The Ultimate Marketing Guide to Snapchat

Ross Simmonds rosssimmonds.com The Ultimate Guide to Snapchat Marketing

We’re living in a time where our attention is Minimal.

Snapchat is a tool that captures someone’s attention entirely for a few seconds and has the ability to CUT THROUGH the attention crisis.  

Snapchat has an estimated user base of more than 30 million and is continuing to grow and develop its brand and product.

Snapchat allows users to take meaningless, embarrassing, private, and goofball type photos or videos and send them to friends.

After a few seconds, the photos or videos vanish and are no longer available for the user to see.

it’s that simple.

This is an opportunity to leverage one of the most talked about social networks since Facebook…

This is an opportunity to leverage one of the most talked about social networks since Facebook… …and drive real results for your business.

1. Getting Started: Sending snaps 2. Settings You Need As A Brand 3. Why Snapchat Makes So Much Sense 4. The Power Of Visual Storytelling 4.1.Brand Speciﬁc Content 4.2.Behind The Scenes Content 4.3. Promotion Driven Content 4.4. Leverage Snapchat Stories 4.5. Embrace The 'Naughty' Screenshot 4.6. Key Takeaways & Conclusion The Ultimate Guide to Snapchat Marketing

let’s get started.

The Elephant In The Room Snapchat is not just for sexting.

The Elephant In The Room A lot of people like to turn up their noses at the idea of sexting, but let me remind you that according to a recent study from McAfee & Intel: “nearly 50% of adults have used their mobile device to share or receive intimate content…”

The Elephant In The Room Sure, there is a percentage of people who use Snapchat to send a risqué photo here or there, but Snaps are mostly a mix of selﬁes, concerts, events, nights out, and pretty much everything you'd ﬁnd on Facebook.

The Elephant In The Room Just because the device can be used to share sexy photos, doesn't mean it can't be used for business.

The Elephant In The Room “Our experience has been blissfully genital-free, but on those odd occasions where responses have been close to the line, we’ve been able to respond with an image of the new Deep Space shower gel, urging people to clean up and take a cold shower…” - Alex Willimott, the Community Manager for Lynx of Axe Body

The Elephant In The Room So there you have it. It's time to get over it and it's time to start using Snapchat FOR BUSINESS RESULTS.

Account Setup

MAKE YOUR Account Setup To have a successful Snapchat marketing program, you need: A mobile device that can install the latest version of Snapchat, such as an iOS or Android device. E-mail Address. Password. Username.

MAKE YOUR Account Setup You want to use an email address that will be used solely for Snapchat purposes. If you're a small business, you should have no issues using your own email for setting this up. If you're a large company, you will want to create an email like: Snapchat@businessname.com. E-mail Address

MAKE YOUR Account Setup I'm not going to preach about the importance of having a secure password but it's extremely important on Snapchat. If someone hacks your account, they could do a lot of damage sending oﬀside content directly to your users. Password ! !

MAKE YOUR Account Setup This is the most important element when setting up your Snapchat account. Your username is the @username that people will use to send Snaps to you and use to add you to their friends list on Snapchat. Consider branding your username with your business name or with your real name if you're an individual. It's also a good idea to keep some consistency between your Snapchat name and Twitter name. Username @

MAKE YOUR Account Setup Even if you're not going to use Snapchat right away, sign up and own your username. If you don't, you could ﬁnd yourself in a situation where someone else signs up with your name and you're unable to get it without a legal battle or paying top dollar for it. Take Away ! !

MAKE YOUR Sending a Snap

MAKE YOUR Sending a Snap Photo Snap Video Snap When using Snapchat, there are two types of content you can share with your friends or followers.

MAKE YOUR Sending a Snap When you get started, you're going to come across a screen like this:

Sending a Snap When you get started, you're going to come across a screen like this: To Take a Photo: Tap the circle once and it will capture the frame. To Take a video: Hold down on the circle and it will begin recording your video. Hold down on the circle for as long as you would like the video to be. The max length of the video clip is somewhere between 8 and 10 seconds.

Sending a Snap If you don't like the ﬁrst version of your Snap, you don't have to worry. View your snap before sending it to anyone. Decide if you want to send it or delete it by clicking the "X" in the top left corner.

MAKE YOUR Sending a Snap Select the length of time a user can view your content by tapping this little clock. Select the number of seconds the recipient will have to see the snap before the photo disappears.

Sending a Snap After taking a snap, simply tap the middle of your screen and you will be able to type a short blurb of text for the recipient to read. Once you have written the text, tap anywhere to exit out of the caption interface. From there, you simply tap the arrows in the bottom right, select who you want it to be sent to, and it's oﬀ to the masses.

MAKE YOUR Getting Fancy 1 2 3 4 Snapchat gives you a wide range of functionality to take your snaps to a whole new level, get creative, and have some fun with your brand: Diﬀerent Fonts & Texts Quick Snaps Snapchat Stories Drawing Tools

Getting Fancy 1 Diﬀerent Fonts & Text: I recommend switching it up here and there when sending Snaps to your audience to keep them guessing.

Getting Fancy Quick Snaps: How much can someone see in a second? That’s something that might be worth testing out. Shorten the amount of time that a user can look at a snap to one second and force them to focus 100% on your snap.

Getting Fancy Snapchat Stories: Create a Narrative A Snapchat Story is a photo or video you post to your very own Stories section of your account, which is visible by you and all your friends. Instead of sending several snaps to users individually, you can post them to your story, where each of them will attach to the previous Snap added to create a story from the entire night. Snapchat Stories last for 24 hours and can capture a much longer and impactful message.

Getting Fancy Snapchat Stories: Create a Narrative When you visit your "My Friends" tab in Snapchat, your username should appear at the very top, and beneath it will be a circular icon of the most recent story posted. The same functionality will work for your friends.

Getting Fancy Snapchat Stories: Create a Narrative You can tap anybody's name in this section to trigger the dropdown menu that may show additional Stories, if the user posted several of them. In the 24 hours that Stories live on your account, they can be viewed again and again for that period. Once the time limit is up, they are automatically deleted.

Getting Fancy 1 Diﬀerent Fonts & Text: I recommend switching it up here and there when sending Snaps to your audience to keep them guessing.

Getting Fancy Drawing Tools: Snapchat enables you to share drawings, sketches, and doodles with other users. They can be as simple as a moustache like you see in my photo or a something as impressive as these Snapchats from Janine Doherty:

Now that you’re set up, it's time to manage your settings. 

Settings You Need As A Brand Snapchat for a brand is diﬀerent from Snapchat for a person. As an individual, you worry about things like privacy, who has the ability to send you content, and of course, who can see the content you share.

Settings You Need As A Brand Snapchat for a brand is diﬀerent from Snapchat for a person. You want to ensure that EVERYONE can view your stories. Initially that sounds odd but for a business - it's actually very important. You want to ensure that anyone who has added you to Snapchat can look at your stories because it's only going to be a matter of time until your contact list is so full that you're unable to scroll through and select every single person as the recipient for your Snaps.

Settings You Need As A Brand You want your settings to look like this:

Settings You Need As A Brand This is the average friends list: John C, Mike S, Cameron C, and Surrey J are all friends who have been added as friends. Smitty R, is someone who has added me as a friend but I haven't added them back yet. Smitty R can try to send me Snaps, but unless my settings are set to "Everyone”, the Snaps are never going to make it. Smitty R is also unable to view my Stories that I publish unless I've set that feature to "Everyone”.

Settings You Need As A Brand It's going to be a challenge to accept everyone to your Snapchat. I suggest leaving your settings open to “everyone” which will give you the ability to put your story in front of anyone who wants to see it. Note: If a user has added you to Snapchat, you also have the ability to send them Snaps directly from your account to theirs. If you don't add the user back and they attempt to send you a Snap, they will simply be met with a "Pending" message as an indicator of Snap delivery.

The Strategy SO MUCH SENSE Why Snapchat Makes

Let’s look at the facts: Over the course of the last ten years, the average attention span has dropped from 12 minutes to a staggeringly short 5 minutes. ! 25% of people forget the names or details of close friends and relatives.

“In a world where our attention span is limited to 5 short minutes, a tool like Snapchat can be a marketers dream.”

The Founder of Snapchat discussed the concept of ephemerality when describing Snapchat: "Snapchat discards content to focus on the feeling that content brings to you, not the way that content looks. This is a conservative idea, the natural response to radical transparency that restores integrity and context to conversation."

The Power of Visual Storytelling Visuals play a signiﬁcant role in our ability to understand and connect with stories. In marketing, visual storytelling is an art that needs to be considered and applied like a science.

The Power of Visual Storytelling T> 93% of communication is nonverbal. The research department at 3M Corporation concluded that humans process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. It's visuals that help us understand a situation, connect with our emotions, and allow brands and businesses to tell their story quickly and more eﬀectively.

The Power of Visual Storytelling The three most important aspects of visual storytelling are: The way it reaches your audience. How it captivates them. How it aligns with your business goals or objectives. 1. 2. 3. SNAPCHAT! STRATEGY! KEY TO SUCCESS!

The Power of Visual Storytelling 6 sure-ﬁre ways to captivate your audience using Snapchat: 1. Brand Speciﬁc Content 2. Behind The Scenes Content 3. Promotion Driven Content 4. Leverage Snapchat Stories 5. Embrace The 'Naughty' Screenshot 6. Key Takeaways & Conclusion

1. Brand Speciﬁc Content Snapchat Pro Tip: The saying “A picture says 1000 words” is one of the most frequently used clichés but it’s a cliché for a reason.

