the ultimate snapchat howto guide for brands, employers ... · guide for brands, employers, and...
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The Ultimate Snapchat HowTo Guide for Brands, Employers, and Colleges
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Why us? Why Snapchat? Welcome to our Snapchat guide! I’m Emily Miethner, CEO & Founder of MCG Social & FindSpark.com. MCG Social & FindSpark.com are run by a team that’s passionate about empowering people to achieve their goals. I started FindSpark and MCG Social back when Twitter was still mostly about what you had for lunch and Instagram had just launched. Since then, our team has capitalized on the amazing power of social media to create FindSpark.com, an engaged online/offline career community for millennials, and used what we’ve learned to power our sister agency MCG Social, dedicated to working with brands to engage and understand millennials. We know how important it is to stay on top of social media tools and trends, and we also realize doing so can be overwhelming for many of our clients, which is where we come in. We help brands, employers, and higher education professionals create and execute strategies to engage with millennials, which includes strategies on how to utilize Snapchat. The purpose of this guide is to give you a better understanding of — and my real hope, to get you truly excited about — how Snapchat can become a part of your business strategies. The app has gotten a reputation for not being intuitive. Remember, mastering anything new can be daunting, but learning how to use Snapchat will be worthwhile. Don’t stress: by the end of this guide, you’ll be Snapchat savvy enough to get started. I’m an educator at heart, so putting this together has been fun and rewarding. As a soughtout millennial expert and thought leader, I’ve also shared our insights in The New York Times, Glamour, U.S. News, Fast Company, SELF Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. After working as an adjunct professor, teaching career courses since 2014 and as an experienced, awardwinning professional speaker, my goal is always to bring content to our audiences in a fun, relatable, and actionable way. To find out why companies like HBO, L’Oreal, Blue Apron, Marymount Manhattan College, NYUSPS, Nazareth College, St. John’s University, Sarah Lawrence College, Showtime, Credit Karma, and Wix.com love working with us, contact us at [email protected] or call 646.543.9823. Sincerely,
Emily Miethner CEO & Founder, FindSpark & MCG Social Connect with me: LinkedIn | Twitter
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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About FindSpark
FindSpark is an online/offline career community of 20,000+ millennials. We've produced 250+ programs since 2011 and our members rep 500+ colleges and universities. We work with higher ed partners to bring our resources to their students and alumni, and with employers interested in connecting with our community to enhance their pipeline, recruiting, diversity, and employer branding initiatives.
Learn more: findspark.com
About MCG Social
MCG Social, FindSpark's sister agency, works with brands and companies that want to engage and better understand millennials by creating campaigns that engage, inspire, and educate.
Learn more: mcgsocial.me
Follow us by searching “FindSpark” or take a screenshot of our code and add by Snapcode!
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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Table of Contents
Why You Should be on Snapchat Reasons Not to be On Snapchat
The Basics Signing Up Getting People to Add You on Snapchat Adding Friends
What to Post on Snapchat Content Ideas
How to Post on Snapchat Taking a Photo or Video Adding Snaps to Your Story vs. Sending to Friends
Customizing Your Photos and Videos Text Adding Emojis Making Emojis “Stick” onto Objects in Video Drawing Filters
How to Tell a Good Snap Story Sample Snap Stories Inspiration
OnDemand GeoFilters (Paid Advertising) How People Will Find Your Custom OnDemand GeoFilter Reasons to Buy a Custom OnDemand GeoFilter How to Create Your Custom OnDemand GeoFilter
Metrics Viewing Who Is Seeing Your Story
Other Useful Information Saving Your Photo or Video to Your Camera Roll Saving Your Story to Your Camera Roll Deleting Snaps Watching Your Friend’s Stories Discover Tab Live Tab
Final Thoughts on Snapchat
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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Why You Should be on Snapchat Snapchat burst onto the social media scene in 2011 and since then has amassed 100 million daily users. According to Snapchat’s advertising page, over 60% of American smartphone users ages 13–34 are Snapchatters. Why should you be on Snapchat? The same reason you “should be on” any platform — your employees, customers, and students are there — so you should be, too. Here’s another fun fact: there are 10+ billion video views on Snapchat every day. If standing out amongst all that content seems overwhelming, don’t fret. Users only see snaps from people they are following — there’s no suggestion of other content or accounts to follow, no ads mixed, or distracting “trending” areas. Once you give people good reason to follow you and they do (more on that later), it will be easier to get engagement (views) from those followers compared to other platforms. Through FindSpark and our sister agency, MCG Social, we help brands, employers, and higher education professionals learn about and engage with millennials, which includes strategies on how to utilize Snapchat. A Few Reasons We Love & Are Excited About Snapchat
It’s not crowded with brands yet. Everyday you hesitate to get involved is a missed opportunity. No one, other than you, sees how many views your snaps get or how many followers you have. That means you
can focus on quality over quantity and not on “vanity” metrics. It’s supposed to be raw, real, and not overproduced — which in some ways makes things easier!
We surveyed FindSpark community members — the average age being 22 — about their thoughts on Snapchat, and 60% said they check Snapchat 20+ times a day. That’s a lot of eyeball time up for grabs. When asked for words to describe the type of Snaps they want to see from brands, the majority of respondents mentioned a variation of either genuine or humor; including “goofy,” “LOL,” “human,” and “improvised.” Since Snapchat is one of the most popular apps used by millennials, we’ve created this indepth guide to share everything you need to know about Snapchat, from how to do one of those damn faceswaps you keep seeing everywhere to creating a custom GeoFilter to how to actually get people to follow you on Snapchat. Important Facts to Know about How Snapchat Works
You can share photos and videos, with or without sound. Each Snap can be up to 10 seconds long. You can only post content in real time. Snaps are viewable for 24 hours if added to your story, or up to 10 seconds (after opening) when sent to
individuals. What You Should Do with Snapchat
Show behind the scenes access into a dayinthelife at your company or on campus. Engage on a more personal level with your community. Create a twoway channel that allows and encourages your followers to direct message you. Focus on your super users in a real time, handson way. Be lighthearted and share useful, relatable content. Give your brand/company/campus a face by showing your team.
What You Shouldn’t Do with Snapchat
Don’t use it to simply advertise your product. You should still show off what you have to offer, but make sure you’re doing it in a way that utilizes what’s special about the platform.
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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Snapchat is not meant to be a bunch of shorter, chopped up videos. Don’t record an entire speech or concert,
etc. Give your followers a small taste of what you’re seeing and move on.
Reasons Not to be On Snapchat Snapchat isn’t for everybody (and that’s okay). You don’t need to have a Snapchat account to be successful on social media, but we believe it’s important to understand the potential of the platform as it grows in popularity. You should always have a specific reason and goals for every social platform you’re spending resources investing in.
Snapchat may not be right for you if:
You're Not Ready To Put in the Time: Though Snapchat only sends out 10 seconds of content, it takes time to fill those seconds with great content. Additionally, nothing can be scheduled, so it’s all handson and in the moment.
You don't have someone who uses it personally on your team to run it: If you don’t have a Snapchat savvy team member, it may not be worth having Snapchat. If no one on your staff uses Snapchat for their personal life, it’s unlikely you’ll deliver the fun, relatable content that Snapchat users look for.
You aren't willing to promote Snapchat through other channels: If you want to grow your following, you have to be willing to post about the fact that you’re on Snapchat on your other channels. If for some reason that’s not something you’re willing to do, you might get frustrated by lack of growth or success.
You’re not good at digestible content: Snapchat content is simple and creative. You have to be willing to break down your content — think short, fun, and effective.
You have no interest in reaching 1834 year olds: If you target people over 35, you might not want to invest your time or resources into Snapchat yet, since your audience (mostly) isn’t using Snapchat.
You want direct ways to send people to your website or content: There is no way to link to anything on Snapchat. You can write links in as text or draw them out, which your followers can screenshot, but that’s it. There’s not even a space for a link in your bio. There actually isn’t even a bio space.
You're only interested in platforms that let you schedule content: There is no way to preschedule Snapchat content into the future. You can and should certainly plan what type of content you’ll post, but you can’t schedule posts they way you can with Facebook, Twitter, or other social media platforms.
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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The Basics
Signing Up If you already have an account, you can skip this step.
1. Download the app by searching “Snapchat” in the Google Play or iOS store (it’s a free app).
2. Sign up with your email and phone number (they won’t call you, it’s for address book purposes) .
3. Put in your birthday.
An Overview of Snapchat Friends (Followers) Snapchat is a unique social media platform in that it’s essentially impossible to get found by people based on your activity. The only way people will follow you is if they:
Search your username Add you from their address book Scan your Snap code Visit your Snapchat add link
You don’t show up on the feeds of your friends’ friends because there’s no way for your friends to engage with you in a public way. For instance, on Instagram, I might find your profile because my friend commented. There’s no “people you may know” feature like on Facebook, or “related accounts” that pop up, like on Twitter. There are no hashtags — your content is not searchable in any way. Getting friends is different than on other platforms because you can’t search user content to find people. For instance, on Instagram, you can search for people using hashtags, engage with them, and hope they follow back. There’s no way for you to do that sort of thing to get followers on Snapchat. What can you do to get followers? This brings us to our next section: how to get people to add you as a friend on Snapchat.
