Top 13 Snapchat Online and Offline Advertising Strategies (2022)
From online and offline efforts to free and paid advertising, creating a solid marketing plan and determining the best ways to execute it can be difficult. The options available for marketing your business can seem overwhelming at first, especially if you’re just starting or stuck in a rut.
However, marketing your business online and offline can be an incredibly rewarding endeavor. From creating a consistent stream of original social media marketing content to creating paid advertising strategies that get your business in front of new potential customers, marketing your business empowers you to build your online and offline presence—and it pays off.
While this may seem like a daunting task (especially if your business is new), don’t worry: the Snapchat team is here to help. In this article, we’ll cover 13 of the best ways to advertise your business. From setting up social media ads to direct mail, you’ll find a comprehensive set of strategies that will help you and your business.
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Before you get started, here’s a quick checklist of what you’ll need to do to get your advertising ready.
Start with a short-term business goal and a rough plan to achieve it.
Everyone wants more revenue. But how are you going to get there? There are two ways to do this: by increasing service calls or by making more sales.
You can add a service or product to your strategy, which means you’ll need to figure out how to offer it to your customers. (You’ll probably also need to find some new customers.)
Figure out how your business is different.
Are you one of the few people in your area who offers this service?
Does your product fill a need that many competitors aren’t?
Identify your target customers, if you haven’t already.
Age, gender, location, and potential interests are all great things to consider.
Once you’ve figured all that out, jump right into the 13 best ways to advertise your business.
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- Promote your business in online directories
Whether you’re doing business online or offline, online directories can still be a useful tool to help people find your business. By adding basic information, such as your brand name, physical or online address, phone number, and email address, you can get your business noticed far and wide. For starters, do a simple online search to find the right online directories where you can list your business. Also keep in mind:
Promoting your business in online directories will improve your overall search engine ranking (SEO).
Some directories allow you to write a business description and add photos and/or videos, so make sure you have these assets on hand.
Snapchat is one of the many platforms where you can create a presence for your business simply by setting up a public profile.
- Promote your business in your local community
Promoting your business in your local community is a great way to introduce it to the people you interact with daily. Here are some ideas for how to get started:
Partner with a local charity: This helps raise awareness of your business and also does a favor for others.
Send press releases to local news organizations: This is a great way to connect with your local community, especially when you have a new product, service, or something worth announcing.
Don’t forget about your local online community groups: These small online groups are incredibly helpful, as you can connect with customers who are close to your physical location and share exclusive deals with them (just be humble).
- Set up your social media profiles
It’s important to set up a social media profile for your business. Through your social media profiles, you can share everything from product announcements to limited-time sales with consumers. Make sure to complete the following when creating a new social media account for your business:
If you already have an account, make sure to update the information on it, including your name, address, contact information, etc.
Create new social media profiles for new products or services if they are completely different from what you already offer.
Don’t forget to create a public Snapchat profile!
Use your business’s social media profiles to advertise new products or services.
Be present and answer any questions your customers have on these accounts. This helps retain customers and shows that you are always available to them.
- Run Social Media Ads
Running paid social media ads is a great way to connect with both existing and new customers. However, before you start, it’s important to determine what you’re trying to achieve with these ads and choose the right campaign. Here are the three main goals of social media advertising that you should choose from:
Awareness: This involves letting people know about your business and what you offer. The goal doesn’t necessarily have to be sales, but it can be. Awareness goals are often used in social media advertising to reach as many people as possible.
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People.
Consideration: This involves getting people to consider your business. You need to get people to fill out a form on your website so that you can stay in touch with them via email. This also introduces potential customers to your business.
Conversion: The core of this goal is getting people to take action, such as booking a service appointment or making a purchase.
- Use organic and paid video
If your business focuses on educational materials and other how-to videos, you can create and share these types of videos across your social media profiles. This is called organic content, which is free content that users will find naturally on your profile. Your video content should be authentic and follow three simple rules:
Keep your ad short: 3-5 seconds is enough to get your message across.
Focus on one key message: Add text to your video that tells people what you want them to do, such as “Swipe up to learn more!”
Make your ad authentic: Film with your phone and speak directly into the camera.
Once you’ve created your video content, you can repurpose it as paid video ads. Learn how to start using video or single-image ads on Snapchat today.
- Use email marketing
If you have a list of customer email addresses, it’s a good idea to group those contacts and put them into a short email list. An email list can do a lot of great things, from sending new product updates to a monthly newsletter. Make sure to follow these best practices when starting with email lists:
Personalize your emails as much as possible; the human touch goes a long way.