1. Brand Speciﬁc Content Doing it Right: Karmaloop – a leading e-commerce site for the trendy elite. How: The content you'll receive from adding Karmaloop to Snapchat is always on brand but never what you expect. And that's the magic of it. Why: The key to creating a great Snapchat account is creating one delivers content that is so unique and compelling, you have no choice but to open your Snaps and see what they're going to send you next.

1. Brand Speciﬁc Content Doing it Right: HBO series, Girls How: A Snap of one of their cast members telling her fans that she loves them. Why: It's this simple branded interaction that connects the show even deeper with its audience.

2. Behind the Scenes Content Snapchat Pro Tip: If you're going to be on Snapchat - announce that you're going to be on Snapchat.

2. Behind the Scenes Content Doing it Right: HBO series, Girls How: Throughout the entire Golden Globe experience, the GirlsHBO team was making an eﬀort to share as many intimate, behind the scenes moments it could with their audience. It was an awesome way to give their viewers an extra special layer to the event and oﬀer them content that was engaging and unique.

2. Behind the Scenes Content Doing it Right: HBO series, Girls Why: People are thirsty for transparency and an inside look at how things are built or done within your organization. If your brand has a strong connection with your fans, people will be excited to see the team behind your Snaps or products. Embrace it!

3. Promotion Driven Content Snapchat Pro Tip: I repeat, if you're going to be on Snapchat - announce that you're going to be on Snapchat.

3. Promotion Driven Content Doing it Right: Karmaloop How: They've ensured that their brand is alive and well with exclusive Snapchat promotions. They recognize that Snapchat is meant to be one of their many marketing tools that will drive online sales for their brand.

3. Promotion Driven Content Doing it Right: Karmaloop Why: If you're sending solid discounts and deals to people who follow you on Snapchat, you have a chance to really start driving sales. Promotion codes and limited time oﬀers are a great way to build a strong connection with this audience and also a great way to measure the success of your Snapchat campaign.

4. Leverage Snapchat Stories Snapchat Pro Tip: The "Stories" feature on Snapchat is still a huge untapped opportunity for brands.

4. Leverage Snapchat Stories Doing it Right: Intel (@Intel_Inside on Snapchat) How: Intel is giving their fans a chance to see a quick tour of the Intel museum. One single snap wouldn't have been able to tell the story in full while this approach gave Intel a chance to share a deeper and more captivating brand experience. People were so impressed by it, that they uploaded screenshots of the Intel Museum for others to see.

4. Leverage Snapchat Stories Doing it Right: Intel (@Intel_Inside on Snapchat) Why: People who are connected with Intel are interested in their brand, so having a tour of their museum through Snapchat was pretty cool. That's the power of telling a captivating story. Snapchat is a tool that gives you a chance to make your biggest fans feel special. As a result, these fans will not only share your story but help mold it in a way that is both engaging and unique to their latest brand experience.

5. Embrace The 'Naughty' Screenshot Snapchat Pro Tip: The Screenshot is a key part of the application’s approach to delivering an ephemeral experience.

5. Embrace The 'Naughty' Screenshot What you might not know about Snapchat is that if someone tries to take a screenshot of a Snap, the sender is notiﬁed that the other person took a screenshot of their photo or video.

5. Embrace The 'Naughty' Screenshot Leveraging the screenshot for your brand is a clear opportunity to have your story and message last longer than 5 seconds. It gives you a chance to have your customers capture your Snaps and share them with their own connections and networks on social.

5. Embrace The 'Naughty' Screenshot Doing it Right: The marketers behind the movie Romeo & Juliet How: The team created a special contest. Users were told to take screenshots of the Snaps that they send them, tweet them with the #RomeoMoments hashtag, and be entered to win a special prize.

5. Embrace The 'Naughty' Screenshot Doing it Right: The marketers behind the movie Romeo & Juliet There were hundreds of tweets sent and shared with that very hashtag showing screenshots of their dreamy cast. Why: It was a perfect execution that led to both a stronger connection with their fans and the ability to have their fans become walking, talking billboards for their story.

Key Takeaways Visual Marketing is here to stay. Whether it's Instagram, Snapchat, or another network that takes the crown - we can all agree that visual marketing isn't going anywhere anytime soon. While the pan is still hot, no one is going to ignore a Snapchat. If you send a Snapchat to a customer who has added you to their friends list, 99 times out of 100 they're going to open that Snapchat. If you've provided value in the pass - that number is very likely to move up to 100%. Snapchat isn't just for sexting. If you understand what your audience wants and build a persona around their interests; you can craft a compelling and captivating brand experience using Snapchat. 1 2 3

With click-through rates on online ads plummeting and the amount of competition increasing, businesses are looking for results. In a world where there is more noise than ever before, it’s important to create content worth reading, creating and sharing. www.standoutguide.com Look out for my e-book Stand Out: A Content Marketing Guide INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE?

ROSS SIMMONDS www.rosssimmonds.com @TheCoolestCool PS: Feel free to also add me to Snapchat: @coolestcool