Snapchat has become one of the most popular social media platforms, especially among young people. The app is best known for its disappearing photo and video messages, called snaps, which users can send to friends. Snapchat has stayed relevant and continued growing by using innovative advertising and promotion strategies. Here is an in-depth look at how Snapchat promotes itself.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing on social media has become an extremely effective strategy for brands. Snapchat partnered with social media influencers very early on. The app identified young social media stars and celebrities who had large followings and reach among their target demographic. Snapchat formed partnerships with these influencers to have them use and promote the app to their followers.
Some of Snapchat’s early influencer campaigns included:
- Partnering with DJ Khaled in 2015, who sent snaps to his followers and promoted his Snapchat handle.
- Working with the Kardashian/Jenner sisters as brand ambassadors who regularly post snap stories.
- Paying influencers to feature sponsored geofilters, lenses, and ads in their snap stories.
The influencers helped attract their young fans to start using Snapchat to follow along on their daily stories. Their endorsements made Snapchat seem cool, fun, and cutting edge.
Celebrity Accounts
Snapchat has also drawn in users by collaborating with huge mainstream celebrities beyond just social media stars. The app convinced many major celebrities to join Snapchat and post regular stories to give fans a glimpse into their daily lives. Some examples include:
- Justin Bieber was an early adopter who let fans see snaps from his concerts and tours.
- Taylor Swift sending snaps of her cat Olivia Benson.
- Gwen Stefani posting snaps of her family and backstage moments.
- John Mayer snapchatting from the recording studio.
These celebrity accounts attracted their fanbases to download Snapchat and follow their idols on yet another social platform. The celebrity stories made the app more appealing and fun by creating buzz and entertainment.
Sponsored Lenses, Filters & Geofilters
Snapchat pioneered fun augmented reality lenses and filters that users could overlay on their photos and videos. Brands can sponsor custom lenses, filters, and geofilters through Snapchat’s advertising platform. Some examples of branded content people have loved include:
- Sponsored lenses that turn users into Disney princesses, cartoon characters, zombies, etc.
- Sponsored geofilters for different cities, concert venues, stadiums, and events.
- Holiday and seasonal filters from brands like Apple and Starbucks.
These sponsored lenses and filters appear in the carousel of options when users are sending snaps. They indirectly promote the sponsoring brands while entertaining Snapchatters.
Snap Ads
Snapchat created Snap Ads in 2015 as their first self-serve advertising platform. Snap Ads appear between stories andShow content as full screen vertical video ads. They helped attract bigger brand advertisers to the app. Early Snap Ads included campaigns from:
- Gatorade
- Taco Bell
- Amazon Prime
- Cadillac
- MTV
Snap Ads have evolved to include Commercials, Story Ads, Collection Ads, Lenses, Filters, and more. Big brands now regularly run Snapchat campaigns to reach the valuable young userbase where they spend so much time.
Emerging Formats
Snapchat is constantly testing out and launching new ad products. Some emerging formats they are promoting include:
- Sponsored AR World Lenses – interactive branded 3D worlds
- Snap Select – curated premium mobile games
- Director’s Cut – long-form vertical video shows
- Dynamic Ads – customized product ads that update based on user actions
These new formats aim to keep Snapchat advertising feeling fresh, innovative, and up to date. They provide ongoing promotion as brands explore sponsored possibilities on these emerging products.
Word of Mouth
The inherently shareable nature of Snapchat has always been one of its strongest marketing tactics. Sending snaps back and forth naturally promotes the app through word of mouth. Snapchat’s features encourage users to share fun moments with friends and spread the word organically. Some key examples include:
- Sending silly selfies and reactions with lenses/filters.
- Sharing temporary photos instead of permanent posts.
- Showing off Snapcodes and user profiles.
- Using location-based filters and geofilters.
- Messaging directly instead of public social feeds.
As friends send each other entertaining snaps, it gives them a reason to tell others to join Snapchat. This inherent viral factor helped promote the app in its early days and continues today.
App Store Descriptions
Snapchat promotes its own app in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store descriptions. The text highlights Snapchat’s features and value proposition. Some key points the descriptions emphasize include:
- Communicate visually with friends in real time
- Live in the moment with disappearing messages
- Express yourself with Lenses, Filters, Bitmoji, and more
- Preview content before you send it
- Chat face-to-face with Group Video Chats
- Share your world while seeing theirs
The app descriptions aim to make Snapchat’s features sound fun, casual, and perfect for sharing your daily life visually. They are designed to convince users to download and check out the buzzworthy app.
Website Content
Content on Snapchat’s website also explains the app’s benefits to promote downloads. The “What is Snapchat?” webpage covers topics like:
- Send photo and video messages that disappear.
- Bring conversations to life with Lenses.
- Stories let you share your day.
- Chat face-to-face live with Friends.
- Express yourself with Filters, Lenses, Bitmojis, and more!
This webpage gives visitors an overview of Snapchat’s features. The content aims to get readers excited to use these fun tools themselves.
Youtube Videos
Snapchat created several promotional Youtube videos to explain and demonstrate the app. Some examples include:
- Official “Welcome to Snapchat” trailer
- “Introducing Snapchat Lenses”
- “Snapchat Spectacles” commercial
- “The power of Snapchat Stories”
- “Snapchat Strategy: A Marketer’s Guide to Snapchat”
These videos let potential users see Snapchat’s features in action. Visually showing off the branded lenses, filters, and stories promotion adoption and word of mouth buzz.
| Platform | Example Promotions |
|---|---|
| Influencer Marketing | DJ Khaled and the Kardashians |
| Celebrity Accounts | Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift |
| Sponsored Lenses & Filters | Disney princess lenses |
| Snap Ads | Gatorade and Taco Bell ads |
| Emerging Ad Formats | Sponsored AR Worlds |
This table summarizes some of the key platforms and examples of Snapchat’s promotional campaigns over the years.
Conclusion
Snapchat built a hugely successful app by leveraging innovative advertising formats and influencer partnerships. The platform promotes itself by making advertising content fun, entertaining, and optional. Users want to engage with and share Snapchat-sponsored elements like lenses, geofilters, games, and shows. The app has also used traditional digital ads and content marketing to explain the brand’s benefits. Snapchat’s promotions focus on word of mouth by creating a sharing experience people want to talk about. The app has stayed fresh by constantly testing new formats like Stories and AR. Overall, Snapchat’s innovative and interactive approach created viral growth and cemented it as one of the top social apps.