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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Getting People to Add You on Snapchat As you share that you’re on Snapchat, be sure to give people an idea of what you’ll post. Will it be behind the scenes content? Takeovers by people in your community? Tips from your team? Funny antics?
There are a variety of ways to encourage people to add you and to just make sure they’re aware you’re on Snapchat. Here are some of our favorite methods:
Change your social media profile photos to your Snapchat code. Post your snaps and snap code on your other social media channels Put your username in other social media profile bios. Share your “Add on Snapchat” link: snapchat.com/add/findspark. Create signage at events with your Snapchat code. Make stickers featuring your Snapcode. Visit this link for your highres Snapcode:
accounts.Snapchat.com/accounts/snapcodes. Screen shot your snaps or download videos and share those on your other social media accounts. Change your snap code icon into an animated gif of yourself so that people can see your logo or brand. Promote what you’re doing in the future on Snapchat on Snapchat. Have “Takeovers” and ask those people to share with their networks.
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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Livestream Takeover
See full tweet
360i Takeover
See full tweet
360i Takeover
See full tweet
Tweet About Takeover
See full tweet
Tweet from Conference
See full tweet
When people takeover your account, encourage them to change your profile GIF to themselves, so your followers know there’s something
different happening.
Pictured: profile GIF of FindSpark Community member during takeover.
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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Adding Friends You can access the "Find Friends" page by swiping down on the ghost that appears at the top of the screen. It’s also a place to view your current friends. When you first make your account, a screen will pop up telling you to view “My Friends.” After that, though, you will have to view and add your friends by tapping the ghost on the top of the screen. To add friends, tap the plus sign next to their name. The plus sign will turn purple once they’ve been added. You’ll get a notification when people add you back. You can tell who your new followers are because a yellow baby face will show up next to their username (but it will disappear once you have been friends for 78 hours). You can add people by their username, address book, or snap code:
1. Username: A username is only searchable if you know exactly what it is, so make sure to double check with
friends or brands (like FindSpark) to make sure you’re following the correct account.
2. Address book: Snapchat uses phone numbers from your device's address book to help you find friends and will tell you which friends already have Snapchat. Tap "OK" when a notification pops up that reads “Snapchat would like to access your contacts.” This is optional. If you don’t want to add your contacts from your personal address book, you can push “not allow.” There is a chance to add contacts later if you change your mind. If you do choose to add your contacts, you don’t have to auto add everyone. You can go through and pick contacts you want to follow.
3. Snap code: The Snapchat Snap code is a unique code (like a barcode) given to every user. You can add someone via snap code by taking a picture of the code on your Snapchat camera. After you capture the photo, an “add friend” button will pop up on the screen. You can also screenshot a snap code.
Before scanning and adding
After scanning and adding
You can see how each person adds you
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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What to Post on Snapchat The best thing about Snapchat is that none of the content is scheduled in advance. People follow brands on Snapchat to see their realtime updates. Being genuine is key.
Content Ideas Here are a few examples of fun things you can post throughout the day:
Behind the scenes at events Interviews with your students/users/employees Testimonials from your users/students Fun content related to your industry Spotlight your partners Team lunches Tips from your team Tidbits of meetings Photos of your office Tips relating to your brand Showcasing your products in fun ways
Hot tip: post continuously throughout the day when you can. Snaps appear in chronological order, so if you stagger your snaps, you’ll continue to appear at the top of the user’s feed.
See full tweet
One of our longtime partners, Wix.com,
gets shoutouts at all of our events through Snapchat.
Want help understanding and ideating what to post on Snapchat?
Contact us to learn more about how we increased the average views per snap on the FindSpark Snapchat by 450% in 8 weeks: [email protected]
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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How to Post on Snapchat
Taking a Photo or Video
1. Snapchat automatically activates your phone's camera.
2. To adjust the focus of the camera, tap anywhere on the screen.
3. Tap the camera icon in the top righthand corner to switch from rear
camera to front camera. When it’s on selfie mode, the camera icon will
have a little smiley face inside.
4. Tap the lightning symbol at the topleft corner to turn the flash on and
off.
5. To take a photo, tap the circle at the bottom of the screen.
6. To record a video, tap and hold the circle at the bottom of the screen.
You can record videos up to 10 seconds long.
