Both articles have been reprinted in special arrangement with SDAsia
Some people have turned into Snapchat celebrities since they followed by so many users. Their recognition of brands and agencies get loads of attraction. For example, Shaun McBride is such a Snapchat icon, familiarised by many brands, social media celebrities and agencies. He has promoted brands like Disney, AT&T, Samsung, Taco Bell, Red Bull and Major League Soccer. McBride said he can retain the attraction of his more than 500,000 followers and deliver these branded contents. Here are some suggestions from McBride about how companies can boost their brands with this Snapchat evolution.Find your brand’s creative edgeAccording to McBride, Snapchat works best for companies that have a message to share. If the company is looking for downloads or focused on moving customers to their website, Snapchat won’t definitely be their best choice. He suggested showcasing a brand in a unique manner to get the user (customer) attraction on their Snapchat story. He creates his story’s uniqueness by crazy adventure, concerts or meet-ups with popular celebrities. “Tell the story of your brand by posting content from environments that represent it,” McBride says.Be natural, and don’t over-advertiseSnapchat has the options that users can simply swipe down or tap through stories. For this, you need to make sure your stories and content are interesting enough to grab the attention of the users. There are many emojis, filters and you need to use them and be creative with them. So much content is posted every day and of course, quite a lot of them are unique. It’s your responsibility to engage your audience by creating interesting stories that would carry your messages. The stories won’t help if it’s just interesting; they also need to be natural. Artificiality in your stories won’t hold your audience much longer. When asked about how McBride has been producing natural and engaging content for so long he said, “I’m using the camera in a unique way. I just have to do these creative things, and keep the content fresh so people keep enjoying it. It’s kind of a win-win.”Find the right spokesperson to represent your brand on SnapchatTo represent your brand, you need to choose the right person who has an engaged audience and knows how to best use the app. Lots of celebrities or music stars are using the app and have lots of followers. But they might not know how to optimise the app and use it in the best possible way. They need to show the connection with the brand and the products or your audience won’t be able to connect with it. McBride said, “Whether it’s an agency or an individual, knowing what to post is vital. If your plan is just to post a behind-the-scene tour of your warehouse, you’ll need to rethink your strategy.”Increase user engagement by replying to snapsSnapchat is an amazing app to drive audience engagement whose stories and videos can be replayed for up to 24hours. Now with the introduction of story replies, marketers can now collect feedbacks from their snaps. This is a very important and helpful way to measure the success of the campaign. “I snap my fans back. I open their Snaps, and I include them in my story. I give them free stuff when I do. I call it “Free Stuff Fridays',” McBride says. “So my audience responds very well.”
