Social Media In Fashion: How To Create A Winning Strategy With Snapchat

One moment every brand is flocking to Snapchat, while the next second everyone is singing the praises of Instagram. As these rapid fire changes continue to develop, it’s left many brands confused over how to navigate the ever changing social media landscape, and more specifically, on how to use snapchat since its latest update. 

In particular, with the 2016 introduction of Instagram Stories, one of the biggest questions we see time and time again is this: should we have a Snapchat presence in 2018? Is it worth the time investment for fashion brands?

The straight up truth? Unequivocally, yes!

Fashion brands can (and should!) leverage the power of Snapchat. With 187 million daily users, there’s undeniably an audience waiting to be discovered on this mighty platform. The key to unlocking the power of Snapchat is to understand how to use it in an effective manner to connect with your audience, communicate your brand messaging and convert snapchat viewers into customers.

Not convinced?

Today we’re going to show you exactly how to use Snapchat for your fashion brand.  

Lets dive in!

Know Your Audience

First things first, before diving too far into this topic, there’s one crucial piece of the puzzle that you always have to consider whenever implementing any sort of new marketing strategy: know your audience. Despite so many active Snapchat users on the platform, if your target customer isn’t using Snapchat, you shouldn’t be either.

The millennial and Gen Z generations are certainly the most active Snapchat users, with 83.4% of Snapchat users between the ages of 12-17, and 78.6% between 18-24. Comparatively, only 19.7% of users are between the ages of 35-44. It’s also worth noting that Snapchat is more popular than Instagram amongst the teen market.

If you know your audience falls into one of those major age categories, it’s definitely time to consider hopping on over to Snapchat so you can start engaging with your target audience.

Get Featured on The Discover Page

One of the biggest changes we’re seeing in 2018 for Snapchat is the separation of “social” content and “media” content, meaning stories from friends are separated onto one feed, while content from celebrities, influencers, and brands are now placed on the discover page. What this means for brands is two things:

• With a newly updated Snapchat algorithm, you have a better chance of being found on the Discover page by potential new customers who match your target. Snapchat is calling this behavioural personalization, meaning  feeds are customized to the kind of content users are already watching on Snapchat.  
• Secondly, Snapchat plans to open up the opportunity for more creators to monetize their content through stories in 2018. Currently only larger publishers have the ability to do this, but now with the combination of a more optimized discover page and the ability to monetize content, a brand’s ability to expose monetized content to larger audiences increases. It’s a win-win!

Use Event Filters/Geofilters

Learning how to use Snapchat requires playing with all of the different features, and one of our favorites is the tag/geofilter. Essentially this is simply a branded image overlay that people in a geographical area can use during a predetermined time. Here’s an example of a snapchat launch strategy with an event geotag, as shown by Everlane when they launched their summer collection:

Here are three major ways a brand can utilize event tags/geofilters in 2018

• On Stories

A brand can make use of geotags for exclusive events they attend. For example, New York Fashion Week always has a geotag. By providing Snapchat followers with an inside look of an event, you’re giving them exclusive access that they otherwise probably wouldn't have. Not only that, but by using the geotag tag, your story now has a chance of being discovered by a new audience who is searching for content related to that event.

Here’s how Vogue gave their audience an inside look at New York Fashion Week:

• At Events

You can even create your own unique filter if your brand is putting on a special event! This is perfect if you’re hosting a group of fashion influencers or celebrities. When those influencers use your filter, any photos/videos they share to their story will expose your brand to all of their followers. Here’s an example of a sponsored geotag filter that Nike came out with to celebrate the World Cup.

Learn how to create a fashion brand event filter here.

Also note that in 2018 Snapchat plans to allow anyone to also create their own lense, which will open up even more opportunities for branded content!

• In Stores

If your brand has a physical shop, having a branded geotag for people to use in your store is an excellent way to expose your brand to a large audience. How? Well, for anyone sharing any content with their friends while in your store, they can use your geotag. Here’s an example of how Lilly Pulitzer pulled this off:

Image via Contently

If you feel Snapchat is more well suited for friend-to-friend communication, this is an excellent way to get your brand in front of an audience without having to rely solely on the reach of the discover page. With the use of a geotag in your store, you’re utilizing friend-to-friend communication, but you’re inserting your brand into the story of your customer seamlessly, further exposing your brand to that customer’s audience.  

Let Your Influencers Take Over 

Whether we’re talking about Snapchat in 2015, or Snapchat in 2018, one sure fire way to expose your brand to more people is to host a Snapchat takeover. If you can find a celebrity or well known fashion influencer to take over your Snapchat, be sure that they announce the takeover to their audience. This way you’ll likely have that audience flocking over to your account.

One example of an extremely successful Snapchat takeover in 2017 occured when Victoria Secret’s utilized two of their most famous models, Martha Hunt and Elsa Hosk, to promote a sale. These ladies took over the Victoria Secret’s snapchat account, showing off various pieces that were reduced in price. They even cross promoted the sale on Instagram, driving people over to Snapchat to learn about the sale. So not only did this increase conversions during the sale, it also enticed more people to discover Victoria’s Secret on the Snapchat platform.

Utilize Snapchat Ads

As shown above, you can certainly build a Snapchat following through interesting, informative and entertaining content. Having said that, as is true with most social media platforms today, there is a certain level of “you have to pay to play”, meaning if you really want to have an impact on the platform, developing a Snapchat advertisement might be worth considering.

In 2018 ads on Snapchat aren’t expected to see any dramatic changes. There will still be the elusive “swipe up” feature that so many brands love, and ads will still play amongst stories. However, it is worth noting that in the fourth quarter of 2017, ad impressions on Snapchat were up by a whopping 575 percent, meaning more users were exposed to Snapchat ads. Not too shabby, we’d say.  

So will you be rethinking your Snapchat strategy in 2018? Experiment with your Snapchat promotion to engage with younger generations by making the most of the latest features. And remember to make the most of other platforms to cross promote and drive traffic to your Snapchat campaigns.

Have you been following fashion brands on snapchat? What features do you find most useful for you campaigns? Let us know in the comments below: