Snapchat is a relatively new social media platform but, if statistics are to be believed, teenagers are abandoning even Facebook and Twitter for it. Snapchat is a more intimate and established way of connecting with your audiences. Established Snapchatters are making hundreds of thousands of dollars a day (that’s right!) with it. So today, we will learn some easy ways to make money on Snapchat.
1. Understand What Snapchat Is
Snapchat is a messaging system which can be compared to content on a radio. Basically you use a ‘Snap’ which is either a photo or video that disappears in a short time just like a radio song stops in a while- (anywhere from 1 to 10 seconds). You can customize these snaps or videos for each person in your audience. You can use these snaps as a private message to connect deeply with any person who is your friend on Snapchat. With these features, you can easily connect one on one with each member of your group of followers. You can create MyStory which is a group of Snaps you put together and which anyone who follows you can watch as a series. This is where the real power of making money on Snapchat comes in: you can build a series of short, yet relevant and educational content made using a collection of interesting photos or videos to educate your friends, colleagues, clients or pretty much anyone else who wants to learn from you or be entertained by you. Snapchat has some cool graphic options that allow you to put emojis, add text, rotate the images etc something which is really popular with the younger audiences.
2. Know your Target audience
The target audience of Snapchat is typically 18-25 years old but it is estimated that baby boomers are also starting to use this platform. This is all the more reason why you should be able to make money on it. And just as in a radio-you must try to inform, entertain and engage this audience in a short time.
3. Avoid Common Pitfalls
When people first start with Snapchat, they try to force the application upon themselves. This means they try to draw or write funny text which does nothing but make them lose their audiences. Instead, you should go on and do what you do best-you have to be good at something, or if you are already selling a product or service-then you already know those the best. Select a niche and start growing it. You can also find people in that area or niche and bring them over to talk to your followers on Snapchat. This is the kind of content that is most popular and one that sells. Another pitfall to avoid on Snapchat is underestimating its power. Do not think for a second that you cannot use it for your business. This is what people said about Facebook and look where it is today! Note that grand moms and granddads are already downloading Snapchat way before youngsters are. So people with buying power are already using this platform and it is time you should too if you want to grow your business.
4. Grow Your Audience
To grow your audience, you must add and find friends on Snapchat. So once you have downloaded the app and clicked on it, the first thing you will see is your camera screen. Go on the “ghost” icon and pull it down. You will see several options like number of people who have added you, as well as an option to add people. This is the option to click. You can now add people from your address book-note that the app shows only those people having a Snapchat account. You can also add people when you meet them in person-all you need to is hold your camera to their Snapcode-a personalized code for each Snapchat user. Alternatively, you can add people by their exact username but note that this unique app does not allow you to do a people search-you need to have their exact snapcode. Next, you can go to the Share icon in the top right to share your Snapcode on Twitter, Facebook etc. (Assuming you already have accounts on Facebook and Twitter, you must use all these platforms intermittently to promote your Snapchat content.)
5. Tips to Post Photos
Once you take a photo, you can do a couple of things with it: add stickers (just select one and drag it around your photo). You can also add text, change the text size or location, add colors to the text, or expand and rotate it. You can also draw on your picture. Once you are happy with your picture, select the timer icon at the bottom. This will help you set the duration for which the picture will be shown to your followers. Once you have selected the duration, click the triangular send icon and select a person from your friend list. You can also post these pictures to Instagram and Facebook.
6. Sending private messages
Swipe your finger from the left of your screen to open the private conversation window. Swipe left again on the selected person to open the private message with that person. You can type a text and send it to them as you would in WhatsApp or any regular texting feature. You can also start a video call with anyone from your list. Private messages on SnapChat do not disappear immediately but if you click to view messages exchanged those windows will be blank as the conversations would have disappeared after a while. Private messages are a great way of building deeper relationships with your followers.
7. My Story Feature
Swiping right on your window, you will come to My Story feature of Snapchat. You can add your photos and videos and they will get streamed one after the other- which is a fantastic way of doing a series of great content. My Story feature helps you break your content up into smaller sections. Go to each story and see the number of people who have watched your story. This way; you can start building deeper relationship with each person who has watched your story. There is also an icon to view the statistics of how many times your story was watched.You must also return the good gesture and watch their stories in return. After all they are also watching who is watching them-a great feature to build deeper relations and growing your audience.
8. Market Products or Services For Other Parties
Once you have built a large audience -do what you do best and soon you will have big companies in your niche wanting to come and tie up with you. They will want to market their products and services through your Snapchat channel. This is the right time to make money on Snapchat as the niches are not over-saturated and you have tons of scope to grow. Whether you are a jewelry maker or a personal trainer; you are sitting on a gold mine when it comes to SnapChat. Assuming you already have a dotcom set up to take payments, you can easily use this platform to broadcast personal messages to your followers. The main thing to do is to provide free premium content. So, for instance, if you are a web designer, you can provide free tips and advice on how to make a great web design and so on. The same is true for wellness coaches or personal trainers. Give tips and tell motivational stories to your followers as a personalized message. The key is to give as much free premium content as possible. This will help you get referrals and help you grow your Snapchat presence. Go to my Story over and over and keep an eye on the statistics as to who is watching your story and learn new ways to build a deeper relation with each one.
9. Sell Your Time
To turn Snapchat into a Cash Cow, you have to sell your time because people will want to buy your time when you are giving awesome and exclusive content. As stated above, it helps to have a legit business with a great website with all of your services or products listed clearly. For example, if you are a SEO expert you ought to at least have a WordPress site that tells people what you can do for their business. People who have no idea how to make a website, no idea about creative graphic designs or SEO are going to want to come to you. But before they spend a dollar on your services, you must show them what you can do for their business. You must show them what the ROI they will get each time they spend a dollar on your services.
And that’s pretty much it! Snapchat is user friendly and soon you will learn what does and does not work. And do not worry about making mistakes. You will only grow from them. Good luck!