How to use Snapchat

Snapchat is a popular social messaging and photo sharing app with 557 million global monthly active users as of 2022 (Statista). Users text and send “Snaps” to each other which consist of images and short videos.

The popularity of the app is given by the urgency of content – snaps only last for a few seconds, so they don’t require too much effort from the sender but spark the curiosity of the receiver. Snapchat also helps people feel more connected to each other because they get photo updates of friends’ lives throughout the day.

Demographics

Snapchat users are mostly on the younger side, with the main age group between 18- and 24-year-old, followed by 13-17-year-olds and 25-34-year-olds (Statista). If you’re looking to connect with people under the age of 34, Snapchat is the place to be.

Content type

The type of content Snapchat users enjoy is usually related to Snaps: for example, Snaps that people share publicly with everyone in their friend list and last for up to 24 hours are called Stories – this feature has also been adopted by Facebook and Instagram. The Custom Stories functionality allows people to create Stories together with their friends. People can also leverage the Snapstreak feature of the app, which counts how many consecutive days in a row people send Snaps to each other to keep people engaged with the app and in touch with each other. People can also share their location with each other in real time using the feature called Snap Map.

From a brand perspective, Snapchat’s Spotlight feature allows brands to share short video content with a public audience with the potential for the content to go viral, just like TikTok and Instagram Reels. Brands can also leverage the power of Stories to keep followers up to date with the latest brand news and updates.

However, one of the key features that brands can use to increase user engagement is Snapchat’s Lenses. For example, face lenses can change the appearance of someone’s face in real time – for brands this means that they can create custom lenses that use unique characteristics of the brand to make its products recognisable. And with geofilters, you can create location-specific lenses for when users are at your business’s location – this works very well for stores and restaurants.

On the other hand, the AR lens will completely transform your entire look and surroundings! For example, as a brand, you could use this lens to create a 3D replica of your product and add it in people’s surroundings so that they can see how it would fit with their real-life surroundings. Or, if you’re a clothing brand, you could add replicas of your clothes in the app and encourage users try the AR lens to dress with your clothes – it’s like virtually trying clothes on!

Less brands use Snapchat for social media campaigns when compared to other platforms because there is a smaller user base than Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube, but this can also be an opportunity for you to entice the existing audience if your competitors are not yet on the platform. To help boost your campaign you can also make use of in-app ads: collection ads allow users to shop your products in-app, paid lenses and filters can be advertised directly to your target audience, story ads provide full-screen advertisement in the form of images or videos that encourage users to click on externals links, and commercials are short non-skippable ads as part of Snapchat’s curated content which are great for building brand awareness and reaching new audiences.

Have you ever used Snapchat? If so, what brand campaigns have you noticed on the platform?