In the last few years, Snapchat has exploded. Once a simple app used to privately share expiring pictures, has become one of the most popular social media tools with 100 million active users and a staggering 8 billion photo and video views per day.
With numbers like these, there is some serious market potential to develop your brand, advertise your products, and connect with potential customers.
Since it is a relatively new social media tool primarily used by people under 35, many affiliate marketers haven’t quite figured out how to use it for marketing, no less have even considered using it for marketing. So we’ve put together a guide of affiliate marketing strategies so you can harness the growing marketing potential of Snapchat.
Get Snapchat Followers
Before you can begin any Snapchat marketing campaign, you will need to get followers. Snapchat is a very personal platform so it is hard to get followers. There are also no hashtags, tags, or reposts, so you can’t build your following the same way you would on other social media platforms. Instead, you have to get a little more creative. First you can tease your snapchat content on your other social media sites to get people interested in following you. You can also sign blogs, emails, and any other correspondence with your Snapchat handle. Finally, there is the time-tested method of following other Snapchat users. Make sure though that you also engage with anyone you follow by responding to their snaps with a snapback, so they will want to follow you back.
Once you have your users there are some pretty fun affiliate marketing strategies you can use on Snapchat. Here are our favorites:
1. Provide Teasers Of Upcoming Products
Snapchat has a small window of 10 seconds of viewing for any content you post. This is absolutely the ideal amount to display a teaser for an upcoming product launch, sale, or new brand initiative. Take a great photo or a short video announcing a brief detail upcoming product or just give a subtle hint about what’s coming next to keep your followers guessing. Post just enough information to pique the interest of your customers and get the excited to learn more. By teasing your upcoming products, you can create a buzz before you even launch your newest campaign or product.
2. Make Exclusive Offers
One of the coolest features of Snapchat is that the photos and videos expire after 24 hours and once they are gone they are gone forever. A great marketing tactic is to add a photo or video with promo codes for discounts and special offers. If you make these codes more enticing than your normal promotions, more customers will be incentivized to follow you on Snapchat. If you do not announce when you plan on making these special discounts, your customers will engage with all of your content looking for these great offers. This gives you more ability to connect with them in other ways.
3. Premium Access Content
Snapchat lets you choose who receives your content. You can choose everyone in your contact list or just pick certain customers. This is a great feature if you are looking for a way to reward your most loyal customers. By being able to select just your best customers, you can offer them great premium access content. You can provide them with backstage access to your brand, exclusive content, and even loyalty discounts they wouldn’t get if they weren’t following your brand. This is a great way to make your customers feel special to you.
4. Showcase Live Events
Snapchat is a great tool for broadcasting live events. So if you are hosting a product launch, visiting a trade show, or any special brand events, consider broadcasting these events live on Snapchat. Live event marketing is a really great way to connect with customers, but with customers all over the planet it’s hard to get that face-to-face time with them. With Snapchat you can reach them easily and make them feel like they are right there with you. Plus, with such a short window, you can really curate what you show them, highlighting only the key moments of your live event.
5. Create A Brand Story
Snapchat has a feature called “My Story.” My Story lets users present long form storytelling by adding a series of photos and videos that can be viewed in succession by any of their followers. So you aren’t just limited to 10 second videos and photos to engage your customers. With My Story you can go into more details about a product launch, your brand, or any other business initiative in a really unique and engaging way. Plus, with the successive format, your customers will be enticed to keep engaging until they reach the end. While with other long form formats, they may get bored or distracted before completing the narrative.
6. Host Contests
Contests are always a fun way to engage your customers. Snapchat has a ton of cool features like drawing tools and filters, that you can incorporate into your contests. You can have contests where your customers submit photos or videos of themselves using these tools to win great prizes or discount codes. This creates a great two-way conversation between customers and also helps you engage their followers through their promotion of your brand.
With Snapchat’s many features and large audience, it’s a great tool for any affiliate marketing strategies. Though it is a little more difficult to get followers on Snapchat than with other social media platforms, once you do you can reach them on a very personal level. Having a personal connection with your followers is exactly what makes affiliate marketing strategies work. So if you are looking for a great way to connect with your customers, consider Snapchat. If you need more information about social media marketing, ideas for affiliate marketing campaigns, and other important tips and techniques, check out Affiliate Marketing Solutions. We have tons of great information to help you master affiliate marketing on any platform.