Snapchat is a social media platform with a focus on visual aspects. It has been one of the best-known social media apps worldwide ever since it launched its Stories feature a decade ago.
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Basic terminology
A Snap is a video or image that users send through Snapchat to their friends and contacts. Videos can be up to a minute long. The platform doesn’t store any video or photo content. Everything is deleted after the recipient has seen it.
Stories are also a kind of Snap, but they remain on Snapchat for 24 hours before they are deleted. You can save them as Memories or download them to a device’s camera.
A Streak or Snapstreak traces the number of days in a row during which you and a friend have shared Snaps. Next to your contact’s name, there will be a flame emoji and the number of days you’ve kept the Streak going.
Finally, Snapchat users use Filters to make their Snaps more enticing. You can add special effects, an overlay, etc. You can change filters based on location, holidays, special events, time of day, etc.
Snapchat for business
You can use Snapchat for business in many ways, for example, via geo-filters. Those are location-based filters you can apply to Snaps. Businesses can create their own geo-filters to promote events or special promotions. Gatorade created a geo-filter that lets users dunk a virtual cooler on themselves. The filter was hugely successful, with more people seeing it than the Super Bowl itself (160 million vs. 112 million.)
Sponsored Lenses are augmented reality filters that users can apply to their snaps. Businesses can create their own lenses to promote their products or services. An example is The Peanuts Movie, which was actually the first brand in history to stand behind a Snapchat Lens. It features a rainbow throw-up while the theme song plays. A stream of candy corn came out of the user’s mouth simultaneously.
Suppose your target group of customers is in their early 30s or younger. In that case, Snapchat can be an excellent choice for business, particularly if you are selling goods or services directly to consumers.
Snapchat for marketing
To use the medium for marketing, you need to open a Snapchat Business account. It doesn’t matter what size your company is. This account will provide access to more features to ensure a successful outcome of your marketing strategy.
You can use your account to create a Public Profile, which will give you a permanent landing page on Snapchat for your brand.
You can reach your desired target group via age-targeting and advertising via the Ads Manager feature. There are other ways to target users, of course. You can create custom content to reach potential clients in a certain place.
Snap Ads are full-screen video ads that appear between users’ Stories. Their maximum length is 10 seconds, and businesses can target specific groups based on factors such as age, gender, and location.