Changing How Long Photos Will Appear
1. Photos on Snapchat can last for up to 10 seconds.
2. Tap the clock symbol to adjust the length of time the photo appears at the
bottom left corner of the screen.
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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Adding Snaps to Your Story vs. Sending to Friends You have three options when it comes to sharing your snaps:
1. Send snaps to specific friends by selecting them one at a time, where they will see it for the allotted time and then it will disappear forever
2. Add snaps to your story, where they will be viewable by anyone who added you for 24 hours. In order to make sure everyone who adds you can see your story, go to settings and make your story public to “everyone.” That way, even if you don’t add them back, they can see what you posted. This is similar to how you can make a post public on facebook, which anyone can see, regardless of if you’ve added or accepted them as a friend.
3. Add snaps to your story along with sending the snaps to specific friends.
When Snapchat started, you could only send your snaps to individuals. Launched in 2013, Snapchat stories became a way for people and brands to share their snaps with all their friends at once, where they “build up” to create a narrative. There are no business accounts on Snapchat, so it’s all very personal but you can create your own professional narrative depending on your company or brand. As a company, you should send your snaps to your story so everyone can see them. Why would you want to send snaps to individuals? If you know your followers by account name, for instance, superusers, there might be times when you want to send them a unique message or snap. Sending snaps to your story and individuals is a great idea, because sending snaps to individuals is comparable to texting. Most people will get a notification when they receive a snap, and are extremely likely to open them. Sending to specific people basically means they will open your snaps!
Hit the arrow Select just your story, and/or specific people Example of a snap sent to FindSpark by a friend!
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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Customizing Your Photos and Videos Snapchat users are looking for fun, quick content. There are plenty of tools and features you can use to enhance your photos, add some silliness, and also add information like written tips. Participants in our Snapchat survey said that the main reason they add brands on Snapchat is to see authentic, live content. Additionally, they said they would be more likely to watch a brand’s story if it was humorous.
Text
1. To type captions on your photos or videos, take your photo or video and tap on it to make the black bar appear
on the screen.
2. At the top of the screen, you will see a box, a “T” button, and a pen symbol.
3. Once you’ve typed your text, press the “T” two more times to enlarge and center the text.
4. Press the “T” one more time to put the text back to the black bar.
5. To remove text, highlight all the text you’ve written and delete.
6. Move the black bar anywhere over your video or picture by swiping up and down.
7. If the text is “freeform mode,” you can shrink or enlarge the text even by using two fingers to “pinch” it.
8. If you press on the text when it’s enlarged, you can change the color of it by pressing the “pen” symbol that is on
the right of the “T.”
9. To change the color of the text, swipe and press down on the color gradient.
10. You can ONLY change the color of the text when it’s enlarged.
Note, you can only add one box of text and up to three lines of text within that one box. You can also add emojis
in the text field and they will enlarge along with the text.
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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The three text style options
Black bar Freeform left Freeform center
Combo of text, emoji, and doodling
Classic aspirational content
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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Adding Emojis 1. The little square symbol to the left of the “T” will bring up a list of emojis.
2. You can pick and choose an unlimited amount of emojis to place over your photo or video.
3. You can enlarge or shrink emojis in the same way you would with enlarged text.
Making Emojis “Stick” onto Objects in Video
You can now “glue” emojis to an object within a video so that they move along with the object and aren’t static.
If the person/object goes out of the frame, that emoji will stay with that person/object.
Watch examples of what we mean in action here and here.
1. Take your video 2. Tap the square emoji icon 3. Select the emoji you want to glue into
the video 4. When the video gets to the point or
object to which you want to glue the emoji, hold down on the emoji and release
5. Don’t like where it landed? Hold down on it to move it to a new spot
6. You can add an unlimited amount of emojis into videos this way
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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Drawing
1. The pen symbol changes the color of text when in freeform mode and enables you to draw on photos or videos.
2. Switch colors by swiping up or down on the gradient. SECRET TIP: Hold down and continue dragging your
finger to the bottom right of the screen for black, and top left for white.
3. To stop drawing, tap the pen symbol until it’s no longer highlighted.
4. Get a stylus (a special pen with a tip you can use on screens) to make drawing and doodling easier.
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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Filters
General Filters
1. Swipe left on your photo or video.
2. General filters include: photo enhancing, time, speed (how fast
you’re moving), temperature.
3. If you’re sending out a video, you can also speed up or slow down
the video.
4. To use more than one filter on your photo or video, hold down on
the screen with one hand and swipe with the other.
