If you have a business that reaches young people who are 18 to 24 years old (even if they’re only part of your demographic), then you need to understand Snapchat and Snapcodes.
That’s because according to a study done by the Pew Research Center a full 78 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds use Snapchat and of those users, about 71 percent visit the platform more than once a day. And if the trend follows the adoption of Facebook and Twitter, people will stay with it as they get older.
That’s a huge opportunity, but Snapchat can seem mysterious if you’ve never used it. However, it’s easier than it looks to use the Snapcodes feature.
But the problem is that most businesses are just figuring out how to use Snapchat. One of the easiest ways to do that is with a Snapcode.
What are Snapcodes?
Snapcodes are scannable Snapchat QR codes that can be used on the Internet or any print media in the physical world to open content on Snapchat.
Anybody with Snapchat on their phone can scan a Snapcode by opening their Snapchat app and pointing the camera at the QR code and then pressing and holding the screen. This will take them to the website or other destination the code represents.
You can also scan Snapchat code from your camera roll if someone sends one to you as an attachment or if you need to test a Snapcode you just created.
How to Create Your Own Snapcode Image
Creating a Snapcode image to distribute on social media, the web, and print is fairly straightforward if you already have a Snapchat account (if you don’t have a Snapchat account you’ll need to set one up).
Here are the steps:
Open the Snapchat app
Swipe down
Tap the gear icon
Next, tap Snapcodes
Then, tap Create Snapcodes
Enter the website URL you want people to visit
(Almost Done) tap Create.
Tap to Save to Camera Roll From there you can customize your Snapcode image with an image inside the ghost icon and you can embed the Snapcode into various marketing materials. Here is a good visual guide with examples of how to customize your image so that it still scans.
Where to Use Your Snapcode
The use of Snapcodes is really only limited by your imagination. You can use them digitally or in print anywhere you want to advertise the website you have your Snapcode linked to.
Here are a few suggestions:
Print your Snapcode on your business card. This will let your customers scan your business card with Snapchat to open your URL instead of having to type it in. This means less friction for your customers with Snapchat and a higher likelihood of them opening your website.
Consider running a contest with the Snapcode. You can use a Snapcode to open nearly any webpage. To get people to interact with it, consider running a contest. You could have a Snapcode that says: “snap to win a Plan B skateboard.”
Then the Snapcode could take them to a squeeze page where they enter their information to win the specific skateboard you’re advertising. This can be a great lead generation method if you do it well.
Tip: Remember to make your visitors an immediate offer on the thank you page after the opt-in for whatever you offering. It’s also a good idea to consider gathering a cell phone number with the contest and have them opt-in to an SMS list. That way you can also reach them by text for future promotions. Just be sure not to overuse text. People don’t appreciate spam texts.
Use a Snapcode anywhere you have your URL. This is the basic rule of thumb. A Snapcode is a URL replacement. If you have your website listed on a piece of print material or online, that include the Snapcode as well. A Snapcode can act similarly to a URL, but with less friction, because there is no typing needed.
People are becoming less and less likely to have to type in long URL’s into their cell phone when they can just take a picture to get taken to a website.
Snapcodes seem complicated – especially if you’re not in the 18 to 24-year-old age range – but they’re actually pretty simple to execute and use. Think about them like you would a website URL and you find that the possibilities are nearly endless.
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BY: Brian Edmondson
