Social Media Strategy – Snapchat

“It sounds obvious, but the real secret is to start with a great story.”

Steve Clayton, Chief Storyteller, Microsoft.

It’s the role of a PR professional to tell engaging stories in an effort to build a relationship between brands and their key audiences. As part of an industry that drives communication across numerous channels, we know the story needs to be fluid and appealing.

Enter Snapchat.

Snapchat presents a relatively new platform for businesses to tell their story instantaneously, creating a visual aesthetic for a brand while also connecting with consumers on a personal level.

Snapchat’s target users are aged 13 – 34, with a 70 per cent female skew. Similar to other social media platforms, the effectiveness of Snapchat relies on the content uploaded, so here are a few tips to successfully implement Snapchat into your storytelling methods:

1.    Real time social media marketing

The most tangible benefit of incorporating Snapchat is exposure to your audience in real time. In 2017, KFC Australia launched its first Snapchat campaign to celebrate the Big Bash League cricket final as part of its sponsorship over the summer.

Snapchat users at or watching the cricket final were able to place a lens on their face to create a bucket over the user’s head in line with the tradition of cricket attendees. KFC Australia also created an interactive game for their Snapchat users to engage their audience to promote a new range of ‘Freeze’ drinks. 

Through Snapchat, KFC created a unique opportunity to strengthen its relationship with their target audience. This approach can pay dividends in the long run for a company, especially as more people seek a personable relationship with brands to validate trust and confidence in the brand.  

2.    Personalised content for your consumers

The ability to tease your audience with product concepts provides a human touch to your brand. Major international fashion houses such as Gucci, Stella McCartney and Valentino all debuted sneak peeks of their 2017 collections on Snapchat prior to models walking the runway. This built anticipation with consumers and encouraged active engagement on other social media platforms by including tags and handles as a call to action.

L’Oreal Australia has also started promoting its Maybelline and L’Oreal Paris brands via Snapchat, and uses the platform to showcase new products. Short, snappy and using the brand’s voice, L’Oreal capitalises on the two-way engagement to connect with key stakeholders as customers have the opportunity to ask questions and receive an immediate response.

3.    Build consumer engagement

Everyone loves a good competition! Offering an incentive for viewers to watch your 10-second snippets in an entire Snapchat story encourages more of your brand story to be told.  Fitness First Australia created a social media campaign where 12 gym junkies were told to give up the gym for 12 weeks, while three people who rarely visited a gym were asked to exercise regularly over 12 weeks. 

Daily 10-second video diaries allowed consumers to interact with the brand and encourage engagement with those people undertaking the challenge.  Fitness First created a call to action to share their own fitness stories via their Snapchat handle, which allowed the brand to obtain user generated content.

4.    Allows consumer to experience your “real” business 

Another method of engaging with consumers is through a “Day in the Life of” snippet. Grubhub, an American diner chain, used this method as a tool to source new interns for their marketing program.  JPMorgan created their own geo filter within Snapchat to hire new employees from colleges and universities across America. This encouraged key audiences to view a career in banking differently as the recruitment method and platform differed from the traditional stereotype of the banking industry.

If your policies allow (and you trust your team!) your employees could take control of your Snapchat account to provide engaging content for consumers that highlights your brand personality and emphasises a different side of your typical business operation.

Want to know more about building a social media profile through Snapchat? Contact the Elevate team today for an obligation free quote.