5. You can use up to three filters on one photo or video.
Snapchat Lenses
1. Tap and hold down on your face when in selfie mode (or on someone else’s face in regular camera mode).
2. The camera will recognize your face by placing a face grid over it.
3. Options will appear at the bottom of the screen once it recognizes your face.
4. Scroll through the Snapchat lense options, which change daily.
5. You can transform your face into different animals or people, face swap with others, and more.
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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Geofilters
1. Geofilters are specialized filters that appear depending on your location. Many are neighborhood based.
2. You can add one Geofilter per photo/video (you can add up to two filters to your photo or video).
3. More on how to create your own Geofilter as a brand coming up (which is something we can advise you on!).
4. Below are examples of custom paid Geofilters created by FindSpark for events and campaigns.
Video Filters:
Video filters give you the option to speed up, slow down, or super speed up your video (which will also speed up
or slow down any sound in the video)
You can overlay other filters on top of the speed adjustment filters.
If you are playing music on your phone (with or without headphones) while you record a video, the music will
record as background music (and will also speed up or slow down if you use the speed filters).
How to Tell a Good Snap Story
The phrase “Snap story” means a series of snaps that are connected to form a narrative. Storytelling is one of the most critical elements of social media in general, and it’s no different for Snapchat. Your snap stories should have a beginning, middle, and end. When using Snapchat at big events, it's a good idea to outline the type of snaps you want to get — go in with a plan. It can be as simple as:
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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Outline for Snap story at an event
Intro from event host 2 quotes from each speaker throughout panel Testimonial from attendee Shot of mingling Testimonial from speaker Outro from event host
This outline would give you around 1015 snaps, which is a good number for an event lasting 24 hours. Introducing the story What are you about to show your followers? Give an overview of the event, who you are, and what sort of day or event you have planned. The middle of the story What's happening? How can viewers get value and entertainment, and not just an enormous sense of FOMO (fear of missing out)? For instance, when we use Snapchat at FindSpark events we include actionable tips from our speakers instead of videos that are like: "you're missing out because you’re not here” (though that’s inferred). At an event like Hustle Summit, our major recruitment event, we show off our employers through Snapchat to give people who aren't there information on who's on the team and what roles they offer. The end of the story It's always nice to have an ending with a final tip or call to action when you know you're done for the day. When our FindSpark employers do Snapchat takeovers, they end with their own social media handles so viewers can continue to follow them and get in touch. To close events, we'll include a couple of big takeaways and usually close with someone saying "thanks for watching!"
Sample Snap Stories Story Concept: Highlight your community and success stories Watch the full story here: youtu.be/FDM_V_yAq5E.
Carly, a long time FindSpark Community member, (she’s attended many events, landed jobs through our job board, was a FindSpark Campus Ambassador, and credits landing her first fulltime job at Livestream to what she learned through FindSpark), took over our Snapchat to give our followers behindthescenes access to Livestream (one of our FindSpark employer partners). The story includes humor, inspiration, highlights other Livestream employees, and lets viewers connect with a FindSpark success story in an "I can do this, too" way.
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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Story Concept: Show off your partners and clients Watch the full story here: youtu.be/xgFYcZJnTRQ.
FindSpark connects employers to our community, both online and offline. Employers partners receive digital exposure throughout the year, including the opportunity to takeover our Snapchat account. Ryan of 360i, also a FindSpark mentor, took over our account with the help of Jisu, a longtime FindSpark member. Their takeover showed off different departments, team members, awards, clients and gadgets.
Message from a FindSpark member after seeing the 360i FindSpark Snapchat takeover
Snapchat Story: Let your community see what a regular day is like Watch the full story here: youtu.be/jMwJM9Hq8iw.
Our CEO Emily Miethner “takes over” our Snapchat whenever she attends an interesting talk, meeting, or event. This snap story followers her as she meets with a FindSpark advisor, attends portfolio night for her graduating School of Visual Arts students (yes, she’s an adjunct professor!), and views a special exhibit at the Whitney. The story aligns with the FindSpark brand as it gives viewers access to a New York institution as well as insight into the day of our founder. It’s also an example of how to snap multiple events without making the story too long.
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
Want to better engage and understand millennials? Contact us: [email protected] Share this guide on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
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Snapchat Story Concept: Give access to an event to those who aren’t there Watch the full story here: youtu.be/xsnkOLEtR9Q.
Snapchat offers behindthescenes access to events for people who can’t attend. We snap all of our FindSpark events, providing value to viewers by snapping tips from speakers and highlighting attendees. It’s also another channel to add value to our partnerships by connecting them to our snapchat audience as well.
