Using Snapchat to Grow Your WordPress Following

On any day, Snapchat has over 150 million people using, sending and receiving snaps. Between them, 2.5 billion images are viewed and 10 billion videos are watched. That’s every day! So it’s about time we found out some more about the world’s fastest growing social media platform, and how it can be used to help your WordPress website achieve its goals.

This article looks in depth at what Snapchat is, who uses it and how it can help grow your WordPress following. We then discuss tips and tricks for creating a Snapchat community and consider best practice when adding snaps to help promote your business.

What is Snapchat?

Snapchat is a popular mobile app that allows you to send and display photos and videos to friends and followers. Its distinctive feature, that enables it to stand out in the crowd of social media channels, is that the images, or snaps as they are known, only have a short lifespan, ranging from 1 second to 24 hours, after which they are automatically deleted.

One of the main attractions of using Snapchat is that it is fun. You can add text, annotations, and emojis to images before sending them, as well as Snapchat lenses. Lenses add dog ears to faces, swap faces with those of another on the screen, and lots more. It may sound a little crazy, but try it, it’s fun!

Who Uses Snapchat?

Snapchat has been long known to attract a younger audience, mainly ranging from teenagers to those in their early thirties. Originally, Snapchat was predominantly used by the younger end of that demographic, particularly young teens. However, in the last year, the fastest growing group has been the over 24s. So if your target audience is around, or under, 30 then it’s time to seriously consider Snapchat as an important social media channel for your business.

Why You Should Be Using Snapchat

Snapchat is becoming an extremely effective marketing platform. Any business that already spends a lot of time producing and posting images and video media will find Snapchat a natural fit. Snapchat’s obsession with images and story telling makes it the perfect channel to promote any business in the food, travel, media, fitness, music or fashion industry, to name just a few. Here’s how it can help…

Attract New Followers

To grow your WordPress following, it is important to make sure you are present and promoting your business in the same places as your target audience. If your potential audience is hanging out on Snapchat, but you are not, then it is hard to connect with those who may be interested in your niche. Becoming a key player on Snapchat could help you to engage with new people, who are possibly a younger demographic, leading to an increase your following.

Improve Brand Awareness

Not only can you connect with a new audience on Snapchat, but you can also raise brand awareness. Being constantly present on Snapchat will keep you fresh in your follower’s minds, encouraging them to return to your WordPress website and become regular visitors.

Interact with Your Audience

Due to the nature of Snapchat, with its timed disappearing images, this social media channel is fast paced, happening in real time. By being present on Snapchat, you can see the trends that your audience is responding to and interact with them using relevant snaps and content. This interaction helps keep your followers engaged and interested in your business.

A Platform From Which to Promote Your WordPress Site

As with any social media channel, Snapchat provides an impressive platform from which to promote your site. Whether you are trying to increase traffic to your site, generate leads, advertise products and services, or something else, Snapchat gives you an outlet to do so.

So now you know a bit about Snapchat and the benefits of using it. But how do you get started?

Building a Following on Snapchat

Snapchat is quick and easy to set up, taking just minutes. Download it from the Apple Store or from Google Play, and after a quick registration, you are ready to go. However, before you can start using Snapchat to promote your business, you first need to build a Snapchat following.

Like building a following on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media platform, this can be time-consuming. So what can you do to get the ball rolling quickly?

Add Your Snapchat Snapcode Your WordPress Site

Encourage your existing WordPress followers and visitors to add you on Snapchat. This is an effective way to keep in contact with your WordPress audience, encourage them to revisit your site or buy your products.

The Snapchat Snapcode Widget allows you to display your own personal Snapcode on your website. A Snapcode acts in the same way as a ‘Follow Me’ button. Your audience simply scans your code with their phone and then they can instantly add you as a friend on Snapchat. Your Snapcode can be downloaded from your Snapchat account. Then simply upload it to the Snapchat Snapcode Widget and add it to your WordPress website.

