Everything You Need to Know About Snapchat Branding

Snap. Snap. “Follow me on Snapchat for more!”

There are over 191 million active users on Snapchat, and some of those users are creating a serious impact.

Oh, they’re making bank, too.

How can you become one of the money-making influencers taking advantage of this massive platform? By powerful and effective Snapchat branding.

If you want to stand out from the crowd and start growing your Snapchat empire, here’s what you need to do.

You Are Your Brand

Marketing to a niche audience on Snapchat requires you to think outside the box of ‘what’s best.’ You’ll need to get personal, not be perfect.

What’s your story? What unique relatability do you have that makes you interesting?

Remember, your audience is consuming a ton of content every single day. You will make your content pop by being unapologetically you in your brand.

The way you talk should be the way you would talk to your friends. The captions you write should show your sense of humor.

It’s easy to see what other successful Snapchat brands are doing and attempt to model your brand after them. After all they must be doing something right!

However, the truth is your audience has been there and done that.

They’re looking for something totally different!

No one is you, except you. So, the fastest way to build your brand is to deliver the content they crave, niche yourself down, and build something sustainable.

There are other benefits to branding yourself this way. Beyond just growing your audience, this tactic can:

1. Create a more loyal following

2. Encourage people to share your content

3. Help you grow other platform followings

4. Create a brand you LOVE to share

Nothing is worse than feeling like you’re faking it. This tactic will ensure you are happy with the brand you create.

It will feel more authentic and sustainable when it’s built on who you are.

Get Personalized

Snapchat is more popular than Instagram for younger millennial users.

Ultimately, this is because they’re looking for the most personal experience possible. They’re over the commercialized, mainstream marketing messaging.

They want more … More personalization, more authenticity, and more unique experiences.

How can you provide it for them?

It’ll be important to engage with your audience. Ask their opinions, advice, and desires. Then give them yours, too.

Make your Snapchat a two-way conversation. Your audience will feel more connected to you, and you’ll get more engagement!

Now that’s amazing Snapchat branding.

This is a great way to grow your audience and create a memorable brand. Ask yourself…

• How can I include my audience’s opinion in my decisions for my brand?

• What questions can I ask my audience regularly?

• What ways can I show my audience I value their opinion?

• How can I add value for my audience based on their needs?

Find a Unique Voice

It’s easy to want to keep your content as accessible as possible. This means staying general, so everyone can agree with you.

When it comes to your Snapchat branding however, your opinion matters.

You’ll need to share how you feel about everything, from fashion to politics, in order to find the audience that resonates with your message.

Snapchat branding is about finding people who want to follow you more than anyone else, so you can’t blend in.

Ask yourself:

• What’s trending in the world today?

• What am I passionate about that I can talk about?

• How do I feel about what’s happening right now?

• What things do I have strong opinions about?

Then answer these questions in your Snapchat feed.

Yes, some people will stop following you when you are polarizing, but the people who stay will be more loyal.

They are also more likely to engage with you and share your content with their friends.

Think about it… it makes sense. The most popular influencers use this as a tool regularly.

Even think about the people you follow! They likely have a strong opinion and voice they use to build their Snapchat branding.

Reciprocate the Love

Giving back love is important, whether you’re marketing on Instagram, slaying Facebook, or killing it on Snapchat.

Don’t just dump content and go. Your audience wants to feel like you care about them, too. Watch their snaps, leave comments, and join their conversation.

This goes for when they show love to you, too! Make sure you recognize and address their comments.

Did someone replicate your content? Or mention you? Show them recognition in your Snapchat feed to show you care. Send them a message or drop their name during a video.

As you become more of an influencer, this becomes even more important. Your audience will be more willing to help you grow your Snapchat branding if they know they’re likely to get something in return.

Create an equal value exchange and watch your audience grow.

Be Consistent

Influencer marketing is on the rise across a lot of social platforms and Snapchat is no exception.

What’s going to set apart the influencers who stay and those who don’t last the trend?

Consistency.

You have to do more than share great content for your Snapchat branding. You have to do it regularly, and it has to be of high quality.

Make a content strategy plan for your Snapchat and do whatever you need to in order to show up for your audience. Your followers will expect you to show up for them if they show up for you.

Some ways you can remind yourself are:

1. Add scheduled times to your calendar

2. Set reminders on your phone (Bonus: If you have an iPhone, you can ask Siri to do this for you)

3. Set alarms in your phone

4. Set notifications on your computer to remind you

Think about the influencers you follow with amazing Snapchat branding. You likely follow them because they’re regularly delivering killer content.

You need to do the same to grow your faithful audience.