Snapchat Story: Let people see what you have to offer Watch the full story here: youtu.be/gloMSWHPlj8. Our CEO Emily Miethner is an awardwinning professional speaker; visiting campuses across the country inspiring young pros with actionable, fun career advice, in addition to speaking at events and to companies as a millennial expert. Snapping her speaking engagements allows our community members to know we offer that service and gives a preview of what to expect should you hire her. It’s also an opportunity to snap quick testimonials to then share with clients.
Watch our full playlist of Snapchat story examples and more here.
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
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Inspiration
Here are some of our favorite brands, employers, and colleges that are creating fun and interesting Snapchat content.
Birchbox: The monthly makeup and skincare subscription company does great things on Snapchat. Because they are focused primarily on beauty and skincare, their snap story is often filled with fun
makeup tutorials, hairstyling tips, and wellknown makeup artists and skin care representatives
presenting their favorite beauty routines.
The New School: If you’re looking to see the inside world of liberal creatives, fashion designers, writers, and philosophers of all sorts, follow the New School snap story. It’s a great way to see behind the scenes
of New York college living with a special, artistic touch. Most of the time, the snap story will show different
fashion galas, poetry readings, film screenings, etc. They’re doing a great job of showing off the university
in a fun, creative, and tasteful way.
Mashable: Mashable has a great snap presence where they snap hot new tech gadgets, travel tips, celebrity news, etc. However, they do it in a very personable way. Usually, employees will take over and
speak to the camera as if their audience is in the room with them.
Princeton University: Princeton uses traditional storytelling tactics to give actionable tips to their followers. Usually, every story is planned ahead via a storyboard and usually follows a common theme.
For example, on Earth Day, they had a *superhero* named “Do it in the Dark Dan” (a student wearing a
Princeton crest as a cape) giving tips on how to conserve energy. They are a great example of how you
can plan your snap stories ahead of time in order to actually create an interesting and relatable story.
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
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FindSpark: Findspark emphasizes the beauty of humor and creativity on our Snapchat. We are always
trying to find new ways to give insightful, proactive tips about the professional world. Sometimes, we put
faces on inanimate objects or draw in our coworkers when we have to eat lunch alone. Other times, we
give insightful tips like how to get noticed online or how to make your LinkedIn the best that it can be.
Mixing humor and information is a great way for our community members to get to know us on a more
personal level.
The White House: Obama is the first sitting President to have his own Twitter and Facebook page so of course he is also the first to have a Snapchat. If you want to see all the happenings of The White House,
following on Snapchat is a great way to do it. Often, Obama himself will snap the lunch he’s having or
Michelle will show you her vegetable garden. When they’re not snapping, other White House workers
snap exciting things going on in D.C.
Sour Patch Kids: Sour Patch Kids does an amazing job of advertising their product in a fun way. They always create stories with their candy, showing little sour patch “kids” reeking havoc on the office or on
the world. It makes the candy come alive (sometimes literally) and is a great example of how a brand can
advertise on Snapchat. This snap takeover got an insane amount of impressions, with nearly 36,00
screenshots and over 1,000 mentions of it on other social platforms.
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
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OnDemand GeoFilters (Paid Advertising) In 2016, Snapchat launched custom ondemand GeoFilters. Anyone can design a filter — businesses (“ondemand
geofilters”) and “regular” people (“community geofilters”) alike. You don’t need to have an active account on Snapchat to
purchase and create a GeoFilter, but you do have to have an account. Users do not see any connection to the account
that purchases the GeoFilter.
Ondemand filters allow the use of brand names and logos, but you cannot include contact information, usernames, or
hashtags in the design. Additionally, because of Snapchat lenses, you can no longer create geofilters to look like props
or clothing items since they would be too similar to lenses.
Watch our Grad GeoFilter in use here.
Currently, Snapchat GeoFilters are affordable. For example, FindSpark had a Snapchat GeoFilter at our conference,
Career Groundbreakers. To have the filter appear for anyone in the one building we were in for 9 hours, the cost was
about $25 dollars.
The cost of the filter depends on the length of time the GeoFilter is available and how big the area is in which you want
the Geofilter to be available. Make sure you submit your GeoFilter requests at least 12 24 hours in advance so you
leave time for them to be approved.
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
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Area our custom ondemand geofilter was available and metrics from Career Groundbreakers
How People Will Find Your Custom OnDemand GeoFilter
Attendees of your event will be able to find your geofilter by swiping through the geofilter options after they’ve taken a
photo or video. It’s a habit for most snap users to scroll through to see what filters are available whenever they take a
new snap.
