James walks through setting up Snapchat for business, from account creation to posting Stories. Your username can't be changed, so choose carefully. Build an audience by promoting across channels, using influencers, and posting short, authentic content under 60 seconds.
Questions this video answers
No — the username cannot be changed; to use a new username you must create a new account.
Change "View My Story" to Everyone.
24 hours.
60 seconds or less.
Chapters
Hi, I'm James from HubSpot, and today I'm going to talk to you about getting started with Snapchat for business. If you enjoyed this video, don't forget to like it and subscribe to our channel. Post any questions or suggestions you have in the comments below. Let's get started. Unlike the polished Instagram feed you're used to, seeing brands curate Snapchat highlights candid moments that connect users with the people behind your brand. Since photos only last for a short amount of time, there's no pressure to make a lasting masterpiece that'll forever appear on your account. Plus, there's no fancy equipment, just the camera on your phone will do. This makes Snapchat a great choice for businesses on a budget looking to get more transparent with their followers and forge a deeper connection. To start a Snapchat account for your business, first download the Snapchat app for your iOS or Android device. Set up your Snapchat account just like you would any other app. Enter your email and create a username and password. A word of caution, your username cannot be changed. If you need to update this later down the line, you'll be forced to create a new account. Choose your username carefully. Next, let's jazz up your account by adding a profile picture. You can do this directly in the app using your phone's camera. Click on the Snapchat logo button that's floating at the top of your app to open this feature. As soon as you hit the camera button, a series of photos will automatically be taken, similar to using a photo booth. You'll want to switch the privacy settings on your account, since every user starts with a private profile. Tap on the Snapchat logo button again and choose the Settings Gear icon this time, which you'll find in the top right hand corner. From there, scroll down until you see the who can section. Change the View My Story option to everyone now it's time to add some friends again. You'll start by clicking the Snapchat logo button first. To pull up the main screen. From this point, tap the Add Friends link. Here you can add friends by typing their username, snap code, or location. Now it's time to create your first snap. To create a snap, navigate to the Camera screen by swiping to the middle of the app. Depending on where you are to access this, you'll either need to swipe left or right, tap the Camera circle button or anywhere on the screen to capture your photo. Before you send your snap out into the Snapchat universe, you have a few photo enhancing options to play with. First, you can add a filter, swipe left and scroll through the filters that change the colors. Or you can add a picture overlay to the bottom or middle of your photo. Play around and have fun. Next, you have the option to add emojis and stickers. To add emojis to your snap, click on the text button and a drop down will appear with a variety of emoticons and stickers to choose from. You can use the emojis on their own or you can combine them with text. Finally, you also have the option of adding a caption or large bold text to your image. By clicking on Text button, a light shadow overlay appears where you can add your text. If you click on the text button again, the overlay disappears and the text becomes much bigger. You can also change the color of your text. At this point, slide your finger down the color scale to the right of the button to adjust the font color. You can also enlarge, shrink angle, or reposition your text from this point using that same pinch and zoom technique. Now it's time to send your first snap. When your snap is to your liking, it's time to make a decision about who can see it. Do you want to share your visual message with specific friends, a group of users, or everyone? Click on My Story to either share your snap with everyone or select the users you'd like to send it to by individually clicking the checkmark box next to their name. If you've created this account for business use, you'll be able to reach the most people by sharing your snaps as a story. Since your story section acts as a type of news feed, people can view all the snaps you add to your story during a 24 hour period and after that the story disappears. Everyone on your friends list can view your story as you continue to add to it during the course of the day. When users tap on your story, they'll see every video or picture you snapped here in succession. Once you've launched your Snapchat account, it's time to start building an audience for it. You can't adopt a follow for follow type strategy with Snapchat. It's up to you to do some legwork to get this ball rolling. First, you'll want to promote your Snapchat channel on your existing social media platforms. Send out an announcement to your email list, highlight it on other social media channels, and promote the launch of your Snapchat account on your blog. You'll need to use every channel to drive people to add your brand as a friend. You should also leverage your network and partner base. Influencer interviews and Snapchat takeovers with people who already have a following on the platform can help to expose your profile to a larger audience. As with any marketing strategy, you'll need to test the waters to see what works with your audience. To give you an idea, we've seen the best results with short videos. 60 seconds or less is best. Videos that are perfectly timed. If you can jump on a news story as it immediately hits the press, you'll be ahead of the game. Snapchatters who focus on variety, don't be afraid to mix things up. Play with both selfie cam style videos and still photos to see what works. Those who get creative snapchatters don't want a perfect story. They're more interested in the real story. Have fun showing off your authentic side and you'll have no problem attracting and building an engaged audience. So if your current strategy isn't working or you're just starting from scratch, make sure to try these tactics first before giving up on Snapchat completely. Looking for even more help with your Snapchat for business strategy? Click the link above to learn more. Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this video, be sure to like it and subscribe. Let me know how you're doing in the comments below.
