

Do you want to commence sending snaps to people, but you're hesitant what to send? Snapchat actually offers a way to curate content. Simply tap on one of the stories in the Detect section.

Choose a Detect Story.

To share an photo or movie within the story that you want to share, tap and hold on it. This will give you the option to edit the photo or movie by adding emojis, text or drawings. You can toggle off the sound for movies, download the photo or movie to your phone and send the photo or movie to your friends as snaps.

Share a photo or movie from a Detect Story.

This is a good way to commence engaging with friends with on Snapchat without actually having to record yourself.

Snapchat is a unique social network when compared to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and others. As such, it offers businesses unique ways to connect with their audiences.

What do you think? Have you used Snapchat for your business? Are you ready to get began? Please share your thoughts and practice in the comments!

Snapchat for Business: A Guide for Marketers: Social Media Examiner

Snapchat for Business: A Guide for Marketers

Have you heard of Snapchat?

Want to use it to connect with your customers?

Snapchat is a mobile app that lets you send public or private snaps of photos and movie to people from your smartphone.

In this article, you'll detect how to use Snapchat‘s features to connect with your customers.

Detect a marketers guide to using Snapchat for business.

The Snapchat Demographic

Before we dive into how businesses can use Snapchat, let's take a quick look at the Snapchat demographics as provided by the Snapchat Ads page.

Snapchat has one hundred million active daily users.
86% of Snapchat's users fall into the thirteen – thirty seven age range.
Five+ billion movies are viewed on Snapchat each day.

#1: Set Up Your Snapchat Account

Very first, you'll inject your email address, password and birth date.

Inject your details.

Choose a username.

Once you've chosen your Snapchat username, you'll be prompted to come in your mobile number. People who have your phone number in their contact list will be able to find you using it unless you switch that option in your settings.

Inject your mobile number if you want people to find you that way.

After you've created your account, you'll be taken to the screen where you can commence creating snaps and stories, which I'll discuss later in detail. Before you embark doing this, you want to tap on the ghost icon at the top of your screen to configure the rest of your profile settings.

Options on the camera screen.

On the following screen, tap on the settings wheel icon at the top right.

Find your profile settings.

Inject your name in your settings. You can also come in or update your mobile phone number and email address.

Configure your Snapchat settings.

If you don't want people to find you based on your phone number, tap on your number and toggle the option for permitting friends to find you.

Permit people to find you with your phone number.

Under the Who Can… section, configure your privacy settings for who can send you snaps and who can view your story. As a business, you may want to begin out by permitting everyone to send you snaps and permitting everyone to view your story.

If you begin to receive snaps that are vulgar or inappropriate, you may want to switch your settings to only permitting friends (people you add) to send you snaps and only add people you trust as friends.

#Two: Add Friends for Inspiration

They won't be able to see your stories unless they add you as a friend, and based on their settings you may or may not be able to send them snaps.

Embark by tapping on the ghost icon at the top of your screen to see your options for adding friends. On the following screen, you'll see the option to Add Friends.