Display a Gallery of Snaps on your WordPress Site

Just because you have added your Snapcode to your WordPress website, it doesn’t mean your audience will immediately add you as a friend. Promote your Snapchat account by having a gallery of snaps on your website, that you have previously shared on Snapchat. This is a great way of showing your WordPress followers what they are missing out on, and it just might push them to join you on Snapchat.

Cross Promote Snapchat on Other Social Media Platforms

It is important to promote Snapchat on your other social media channels. Post snaps from your Snapchat account to Facebook or Twitter to show people you are present and active and are worth following. And display your Snapcode to help people easily find you on Snapchat.

You can also display your Snapchat URL any other social media channel you use. To find your Snapchat URL simply open Snapchat and select ‘Add Friends > Share Username’. This will help your social media followers easily search and find you on Snapchat.

Offer an Incentive

Whilst promoting your Snapchat account on your WordPress website, or on social media, offer an incentive to encourage visitors to add you as a Snapchat friend. If people add you, send them a snap of a discount voucher code or an URL to a secret page of your site. Make it something relevant to your niche so you attract the right type of person.

Use GhostCodes

GhostCodes is a great place to find others who are interested in your industry, and for them to find you. This app is basically a database of Snapchat users who have expressed interests in different niches. Post yourself on GhostCodes so people can find you, then also search for those interested in your area of expertise. This is a great way to expose your business to those on Snapchat, who are actively looking for brands and businesses in your field.

Snapchat Best Practice

Once you have created a Snapchat fan base, you need to carefully plan out how you are going to use Snapchat to grow your WordPress following and promote your business. Think about your aims on Snapchat and what you want to achieve. This will help you decide what type of ‘snaps’ will be best for your business and audience.

Add Snaps to ‘My Story’

As we have already mentioned, Snapchat works by you taking a picture or video and then sending it to a friend. It is then displayed for a number of seconds before disappearing.

However, and most importantly, snaps can also be added to ‘My Story’. It is this feature that can really be used to promote businesses. Here images have a 24-hour life span and can be viewed by any of your followers. This means that you have longer to reach a wider audience, and make an impact with your snaps.

Use Videos and Other Fun and Interesting Content

Remember, Snapchat is fun and cool. So make sure your content is too! Use the power of video to engage with your followers, add text and stickers, and make your snaps pop! If you are in the food industry, post amazing pictures of food. If you’re involved in fitness, add clips of workouts. Or if you run an eCommerce store, show you products being used. This is your chance to really market your business, service or products, so make the most of it.

Add Real Time News, Announcements, Promotions and Discounts

Posting snaps on ‘My Story’ gives each image or video 24 hours to be viewed. After that, they are deleted. This makes Snapchat a very ‘now’ space. Users aren’t interested in the past or the future, just the immediate present.

Therefore, always try to post real-time news and announcements. Add a snap of a new product that has arrived in store that day. Send out a discount code, usable for just the 24 hours the snap is visible. Offer timed freebies or promotions for your WordPress website, that push viewers to respond immediately, driving traffic and increasing followers. Use the short lifespan of the snaps to your advantage by putting your audience under pressure to pay attention and act fast.

Create Your Own GeoFilter

For brick and mortar businesses, creating your own Geofilter is a great way to advertise on Snapchat. A Geofilter is a filter that can be added over the top of an image, which is usually text or a logo related to your business. So when people enter your premises they can add your filter to their snap to explain where they are. This is a great way to raise brand awareness and get your audience to promote your business for you.

Other advertising opportunities on Snapchat include video ads, or Snap Ads as they are known, and creating your own lense. These, however, are super expensive options, and really only accessible to big corporations at the moment.

Final Thoughts

Snapchat is an untapped market, yet it is being used by millions every day. If your business targets younger consumers, and is all about promoting your brand through visual images and videos, then this is a social media channel you want to get on board with. Without a doubt, the opportunities for your WordPress website are huge.

What are your first impressions of Snapchat? Please share your thoughts on this social media channel in the comments below…