Address the customer by their first name in the subject line and/or body of the email.
Segment your email list and send different types of emails to different types of customers. For example, if you sell men’s and women’s clothing online, you might segment your list into people who have purchased men’s or women’s clothing most often.
According to a recent Hubspot article on email timing, there are certain days and times when it’s best to send emails. Tuesday from 9 am to 12 pm is the best time to get the most engagement, while Monday and Wednesday during the same times come in second and third. Weekends (including Friday) are a big no-no, so avoid them and adjust your email plans accordingly.
- Press Releases
Whether you’re announcing a new business launch or a new product release date, press releases are a great way to generate buzz about your business. In addition to sending press releases to local media outlets, there are online news sources you can send your press release to as well. Large national news organizations are unlikely to respond, but you can try to promote your business through them if you’re prominent or have an interesting idea.
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- Influencer Marketing
Influencers are people who have a large following on social media and are often considered experts in their field. When they recommend a business, it can have a much greater impact than others. This is a great way to build awareness and credibility for your business. However, it’s important to do your due diligence on influencers before partnering with them to market your business. Try to do the following before proceeding:
Learn as much as you can about them, including all of their online accounts.
Start slowly by commenting, liking, and sharing their content.
When engaging with an influencer, make sure you have a plan in mind, whether it’s a set payment structure or merchandising products and/or services.
- Podcast Advertising
There are a variety of podcasts out there today that appeal to all niche audiences. Try to find podcasts that have a fan base that overlaps with your own, and pitch your products or services. Many podcasts feature ads during breaks so you can showcase your business to listeners. The way this works is that you typically pay a sponsorship fee, and the podcast host then reads your ad copy.
It’s also worth noting that with smaller podcasts — especially those that are very niche — you can appear as a guest to talk about your business, especially if you have an interesting idea worth promoting.
- Referrals
In addition to asking friends and family to recommend your business to others, you can create a formal referral program that incentivizes existing customers to earn new revenue. For example, if they refer a new customer and the new customer makes a purchase, the referral gets 20% off their next purchase. You can also do things like offer free samples and free trials that your existing customers can share with their contacts. - Partnerships
Partnerships are a great way to partner with other businesses that aren’t competing with you and help cross-promote each other’s services. For example, a house cleaning company could partner with a real estate agency to offer special rates when you move into a new home, or a car dealership could partner with a car wash to offer a monthly cleaning with every new car purchase. Think about the opportunities
For the common interest that your business benefits from. After all, this can be another free way to engage with people in your community and raise awareness of your business.
- Direct Mail
This is a very old-fashioned method, but it is still a fruitful way to share your business with customers, especially on a local level. Make sure to follow these best practices:
Create a simple postcard to mail to people. Ideally, you would offer a free trial or discount, and include a QR code that sends the customer to your website page to redeem the offer. That way, you can track how many people accept the offer.
You can also partner with companies you have and split the cost of direct mail, which benefits everyone.
- Sponsored Guest Posts
Some websites allow you to write sponsored guest posts discussing your area of expertise, creating free content for their website while also attracting new people to your business. This type of partnership is a great and less expensive way to market online because it benefits both parties.
Promote your business on Snapchat
Once you’ve set up your free public profile for your business on Snapchat, you can use it to engage with existing and new customers in a variety of exciting ways. Want to know where to start? Here are some great ways to get started:
Post to your Public Story – Your Public Story is a collection of Snaps that play in the order you created them. Through your Public Story, you can give Snapchatters a comprehensive look at what’s new at your business. From behind-the-scenes stuff to day-to-day activities, your Story is your daily news feed that will keep customers excited to hear about your business.
Post Spotlight Content to Your Profile – Sharing Spotlight content is one of the easiest ways to share content with the Snapchat world in one central location. To get started, simply check the box next to Spotlights on your next post. To feature your Spotlights content on your public profile, make sure to enable “Save to Public Profile.”
Add Saved Stories to your public profile – Saved Stories are permanent on your Page, and they’re the best way to showcase your brand. Saved Stories can be videos or multiple images, and they’re a great way to preserve high-performing content that defines your business.
Add AR Lenses to your public profile – AR Lens experiences are a powerful and memorable way to connect with consumers at scale using AR. From product experiences to shareable facial effects, on average, more than 75% of Snapchatters engage with AR every day.
Once you’ve created this free content on Snapchat, you can also promote it through ads. For more information on how to get started, take a look at the Snapchat Business Help Center article on how to promote free content with ads.