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Snapchat may be trending, but it’s not always easy to build an audience, especially when you’ve just started. How do brands overcome this challenge?

More and more brands understand that Snapchat may become a powerful tool for their social strategy, but, compared to other platforms, it can require more effort for your brand to be found.

A Snapchat user can add a friend (or a brand) through a username, a snap code, or even a nearby location, but there’s no ‘discovery area’ for new accounts to follow.

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This makes it more complicated for brands trying to increase their audience and that’s why they came up with many different creative approaches to overcome this struggle.

Rely on other social networks

Sometimes it may be enough to simply announce your Snapchat presence on the rest of your social networks.

It may not be very creative, except for the fun Snap code, but it may still be effective. However, as you can see from more examples below, there are more ways for a brand to promote its presence on Snapchat.

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Give a sneak peek

BSU at the Games is offering a sneak peek from its trip to Rio and it is encouraging its Twitter followers to discover the adventure through the snaps to come.

Entice with an offer

Outlook Designs decided to promote its Snapchat presence with an exclusive offer, in order to reward its new followers accordingly. In fact, this may be a good idea for retail brands, especially if it’s an irresistible offer.

Redbox also offered a specific offer for its new followers on Snapchat for the day of June 8, by adding on Facebook both its Snap code, but also the link to its Snapchat account. The idea of triggering the sense of urgency may also be useful, as users will feel the need to follow on the particular day.

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Use influencers

Avon used Lucy Hale as its ambassador for the promotion of its Snapchat account, while she also announced a new launch.

This is a clever way to recruit influencers while building a Snapchat audience that consists of a wider range of fans, coming both about the actress and the brand.

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Cross-promote content

iHeart Radio used Snapchat to celebrate Alessia Cara’s birthday, but it knew that this wasn’t enough to reach all its audience, that’s why it cross-promoted the content on Twitter to increase its reach.

Tell the audience what to expect

Chelsea FC joined Snapchat early in 2016 and it promoted it with its snap image and a direct link on Facebook.

As these may not be enough, it gave a preview to its Facebook fans on what to expect from their Snapchat presence, relying on the platform’s power of living the moment.

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Ben & Jerry’s wanted to create a mystery around its Snapchat presence, that’s why it announced on its Facebook page that it will reveal a brand new flavour through Snapchat. This would make fans follow the brand, in order to avoid FOMO.

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Mix more than two the social networks

Romper wanted to promote its Facebook Live video, so it created a behind the scenes footage on Snapchat, while it promoted it on Twitter. This way it proved that it has a well-rounded social strategy that blends its complete social presence to promote its content accordingly.

Change profile picture on other networks

Many brands decided to change their profile photos on all their social networks to promote their presence on Snapchat. In fact, it was quite clever, as it managed to instantly increase the reach of their Snap code, which is usually the challenge with a brand’s Snapchat presence.

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Ask to scan

Real Madrid promoted its forthcoming tour along with its Snapchat presence on Twitter, encouraging users to scan the snap code to keep up-t0-date with its latest news.

Most brands usually add a link along with a snap code, in order to ensure that users follow them in their most convenient way.

Promote a story

Los Angeles Lakers posted a Snapchat story on its Facebook page, promoting the content it is posting, while promoting the account during the rookie introduction day.

Both the timing, the exclusive Snapchat content and the direct link make the promotion look very appealing and the number of shares definitely helped more LA Lakers fans learn about its Snapchat account.

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Post a link to another social network

Story of This Life is still struggling to understand Snapchat, but it felt the need to clarify this at the promotion of its new social presence, hoping that its new audience will help it understand the platform.

Thus, it shared its Snap link on Facebook and its caption led to a significant engagement, winning with its authenticity.

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Write a post

Gary Vaynerchuk certainly knows how to use Snapchat, offering tips and insights from his daily personal and professional life, mastering the way the platform can be used as a way to engage with an audience.

That’s why he wrote a post on how to get more Snapchat followers, also mentioning his username on the platform at the end of the post. This way he offered valuable content, but he also managed to promote his presence.

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Send an email

AdvertisingAge decided to promote its Snapchat presence through an email newsletter, right on time for its visit to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

This makes the promotion of the presence more interesting, as it’s offering live content from a popular event to make up for the direct promotion.

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A master list of brands on Snapchat

Last but not least, we have compiled a (huge) list of all the brands you may want to follow on Snapchat, in order to help you find the ones you like most.

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