The idea to write How to Snapchat Like a Boss for Bloggers came to me in the shower, no kidding! I was thinking about Snapchat and how together with Periscope they’re going to drastically change the social media game. At first Snapchat seemed like just another version of Vine, but sillier. Vine never really took off on a grand scale, but Snapchat will.
Random fact: Did you know Facebook’s offer to buy Snapchat for $3bil got rejected? In comparison, Mark Zuckerberg bought Instagram for “just” $1bil!
“Finding your voice starts with learning the notes.”
I don’t consider myself a Snapchat pro or anything, but after talking with fellow bloggers about it and just seeing the community’s overall confusion about the platform, I thought I’d share what I’ve learned about Snapchat so far. This is my first ever blogging advice post, you guys, so be kind and let me know if I got something wrong. I’ll definitely listen to any constructive feedback and correct where necessary. Without further ado… here’s how to Snapchat like a boss [for bloggers]!
CONTENT:
Content is king. This mantra is true on every social platform and for any person, no matter who they are. Even the Kardashians wouldn’t have large following if all they ever posted were some awful blurry pictures. So even though that photo or video you just took will only live for 24 hours, make sure your hand is steady when you shoot to get a crisper image.
As bloggers we are also conflicted on what to share. Do we promote our newest blog posts? Do we share personal life moments? Do we share behind the scenes stuff? Remember, a portion of your Snapchat following might never even visit your blog, so always keep them in mind when creating your stories. Make your content understandable and accessible for everyone, and your storyviews will skyrocket!
FILTERS:
Filters make Snapchat extra fun! Utilize them to your advantage when telling a story. To access Snapchat filters press a finger on your face and hold while in selfie mode. After your face matrix is scanned, you’ll see a line of filters appear at the bottom. Scroll through them daily because they change!
EMOJI & DRAWING TOOL:
If you’re a home-buying adult, you probably think emoji are stupid. Well, Snapchat’s audience is comprised of people half your age to whom emoji are not just fun, they’re often a means of communication and can sometimes replace words and even whole phrases. For example a key emoji replaces the word “key”. Also, the poop emoji can replace some cuss words as well 🙂
In Snapchat you can resize emoji to be as big or as small as you want. Let your creativity run wild! You can pretend to be wearing an emoji hat, or hiding from emoji rain under an emoji umbrella, or maybe you fancy a kittycat head – the choice is yours!
Likewise, you can draw anything over your pictures or videos using the drawing tool. It’s a super fun way to spruce up your snaps!
- How do I access emoji? Resizable emoji are available after you take a photo or a video; the menu is in the top right corner on the left from the letter T [which stands for text by the way, and you should use it, too].
- How do I access the drawing tool? The drawing tool is available after you take a photo or a video; the menu is in the top right corner on the right from the letter T.
GET PERSONAL:
Personal snaps are a form of direct messaging on Snapchat. To send someone a direct snap, create one and select their name from the list of friends. You could also send a snap to someone you don’t follow as long as they have enabled the setting to receive snaps from everyone. Some of my fellow bloggers were concerned that sending direct snaps to followers is spammy. What they don’t understand is that’s the whole point and the original purpose of Snapchat. The public story option was added very recently, and personal snaps were the only way of communication for a while.
Sending and receiving personal snaps is the only way to get your Snapchat score to increase. As a blogger, having a high Snapchat score is important: it’s the sign that your “viewers” are leaving you “comments” and that you are responding to them. So in blog terms, it’s a sign of high engagement. However, your storyviews are just as important, and are the equivalent of unique pageviews, or UPVs.
- How do I see my Snapchat score? Open Snapchat app and swipe to the bottom. Your score will be under your snapcode.
- How do I see my storyviews? You can see your SVs by opening Snapchat and swiping to the left. Click on those three vertical dots on the line that says “My Story” at the top and you’ll see the breakdown for each snap. You can even see who exactly saw your story by clicking on individual snap in that menu and swiping up. Click on people’s names to see their detailed public info.
ASK QUESTIONS:
Just like in blogging, asking questions or advice on Snapchat will let your audience know you want to hear from them. Ask questions daily for maximum engagement, and don’t forget to respond! If your following is enormous that replying to all of the snaps is not humanly possible, add a thank you video to your public story to acknowledge that you at least read/saw them all. A little appreciation goes a long way and earns you loyal following.
