Creating a successful digital marketing strategy for any business involves finding out where your target market spends most of its time. If your marketing goals include selling to a young audience, then you can’t afford to overlook influencer marketing, especially on Snapchat.
Although most Americans now use social media to some degree, not everyone is using the same platforms. Snapchat, a wildly popular app used by around 70% of teens in North America, is an extremely powerful tool for marketers targeting Gen Z. In contrast, older people tend to prefer sites like Facebook, rather than image-heavy platforms like Instagram and Snapchat.
Broad generalizations won’t help draw in specific individuals, but they can help in marketing to specific generations. Marketers need to have a basic understanding of psychology and be familiar with the forces that have shaped each generation in order to market effectively. For example, Gen Z is interested in relatability and authenticity over status symbols.
Getting to know your audience is crucial and will help your influencer marketing campaigns succeed on Snapchat. Here are some tips for getting started.
Determine your KPIs and campaign goals
One of the biggest mistakes small businesses make in marketing is starting out with no goals and no way to measure their success. How can you calculate your return on investment (ROI) if you don’t set goals for your campaign?
Before you start any marketing campaign, it’s important to figure out why you’re choosing this marketing strategy (for example, to increase brand awareness among Gen Z consumers) and set your goal. Then, you need to determine your key performance indicators (KPIs), which will allow you to measure your progress toward your goal.
Reach out to the right influencers for your campaign
Influencer marketing on Snapchat can be cost-effective, but it is time-consuming. It’s important to find not only people who are willing to work with your brand but the RIGHT people to work with your brand. Because Gen Z values authenticity, those consumers want to support brands with strong ethical values.
When looking for influencers, don’t necessarily think big. Brands that can afford sports influencers and celebrities can pay for big-ticket posts, but small businesses need to think smaller.
Smaller influencers are typically more effective for reaching young audiences and they are less expensive to work with. They may not reach as many people, but they have more influence over the people they do reach. That’s why brands need to find lots of small influencers that align with their values and cater to their customers’ interests.
Explore creative angles and test your campaign offers
It’s important to remember that your customers don’t have unlimited attention. You’re fighting for a tiny fraction of their attention and you have to pull them in right away with your content and offers.
Before you launch a huge campaign, explore creative angles that could help your brand stand out. Test campaign offers before you sign influencers on otherwise you may end up spending a lot of time and money on an angle that won’t end up helping you reach your goals.
Negotiate contracts with your influencers
Different influencers have different expectations when it comes to contracts, but you have to be savvy enough to negotiate for a fair deal. Audience size, engagement, influencer experience and other factors will all come into play.
Don’t overpay for influencers, especially smaller influencers. Many micro-influencers or nano-influencers are perfectly happy with just getting free products in exchange for promoted posts.
Optimize your campaign by promoting across your social media channels
Although you might want to focus on Snapchat, chances are there are a few platforms where your campaigns might bring in more customers or create brand awareness. Promote across your audience’s favorite channels for better results.
Analyze your campaign and potentially sign brand ambassadors
Once you’ve run your campaign for a while, you should have some good data to work with. See what’s working and what needs more work. Which influencers are outperforming others? Are customers responding to your offers? Here’s where your all-important KPIs come in.
Analyzing your campaign data will help guide you in your next steps. One great option is to sign on your best influencers as official brand ambassadors and have them continue promoting your products. Great influencers can really boost your brand, so make sure you take care of them and really involve them.
Don’t get discouraged if your initial results aren’t spectacular. There’s no instant formula to success, which is why you need to keep collecting data and tweaking your approach. Be patient and keep trying.