Because your geofilter is customized, users will be more excited to use it since it’s one they’ve never seen before.
Note: this type of marketing is great for brand awareness, but not hard selling. There are no links or clicks that can be
tracked, but you will get stats on how many times your filter was used, and how many times it was viewed. People do
also have the ability to save and screenshot their snaps, and can then share those images to other platforms.
Reasons to Buy a Custom OnDemand GeoFilter
You are hosting a conference or large event like a launch party
There is a company gathering, such as allhands meetings, volunteer days, or holiday parties
At college campus events like festivals, orientations, and admitted students days
There are large concentrations of people you want to reach are in one location
Want help creating, promoting, and deciding when to use OnDemand Snapchat GeoFilters?
Contact us to learn more about how our first custom Snapchat Geofilter campaign received 1,500+ uses and 100,000+ views: [email protected]
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
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How to Create Your Custom OnDemand GeoFilter
1. To get started, visit
geofilters.Snapchat.com/purchase/uploadasset
2. Download the Snapchat design files here.
3. Choose the area where you’d like to see the filter and the
date and length of time you want it to be an option. The
price is dependant on the size of the area and for how long
you want the filter to be available.
4. Submit the filter at least 48 hours before you want the filter
to be available, as it has to be approved by Snapchat.
See full tweet
Metrics Right now, there is no fancy “insights” backend on Snapchat. Snapchat gives you two numbers: how many people view each snap and your “Snap score.” You can check your snap score by pressing the ghost emoji on the main screen. The score will be underneath your snap code. That number goes up depending on how often you snap and how often people snap you directly. You can check metrics on an ondemand geofilters as well. As far as engagement goes, you can’t comment on someone’s snaps, so you can’t record that sort of engagement. Snapchat’s version of a “comment” is their ability to chat you directly from your snap story. It will show up as a direct message but will show you exactly what it is they are commenting on. However, no one can see that but you.
Example replies to FindSpark snaps
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
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Viewing Who Is Seeing Your Story 1. Press the three horizontal dots on the right hand side, next to where it says: “My Story.”
2. On the right side of each snap you’ll see a purple eye with the number of people who have viewed that snap.
3. To see names of your snap viewers, tap on the eye.
4. If anyone has taken a screenshot of a snap, a green number will appear under the purple eye.
5. To see who took the screenshot, look for any names in green.
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Other Useful Information
Saving Your Photo or Video to Your Camera Roll Why this matters: Even though things you post on Snapchat don’t last forever, saving your story is a great way to advertise what you’ve posted on Snapchat on your other social channels – which will drive more people to follow you. Additionally, saving your story is a great way to show people what you’ve done in the past and is also good for internal marketing so your employees can see an example of your voice and rhythm.
1. If you want to save your photo/video before you send, tap the
arrow on the lower right side.
2. The photo/video will automatically be saved to your camera roll.
3. If you’re planning on posting your photo or video to your story
(explained below) you can save your work to your camera roll
later if you don’t want to do it now.
4. If you’re only sending the snap to a friend, remember to save
before sending, because if it’s not in your story it will disappear
after 10 seconds.
Saving Your Story to Your Camera Roll
1. Press the three horizontal dots on the
right hand side, next to where it says,
“Your Story.”
2. Everything you’ve posted for that day
will show up.
3. To save the entire story, press the
large down arrow.
4. Your entire story will save in the form
of one video.
5. To save snaps individually, press the
down arrow on the individual panels.
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
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Deleting Snaps
1. Press the three horizontal dots on the
right hand side, next to where it says,
“Your Story.”
2. Everything you’ve posted for that day
will show up.
3. To delete snaps, press on the eye next
to the snap you want to delete.
4. At the top of the screen, press the
trash icon.
5. You have to delete snaps one by one,
you cannot delete an entire story at
once.
6. To get “out” of that screen, swipe from
the middle top down.
Watching Your Friend’s Stories Why this matters: Watching your friend’s stories is a great way to see what the people you follow are up to. However, as a professional Snapchater, it may be wise not to watch other stories so that you don’t risk the chance of seeing something your followers would rather you didn’t see. As an employer or brand, it’s good to only watch the stories of friends that you know wouldn’t mind you watching or of other brands for content ideas.
Underneath your story will be a headline that reads “Recent Updates.”
All of your friends who have posted stories that day that you haven’t watched will be there.
Tap on a friend’s name to view.
To skip through the story, lightly tap the screen.
To stop viewing the story, swipe down to the left.
