Showing your audience what goes on behind the curtain at your brand is a clever way to create a sense of exclusivity and make people feel like insiders.
3. User-Generated Content (UGC)
You’ve heard about user-generated content – well, Snapchat is a place where UGC really thrives. Consider prompting your followers to create their own Snaps that feature your products or brand, and then share them along with a custom hashtag. Then, you can amplify the strongest ones in your own Stories.
UGC is proven to be a highly effective way to generate social proof, increase brand loyalty, and build a stronger social community.
Javy Coffee is one example of a brand that leveraged UGC by featuring real customer testimonials and stories about how they enjoy the coffee concentrate. This helped the company create relatable ads that resonated with its audience.
Screenshot from Snapchat.com, August 2024
4. Interactive Content
One thing that separates Snapchat from most other social media platforms is its interactivity. And brands have plenty of opportunities to get in on the action!
Try devising interactive moments for your followers, whether it’s a simple poll, a challenge, or a unique AR Lens. These allow users to really get involved and have a fun experience with your brand – and can lead to new UGC for you, as well.
For example, e.l.f. Cosmetics used AR Lenses combined with Bitmoji to allow users to virtually try on makeup, creating a highly interactive experience for its audience.
Screenshot from Snapchat.com, August 2024
5. Exclusive Offers
Want to really impress your Snapchat followers? Reward them. From promo codes to exclusive discounts or early bird access to new products, there is no shortage of ways to treat your audience.
It’s great for them but beneficial for you, too. It gives people a reason to keep engaging with your content and following your brand.
Advertising On Snapchat
While organic content is at the heart of Snapchat, the platform also offers some unique and powerful paid advertising options. The company also rolled out a new ad platform update in August 2024 that provides enhanced analytics, improved targeting, and more.
1. Snapchat Ads
Served to users in between user-generated content, these are full-screen, vertical video ads. They’re not dissimilar to Instagram Stories, and can include interactive elements such as having a user swipe up to visit a website.
The Salvation Army’s Snapchat Ads featured videos depicting real-life stories of individuals impacted by its services, emphasizing themes of hope and transformation. These ads connected emotionally with viewers and included a swipe-up option to learn more or donate, making the content both impactful and actionable.
Screenshot from Snapchat.com, August 2024
2. Sponsored AR Lenses
One of Snapchat’s unique offerings is its custom AR Lenses, which brands can create for users to experience.
You can create Lenses that allow users to virtually “try on” products, for example, put people in a humorous visual setting or even have them play games. At times, they can even respond to users’ movements or the environment around them.
These can be hyper-engaging and drive a lot of interactions – like Volkswagen did when it used an AR Lens to enable people to experience its ID.3 electric vehicle virtually. Using the Lens, people could place a virtual model of the car in their environment, explore its features, and even change the color.
Screenshot from Snapchat.com, August 2024
3. Filters
These are static overlays that you can apply to your Snaps once they’re created – and brands are able to design their own to delight Snapchat users. These are typically non-interactive but are fun visual enhancements that enable people to add some creative flair to their content.
Post Consumer Brands created its own custom Snapchat Filter to promote its Honeycomb cereal – and it was very sweet!
Screenshot from Snapchat.com, August 2024
4. Dynamic Ads
Snapchat’s Dynamic Ads enable brands to automatically create and deliver personalized ads to users based on their behavior and interactions with your company. For example, if a user visits your website and looks at a specific hat, Snapchat might serve them an ad for that product.
If you work for an ecommerce company, these might be particularly interesting to you, as you can automate ad creation based on your product catalog – so you don’t need to lift a finger.
Fashion brand Free People has used Dynamic Ads to automate personalized ads for users, ensuring that those who viewed specific items on its website were later served ads featuring those exact products on Snapchat. It resulted in a 396% increase in demand.
Screenshot from Snapchat.com, August 2024
5. Commercials
These are non-skippable Snapchat video ads that usually appear within the platform’s premium content, like Snap Originals.
They’re short – three to six seconds for a Standard Commercial and up to 180 seconds for an Extended Play Commercial (though users can skip after the first 6 seconds) – and are optimized for high visibility.
They typically focus more on storytelling than some of the other ads on the network.
Let’s Get Snapping!
Yes, Snapchat is still an effective marketing platform for reaching younger audiences – but you must be mindful about your strategy and approach.
With its unique blend of high engagement, unique creative tools, and loyal audience, Snapchat offers brands a variety of ways to connect with their target consumers.
Hopefully, this guide has given you the insights and inspiration you need to build a successful Snapchat marketing strategy in 2024.
Now, it’s time to put these ideas into action and start Snapping your way to success.
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