[From PromoVeritas] .The rise of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram has revolutionised the way promotions are run. They enable campaigns to be launched quickly, cheaply and easily in just about any country of the world.
Until recently Snapchat, with its reliance on now you see it, now you don’t images, and lack of database facilities, has not been a suitable platform for running promotional campaigns. But with over 200 million users and 1 billion views per day there is a large opportunity that is yet to be tapped!
The 5 second rule
Promotional Verification services, such as PromoVeritas, use powerful software to extract every single post, comment or photo entry from social media sites in order to ensure that the winner selection and judging process is completely fair and compliant.
With Snapchat the problem is that entry data, typically an image submitted by a user, disappears almost instantaneously and Snapchat have shut down apps such as Snap-Hack which was able to automatically save incoming photos. So now the only way to collect entry data is to screengrab images as they arrive, in real time. But there is a risk that some will be missed either by accident or because they delete themselves too quickly. So this manual option is only suitable for small promotions due to the risks if there are a high volume of entries.
The alternative?
The best way to involve Snapchat in your promotion without headaches, is to simply use Snapchat to engage with fans but stick to other social media for them to enter. So for instance ask followers to take a screengrab from your brand’s Snapchat story and then repost it on Twitter or Instagram using a promotional hashtag. Or invite followers to view a Snapchat story that involves a clue or instructs them to use Snapchat to create a fun photo that can be posted on another platform.
Entries made in this way can then be easily collected and extracted and a winner selected from them using the usual methods for social media promotions. Another option for running a Snapchat promotion would be using a ‘First Past the Post’ method so that the first person to Snap back with the answer to a question or challenge wins. That way any other responses don’t count.
Still want to run a campaign on Snapchat? Some points to consider:
- Make your mechanic as easy to understand as possible.
- You must have full Terms and Conditions – post them on another platform so that they can be viewed at any time.
- Your T&Cs must include the disclaimer that the promotion is not endorsed or administered by Snapchat.
- Make sure your T&Cs request that any Snaps sent are set to the maximum – 10 seconds – to allow time to record it
- Be aware of and always follow Snapchat’s Terms of Service, Community Guidelines and Privacy Policy.
- Do not use Snapchat’s name or logo.
- Do not encourage spamming or asking followers to send Snaps to friends or posting multiple Snaps that are the same.
- Make your Snapchat account name clear. Snapchat isn’t like other apps which allow you to search for accounts easily. If a user does not know the correct spelling or format for an account name, then Snapchat won’t prompt them with alternatives.
- Don’t forget to post entries to your Story Feed – sharing the entries with your followers encourages them to engage with your brand on a personal level. And definitely share the winning entry if it is a competition.
Examples of successful Snapchat promotions
To leverage its flame grilled selling point, Burger King Argentina created a Snapchat ‘Snapking’ campaign that invited followers to take images of their competitors’ burgers and draw grill marks using snapchat filters. All images sent to the BK Argentina Snapchat account then received a free voucher for a flame grilled burger. The campaign reached 4.1m users and the vouchers were all used up within 48hrs.
Mondelez
Mondelez in Australia ran a Snapchat competition similar to the Burger King one but to win $10,000. They encouraged followers to snap a TimeOut chocolate bar and then get creative with it using Snapchat’s drawing tools and send it back for judging. Thousands of entries ensued.
H&M
Retailer H&M carried out a fun marketing campaign in Poland where they hid exclusive party tickets in stores and then sent out clues to their whereabouts on Snapchat. They gained almost 1,000 new followers and reached 3.8m users.
For help and advice running promotions on Snapchat or any other social media promotion contact info@promoveritas.com or call +44 203 301 7360.