VD62: Snapchat Hacks to grow your audience engagement
Let me be honest, it took me a while to get into Snapchat. Somehow, I have become addicted. Feel free to follow me on Snapchat: lunasol8 – if you are hooked like I am. It’s proved to be a great marketing tool for brands with deeper engagement than other platforms. After spending a lot of time studying what brands and bloggers are doing on Snapchat; I have compiled a list of Snapchat Hacks to help increase your audience engagement.
It’s been reported that Snapchat has over 100 million daily active users and 400 million snaps per day. Snapchat users are for the majority between the 18 to 34 age range in countries like the US, Canada, UK, Australia, France, Germany, and parts of Latin America.
I have witnessed a range of uses from brands from the scavenger hunts, behind the scenes, exclusive giveaways, risky content, which work wonder in making audiences crave more.
Here is list of hacks, I feel are most useful to amp up your brand engagement:
1) Audience Participation + Saving Snapchat Videos
One of the Snapchat accounts I follow for its creative use of the platform is Last Night’s Party. Bronques uploads edited content regularly. He also recently did a poll asking his audience whether or not they were open to Plus Size Models on his channel. He gathered top answers from his followers and reposted it on his Snapchat account. I was on a mission to find out how he did it. After extensive research, I learned that unfortunately for iPhone users there is currently no way to save video snaps. iOS doesn’t allow video screen capture for security reasons. The only hack is to hook up your iPhone to your computer via USB cable and do a Quicktime Screencast. Not sure how to do Quicktime iPhone Screencast? Check out Sunny Lenarduzzi’s video on Youtube. Now, if you have an Android device, you are in luck, you can download REC. Now both of these hacks require some editing on your part and re-uploading.
2) Uploading Videos
Once you have edited your videos, you can upload them to Snapchat. You will need an App like UploadnRoll to do so. I have tested the App various times. It’s extremely robust. Snapchat only allows only :10 sec clips or shorter.
3) Say “Hi” to Your friends
Another account that has caught my attention lately is TheRealDrMiami. Now it’s a bit gruesome as he Snapchats his surgeries, but every morning, he sends personalized messages to his audience, from “Hello” to “Happy Birthdays”. I really commend his ingenuity in making his audience feel part of his extended family. This is what Snapchat is all about. It’s a great way to interact with your fans and make them feel special.
Now, I know first hand many small businesses feel overwhelmed at the idea of starting a Snapchat account. Look I get it, there are too many social media platforms to keep track of. However, if you aren’t doing so well on other platforms and your demographic is skewed younger, I would try Snapchat. You can also now save videos you upload and repurpose them in other mediums. Last Night Party’s created a subscription-based channel with Vimeo and re-uploads all his expired Snaps. Think strategically. Which part of your day-to-day can help you grow your audience engagement?