If you have a business that reaches out to young people aged 18-24 (even if they’re just part of your demographic), you need to understand Snapchat and Snapcodes.
According to a study by the Pew Research Center, 78 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds use Snapchat, and around 71 percent of them visit the platform more than once a day. And if the trend follows the adoption of Facebook and Twitter, people will stick with it as they age.
That’s a huge opportunity, but Snapchat can seem mysterious if you’ve never used it. However, using the Snapcodes feature is easier than it looks.
The problem, however, is that most companies are just figuring out how to use Snapchat. One of the easiest ways to do this is with a Snapcode.
What are Snapcodes?
Snapcodes are scannable Snapchat QR codes that can be used on the web or in any print medium in the physical world to open content on Snapchat.
Anyone with Snapchat on their phone can scan a Snapcode by opening their Snapchat app and pointing the camera at the QR code, then pressing and holding the screen. This takes them to the website or other destination that the code represents.
You can also scan Snapchat code from your camera roll if someone sends you one 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 for sharing on social media, web, and print is fairly easy 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:
- Tap the gear icon
- Next, tap on Snapcodes
- Then tap Create Snapcodes
- Enter the website URL you want users to visit
- (Almost done) Tap Create.
- Tap to save to camera roll From there, you can customize your snapcode image with a ghost icon image and embed the snapcode in various marketing materials. You can read a good visual guide with examples on how to adjust your image to keep it being scanned.
Where you 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 promote the website you linked your Snapcode to.
Here are a few suggestions:
Print your snapcode on your business card. This way, your customers can use Snapchat to scan your business card to open your URL instead of having to type it. This means less friction for your customers with Snapchat and a higher likelihood that they will open your website.
Consider running a contest with the Snapcode. You can use a Snapcode to open almost any website. To get people to interact with it, consider running a contest. They might 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 ad. This can be a great lead generation method if you do it well.
Tip: Remember to give your visitors an instant offer on the thank you page after signing up for anything you offer. It’s also a good idea to collect a cell phone number at the contest and add it to an SMS list. You can also reach them via SMS for future promotions. Just be careful not to overuse the 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 your website is listed on any printed material or online, that will also include the Snapcode. A Snapcode can behave similarly to a URL, but with less friction since no input is required.
People no longer have to type long URLs into their phones when all they can do is take a picture to be redirected to a website.
Snapcodes seem complicated, especially if you’re not between the ages of 18 and 24 – but they’re actually pretty easy to execute and use. Think of it like a website URL and you’ll see that the possibilities are almost endless.
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