How to Make Your Brand Snapchat-Worthy

Originally published in The Startup.

Reports of Snapchat’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Whether or not you’re following the stock price, Kardashian drama, or rumors of executive insanity, Snapchat still boasts more than 188 million daily active users who consume more than 10 billion videos. If your marketing enthusiasm has dwindled for the original creator of expiring vertical stories, maybe it’s time to ignore the noise and roll up your sleeves.

According to a recent Media Science survey, those videos garner more attention and generate a stronger emotional response than videos on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TV. But even that’s just a piece of the Snapchat advertising pie.

With elements like advanced audience targeting and the use of geofilters, your brand can clearly benefit from a strong Snapchat strategy. Yes, even beyond Generation Z: According to Statista, 60 percent of people using the internet ages 25 to 34 and 45 percent of people ages 35 to 44 are still Snapchat users, and those numbers are nothing to sneeze at. While platform fatigue for resource-starved brands is very real, there’s plenty of snapping still to be done.

Every Touch Counts

If you’re on Snapchat already, you know what successful ads look like. For example, if you’re a football fan, you might have been one of the 160 millionpeople who used Gatorade’s filter to virtually dump a cooler on someone in a selfie during Super Bowl 50.

Even tennis star Serena Williams jumped on the #GatoradeDunk bandwagon, extending its reach beyond just football fans. And therein lies the secret to Snapchat advertising’s success: Making your product part of the story, not just the object of it, allows you to touch broader audiences in new and endearing ways.

Figuring out how, though, can be challenging. With these five tips, you can map out what works best for your brand and your audience and how to consistently deliver the quality content that makes it all worth it:

1. Don’t let your story go stale

Two years ago, you could build out your Snapchat audience simply by publishing your story. In my experience, about 80 percent of the people who saw you would view it. Now, that number seems closer to 25 to 33 percent, and it’s still dropping.

(Where have we seen this before? Oh, right. Every platform that’s ever launched.)

The answer is direct messaging. A mobile notification is marketing paydirt, and Snapchat allows you to DM as many as 200 recipients at a time. And while a DM might be a little more aggressive than some larger brands are used to (or comfortable with), if you don’t have something relevant to say directly to your audience, maybe you should ask why you’re on the platform at all.

2. Create superfans

So now you’re spending time and energy on quality content and delivering it directly to your audience. A couple dozen committed fans you’ve made meaningful connections with are worth more than 1,000 random followers who never first view your story.

Whether you’re going the grassroots route or working with a large ad budget, your goal is to show your customers more of you, to endear them to you, and to make them advocates of your brand. Publish regularly — the same day and time every week to train your audience — and keep an eye out for engaged followers. Simply updating your story once in a while won’t cut it.

3. Tie Snapchat into your other social media.

Most of your committed followers have probably added you on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter as well. Many marketers will tell you about the power of cross-pollination, so make sure you’re giving reasons to connect across every platform. Don’t be shy about sharing your Snapchat username in other well-known places, including offline promos and literature.

Snap is fantastic for moving people to other places. So if you about go live on Facebook or host a thrilling AMA with the company founder, slap on a call to action for viewers to go check it out. Unlike a certain other platform (that rhymes with ninstagram), there are no follower requirements to attach links.

4. Stay true to why users like your other platforms

If people come to your Snapchat because of a tie-in to something they liked on another platform, then whatever you’re snapping about has to be congruent to that content. If you started a behind-the-scenes campaign on Instagram, then continue it on Snapchat with live interviews and videos that go deeper into your process.

It all comes down to strategy. You shouldn’t launch any platform without a strategy, whether it’s endearing your current customers, creating awareness of your brand, or creating powerful customer service experiences. Whatever you share and however you tie it together, keep it consistent with that strategy.

5. If you have the budget, buy ads

Good news: The previous four tips will work even if you don’t have an ad budget. If you do, though, awesome! Consider tossing some of it toward paid Snapchat ads. On average, the engagement rate is “five times higher than the average click-through rate on comparable social media platforms,” Snapchat says.

And while that’s exactly what I’d expect the company to say, our experience has been extremely positive. Not only that, but your competitors have the same kind of “another ad platform?!” inertia that the rest of us do. And Snapchat has worked hard on making its ads more DIY-friendly.

Vertical videos are highly successful when they’re authentic and not overproduced. And geofilters kick in whenever someone’s in a specific location. Geofilters are a fun, spontaneous, and unobtrusive way to generate engagement, and you can invest anywhere from $5 to hundreds of thousands in them, depending on your budget and strategy.

Bottom line: Snap isn’t dead. The yellow ghost is still the king of direct messaging. And your opportunity to engage your audience and increase brand awareness is limited only by your imagination. Happy Snapping.

Mike Monroe is a Christian, husband, dad, marketer, and wannabe athlete. Mike started working at Vector Marketing in 2000 as a student at Boston College. He wanted to stick out from the crowd and develop himself professionally. Nearly two decades later, that goal hasn’t changed. Learn more at TheVectorImpact.com.