How to Drive Snapchat's 200+ Million Users to Your Website

Snapchat is a widespread multimedia messaging app that lets users share pictures and videos (called Snaps), meant to disappear after viewing them. The social media platform has been around since September 2011, but it has recently gained more popularity than ever.

In a recent report, Snapchat said they gained significant growth in Q1 and Q2 of 2019, surpassing 200 million daily active users for the first time. Specifically, in the past quarter, it earned 13 million new unique daily active users, representing an8% increase since last year. In total, the app now has about 203 million people using it daily worldwide. New augmented reality tools, face filters, a redesign of its Android app, the addition of new product features, and expansion into new markets are the instruments said to have brought the company this significant growth in the second quarter of 2019. Snap Inc. — the company that owns Snapchat — says seven to 9 million users joined the platform in Q2 due to the face filters, and four to 6 million joined because of new features.

If anything, these numbers show that the days of Snapchat being used mainly for sending pictures between friends and family are over. Additionally, the social media platform has gone through a revolution, from a personal messaging app to a promising marketing channel. Thus, you can no longer afford to ignore the impact it can have on your business. You need to start driving these 200+ million people to your website and convert them to customers.
Here are some practical ways to do that:
 

FIRST THINGS FIRST, BUILD A STRONG FOLLOWING

Just as with any social media platform, the first thing you'd want to do to get the most out of Snapchat is to build strong followership and engagement. There are several ways and tools for that. First, you'd want to seek new followers and expand your reach actively. You can share your snap code on other social media platforms, run giveaways to attract more people, and collaborate with other relevant Snapchat accounts to shout out your Snapchat username.

But getting followers and keeping them is also about consistently creating great content to keep people entertained and following. Once you’ve made a Snapchat account, you must add content to your story daily. Usually, anything you post on Snapchat will disappear after 24 hours.

Posting helpful content often will not only keep your brand fresh in the minds of your current followers but will gain you, new followers. However, don’t go overboard with posting content. Posting three to 4 times a day is okay. In the new Discover feature, users can see popular content from those they follow and similar content or even content that friends follow. This is an excellent opportunity to gain more followers. All you have to do is focus on creating the best content you can.
 

PROMOTE YOUR NEW ARTICLES ON SNAPCHAT

What better way to drive Snapchat traffic to your website than sharing every new blog post you publish? How can you share your articles effectively on Snapchat to drive traffic back to your blog? Here are two excellent tactics:

1. Use a screen recorder to record short videos while scrolling down the screen of your computer to show people the new article you just published. It'll make them want to see more of it. Snapchat lets you add a link to your post. 

2. Use a listicle-style post like "50 Bite-Size Tips to Take Your WordPress Site to Page #1" to drive clicks to your site. You'll have to add each tip or a few of them as a slide. Users will have to scroll to see more tactics, which keeps them engaged and wanting more.

Now, how do you drive this traffic to your site? Well, Snapchat has a swiping feature, which allows you to add links to your story. Snapchatters can access the link by following the prompt at the bottom of your account to “swipe up” the connection. In the two tactics above, add links to the full articles on each slide to send traffic to your site to read more. With this strategy, you can drive tons and tons of clicks to your site. You can integrate Bitmoji into the photos to make it even more exciting.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SNAPCHAT ADS

Like most other social media apps, Snapchat has ads that businesses of all sizes and budgets can take advantage of to grow their traffic and sales. With Snapchat ads, you can reach an engaged audience and drive results, especially if you're targeting the mobile-first generation. And it is easy as Snap Inc. has a self-service Ads Manager, which lets you customise your ads as much as you want.

Snapchat currently offers three primary types of ads:

1. Sponsored Lenses

2. Sponsored Geofilters

3. Snap Ads

For your Snapchat ads to be successful and result in clicks, engagement, and conversion, the ads should:

• Cater to audiences aged 34 and under

• Incorporate the app's most coveted features your target demographic is using

• Be shown at a frequency that matches the number of times users spend online.

On that last one, the company says that, on average, Snapchatters use the app over 20 times a day and spend an average of 30 minutes on it, creating 3 billion Snaps daily.

ORGANISE GIVEAWAYS AND SPECIAL OFFERS

It’s no secret that giveaways and special offers can significantly increase sales, followers, engagement, email list subscribers, and website traffic. It's a way of providing value to your target audience in exchange for an action you want them to take. Snapchat mainly makes it easy to offer a variety of incentives. In a survey of 1,600 social media savvy college students published on Business Insider, 67% of the respondents said they were more likely to buy from a brand when receiving a coupon code or discount on Snapchat.

You can send out special discount offers, coupons, giveaways, freebies, and other promotions using Snapchat. When you send out these special offers on your products or services, Snapchatters will start interacting with your website, engaging with your content, and taking whatever action you want them to take. This is an excellent way to drive engagement to your business and increase your website traffic.
 

SHOW BEHIND THE SCENES

When it comes to social media, it is not uncommon to have people fake up their social lives. In fact, on apps like Instagram, most people only show edited, clean versions of themselves. Honest, natural content is rare these days. But Snapchat is entirely different. It is part of the Internet where people can get candid, honest, and realistic about their lives. And believe it or not, this content type is seriously lacking.

Snapchat is an opportunity for you to show the "behind the scenes" part of your business. This can be exciting for your followers and has the best possible chance to make them connect with you on a more personal basis. This type of connection is great for building a loyal fan base that will continually visit your website, not because you promote your new article but because they know you on a personal level.
 

CONCLUSION

Snapchat is a viable marketing channel you shouldn't ignore. There are even speculations that it could become as big as Instagram in the future. Its current 200+ daily active users can provide your business with some added traffic, email list subscribers, and sales. Snapchat's current users fall anywhere between the ages of 12 and 34. But the older generations are joining the platform day by day. This means Snapchat is great if you’re focusing on Generation Z and Millennials as your target market. 77% of Gen Z use Snapchat as part of their daily routines. Use the tactics we've shared to start driving them to your website.