Bitmoji It

These fun characters can be made to have a real-life likeness to you. You’ve seen them before as people’s profile photos on Snapchat, but they can do so much more.

They’re great to use on your Snaps too. For example, you could make a funny video on Christmas, then add your Bitmoji wearing a Santa hat as a sticker in the corner.

These animated caricatures are another way to stand out. Yours will look different than everyone else’s because it’s you!

Yet another way to be authentic and fun. Two of the keys to successful Snapchat branding.

Use Filters (Sometimes)

There’s a reason the filter feature on Snapchat has been around since the beginning, switches up all the time, and gets used by influencers.

People love filters!

Use filters as a way to express your own personal style and humor.

A word of caution here however: Filters can totally be overdone.

People want to see the real you. Unless you’re focusing your Snapchat branding solely on being ‘the filter guy’ (and hey, if that’s you, go for it) then use them sparingly.

They’re way funnier when they aren’t overdone, anyway.

Brand a Style

The first rule in attraction marketing: Brand a consistent style.

You have an aesthetic in your wardrobe, for example. Whether you’ve considered it or not, you definitely have a personal style.

The same thing needs to happen in your Snapchat branding.

There’s a certain way you can do your videos or snap your shots that create a consistent feel for your audience.

You know those awesome pictures of a girl holding a guy’s hand, back turned to the camera, in some amazing destination? That’s a memorable aesthetic. You can do the same thing by Snapchat branding a style.

For example, there are people who always zoom in on their eyeball at the end of the video, or have a hearty maniacal chuckle, or always wear a crown when giving inspiration.

What’s your thing going to be?

The possibilities are endless here, but the reality is, if you can brand something memorable, your style will go down in influencer history.

What’s in a Name

Ever tried to hunt someone down on social media and couldn’t find them anywhere?

That’s what happens when people get all over the map with their username. It becomes impossible to easily search for them.

Even if you saw content you totally loved by an influencer, if their name is too hard to remember, and you can’t find them, you can’t follow them!

So, choose your Snapchat branding name wisely.

What name can you pick that your audience will remember AND makes sense for your brand?

You can even ask your friends when you have some ideas if they’re memorable.

Add Links to Your Snaps

Got a website, blog, or maybe you want to mention the sweet leggings that you’re wearing because you got a million compliments on them at the gym?

You can add links to any of your snaps by clicking on the paperclip after recording or shooting your snap.

Link your audience to awesome content that’s relevant to what you’re doing in the picture or video. This is a great way to engage with and grow your audience. It’s also another great way to deliver quality content.

Once you’ve added the link, your viewers will be able to visit the external URL by clicking on the ‘More’ text. Encourage them to use it and explain the content! Don’t leave your audience hanging.

Some great examples are:

“Did you see my sweet shaker cup? A million people ask me about it at the gym. You can get one too… click on more!”

“You guys have been dying to know how I curl my hair like this. The exact iron I use is linked to this snap. Click more to check it out.”

Eventually, this is a great way to get paid to snap.

Yes, there are people making money because they have amazing Snapchat branding!

Companies are always looking for new ways to market their ideas. Start your channel with the future in mind. Mention products when it’s relevant and makes sense, in an organic way your audience will love.

Once you’ve got a big enough audience and you achieve influencer status, you can use this as a tool to make bank.

However, it’s also a great to do right from the beginning of your Snapchat branding. That way when you do start making deals, people aren’t weirded out when you do promotions.

Ever followed someone that felt like a total sell out all of a sudden? They went from great content to constantly try to sell you something, so you stopped following them.

They made the mistake of not organically mentioning products in their snaps. So, when they made a deal, people felt strange about their promos.

Set yourself up for ongoing success by doing this in a way that feels good now.

Legit Commit

Snapchat branding requires you to do all of the above and have patience. Building a real following of loyal fans takes time. Snapchat is no exception.

Don’t do it one week and expect to become the world’s top-rated influencer!

This might mean you need to make this a team effort. Social media can be a total time sucker, especially if you’re running a business.

Go through these steps to ensure awesome Snapchat branding with your team:

1. Start to create your Snapchat branding

2. Inject yourself in your brand using the steps above

3. Create a plan with your team

4. Assign tasks and commit

5. Analyze what’s working

6. Strategize based on engagement

Follow this formula and you will see growth.

Snapchat Branding Next Steps

The company that owns Snapchat, Snap Inc., made over 230.7 million dollars in revenue last year.

There’s a lot of people taking advantage of this massive, money-making platform! Influencers are Snapchat branding themselves to take a piece of the pie and create an impact.

Are you ready to take your Snapchat branding next level but not sure where to start? We’ve got you covered.

Get a free digital marketing review to get all the insights you need to get going.