POST OFTEN:
Post frequently. Stories with new posts appear at the top of the list and are more likely to be viewed than stories with old snaps. I follow over a hundred different Snapchat accounts and only watch those that are at the top of my list when I open the app. It’s simply not possible to watch every single snap from every person on your list without skipping if you follow more than two-three dozen [unless they don’t post often, of course].
However, here are some tips on on getting noticed:
- If you are telling a story, tell it all at once. A rant, a review, an event you’re at… anything that only makes sense if you are seeing the whole picture is better told in one go.
- If you are posting random selfies and fun pictures, spread them out. That will keep bumping your account to the top of your followers’ feeds so the rest of your snaps are more likely to be seen, increasing your SVs.
GET NOTICED:
Getting new followers on Snapchat is tricky, because they can only add you by snapcode or by knowing your username. Use your blog and existing social media accounts promote yourself. Utilize that sidebar space and put your snapcode there so your current blog readers can easily find you. When promoting on social media, include your snapcode, username, and a little blurb to make it more personal.
“Hashtag everything.”
Here’s how often I promote:
- Facebook – Once a month. Honestly, the majority of Snapchat users think Facebook is, I quote, “for old people”, so looking for an audience there is probably pointless. Still, many of my followers added me because of my Facebook announcements, especially family and real life friends.
- Google+ – Does anybody even use it? Once a month, same as Facebook.
- Twitter – Every few days or when I share a particularly fun story. The life of a tweet is only 15 minutes, but posting too often still looks spammy.
- Instagram – Once every 2 weeks. And don’t forget to delete the old photo so your stream doesn’t look redundant!
- Pinterest – Never. I tried several times and got no results whatsoever. I guess the Pinterest crowd couldn’t care less about Snapchat 🙂
So from my personal experience Instagram and Twitter are the best outlets for promoting your Snapchat account. Don’t forget to hashtag everything, that’s how new people can discover you! Hashtags I use: #snapchat, #snapfam, #snapchatfamily, #snappers, #snaps, #snapchatme.
WORKING WITH BRANDS:
As bloggers we often work with many different brands, and you might already follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Keep in mind that companies are actively joining Snapchat, so use that to your advantage and follow them there as well. DM them the stories talking about their products and you might score some exclusive Snapchat-only opportunities. When communicating with PR don’t forget to mention that you are promoting the brand’s products on Snapchat. Your rep will definitely appreciate that!
CHALLENGE YOURSELF:
Coming up with fresh content can be hard, or you’re just in one of those moods where you don’t think anybody could possibly be interested in your life. Join a Snapchat challenge! Answering one question a day will force you to create fun content and maybe even inspire future snaps. Finding Snapchat challenges is easy, just google it and there will be plenty of results to use as inspiration. You can also join our Facebook group Snapchat for Bloggers to be the first to know about upcoming challenges and collaborations.
BE INSPIRED:
Sometimes we also need to see how others do it. Snapcodes is a website dedicated to promoting the best accounts on Snapchat.
“Get inspired but don’t imitate.”
Pick a category, add a few influencers, and watch your stream get so much more interesting! P.S.: Beauty Blogger section coming soon 😉
YOU DO YOU:
Disagree with the points above and think you have a better way of doing things? That’s awesome! That means you are confident in your Snapchat game and I totally admire you for that! That’s essentially what following the steps above will lead us to. Everyone is unique, but finding our voice starts with learning the notes. If we follow the [baby]steps above we’ll soon inevitably discover what types of stories we love sharing, which filters are our favorite, and ultimately what makes each one of us stand out from the crowd.
Well, that’s about all I could think of on how to Snapchat like a boss on this rainy afternoon. Feel free to follow me on Snapchat and let me know if you found this post helpful, I would be happy to get some personal snaps from you guys!
If you want to collaborate with fellow bloggers, feel free to join our Facebook group. If you would like a one-on-one Snapchat coaching session [including how to pitch sponsored Snapchat stories to brands], check out my friends from Blog Savvy Creative. FYI I don’t get anything from promoting them to you, I just like supporting my fellow #GIRLBOSSES 🙂
Bloggers: do you have a Snapchat account, and is it more blog-related or more personal? Readers: do you follow any bloggers on Snapchat, and what types of snaps are your favorite? Let me know in the comments below!
Disclosure: This post features original copyrighted content. For more details about my product review policy, copyright, and information about affiliate links, please refer to Disclosures & Content Use page.