Snapchat has a new update that autoplays all your friend’s stories one after the other. If you only want to watch
one specific story, you have to swipe out.
To rewatch someone’s story, scroll down past recent updates to “All Stories.”
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Discover Tab Why this matters: This is a great way to see what sponsored Snapchats are doing. Though it is more curated content than genuine, it’s still a good way to get ideas. This content is curated beforehand and isn’t in real time. This is different than a regular story because it is paid for and is prescheduled.
1. You will see “Discover” underneath “My Story.”
2. This is a tab for brands who are in partnership with Snapchat.
3. They post daily content or more curated “stories.”
4. You can view and swipe out of this like you would a friend’s story.
5. To reach the discovery tab in a another way, swipe left on the screen that
features your story and everyone else’s stories.
Live Tab Why this matters: The live tab is when certain cities or event post snaps from hundreds of different people as they are happened. Though watching “Live” may not benefit your brand, if you’re posting to live, it’s good to watch to see if your snap made it on the story. If you make it on the live story, it’s a great way to get your brand/company noticed by others who do not follow you. There is no real way to know if you’re going to get on the live story. The best chance you have is by making your snap extra creative and hoping that the person approving the snaps will think you’re creative, too.
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1. Snapchat posts live views of certain cities and events.
2. You view and exit these like you would a regular story.
3. Snapchat does not post everything that is submitted to “live.”
Snapchat Messenger
Why this matters: Often times your followers might chat you if they have a question about an event or a comment on
something you’ve posted.
You can message your friends in one of three ways:
1. Swiping left on the camera screen and then swiping left on a person you recently snapped.
2. Tapping the chat box on the top left corner of the same screen.
3. Swiping up when viewing your friend’s story until a text cursor appears that says “type here.”
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If you get a message, swipe left on the message instead of tapping to open like you would a photo/video.
Messages you send will disappear after you close them unless you tap them to “save.”
To take a picture that will go into messenger, press the circle in the bottom middle of the chat screen.
To send them a picture from your camera roll, press the photograph icon on the bottom left corner of the chat
screen.
To send them fun stickers and emojis, press the smiley face on the bottom right corner of the screen and scroll
down for the sticker you’d like to use.
If your friend is online and viewing the chat in real time, a blue and yellow smiley face will appear in the bottom
left of the screen
Snapchat Video Chat
1. Tap the little chat box.
2. Type the name of person you want to videochat with.
3. Press the video icon on the bottom right of the screen.
4. If you want to use Snapchat audio, press the telephone icon on the bottom left of the screen.
5. If your friend is also viewing the chat, a blue and yellow smiley face will appear in the bottom left of the screen.
6. If your friend is not available to chat, you can leave them a 10 second video or audio message.
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
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Final Thoughts on Snapchat
With this guide, you now have the tools, examples, and knowledge you need to decide how you can integrate Snapchat
into your marketing and community strategy — to strengthen existing relationships and create new ones.
The power and potential of Snapchat can’t be ignored. The longer you wait to start experimenting and developing a
strategy, the more you’ll miss out on opportunities to authentically engage with followers before the platform is crowded
with brands and advertisements.
Starting anything new isn’t easy. Know that we’re here to serve as consultants, guides, and partners. If you’d like to learn more about how you can work with our teams to take your Snapchat strategy to the next level — or to get it started, contact us at [email protected] or call 646.543.9823.
The most important thing is that you got started, so props to you. You rock. See you on Snapchat,
Emily Miethner CEO & Founder, FindSpark & MCG Social Connect with me: LinkedIn | Twitter
Follow us by searching “FindSpark” or take a screenshot of our code and add by Snapcode!
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
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Want to better engage and understand millennials? Want more guidance on how to take advantage of Snapchat?
Contact us! [email protected] Did you find this guide helpful? Share on social media: Post this guide to: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook About FindSpark
FindSpark is an online/offline career community of 20,000+ millennials. We've produced 250+ programs since 2011 and our members rep 500+ colleges and universities. We work with higher ed partners to bring our resources to their students and alumni, and with employers interested in connecting with our community to enhance their pipeline, recruiting, diversity, and employer branding initiatives.
Learn more: findspark.com
About MCG Social
MCG Social, FindSpark's sister agency, works with brands and companies that want to engage and better understand millennials by creating campaigns that engage, inspire, and educate.
Learn more: mcgsocial.me
Version 5/20/2016
The Ultimate Snapchat Guide for Brands, Employers, & Colleges by MCG Social & FindSpark.com: mcgsocial.me/snapchat
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