Increase followers on your Snapchat account … while interacting IRL!
One of the more challenging components of the Snapchat experience is increasing followers. Snapchat, a platform not intended for marketers, doesn’t make it easy to spread awareness of your account, which can lead to your clever and beautiful Snaps being viewed by only a handful of people.
Some typical ways to increase followers include utilizing your Snapcode, promoting your handle on other social media, offering exclusive content, and collaborating with other accounts. There’s even the new “Suggest” button, which lets people encourage their friends (after being gently encouraged by you) to follow your account. But the most fun way our institution has increased followers was through a contest that I called Snap To It.
The premise of Snap To It was the following. Every Friday for the Fall 2015 semester, I (or my faithful student worker) would go to a location on campus with a sweet prize. I would post Snaps from our location, at first very detailed and specific, then becoming more general, until a student showed up. Then the first student who arrived won the prize. Simple, fun, and effective at increasing our followers. Here’s how it all happened.
STEP 1: Secure those sweet prizes.
In a small town, many small businesses are eager to have an in with college students. I approached friends who ran small businesses to donate prizes for this contest in exchange for being sponsors of the contest. I wanted to make sure the prizes were above and beyond expectation, so I asked for at least a $25 value for each prize — some were valued as high as $100. Prizes included retail products, gift cards to local restaurants, and ski passes. I secured three prizes from each of five local businesses for a total that would get me through the 15 weeks of the semester.
STEP 2: Start promoting.
I started promoting the contest on Snapchat first, with Photoshop-designed graphics and brief explanations that could be uploaded with third-party apps like EasyUp Pro. (With Snapchat’s new Memories feature, this shouldn’t be necessary anymore, as I can upload directly from my Camera Roll.) I also made larger signs for the digital screens on campus, paper fliers for the bulletin boards, and mentions on other social media platforms. This was a hard push for the first week before classes started and the first week of school.
STEP 3: Plan some details.
I didn’t want this contest to interfere with classes in anyway (students racing out of a class in progress to grab a prize!), so I found when class breaks were on Fridays and planned, as often as possible, for those times. I started a spreadsheet to log the time, location, prize, and winner’s name for each week, and kept up with that throughout.
STEP 4: Run the contest!
Honestly, I didn’t realize how much fun the contest would actually be. The first time I sat on the stairs overlooking our Student Union, waiting for someone to show up, I started to feel a bit like I would get stood up on a first date. But once students figured out the contest, it became one of my favorite parts of the week. I once had three students running at me from different directions, or a student speeding up on a Vespa, screaming, “SNAPCHAT!” It not only increased awareness of our channel, but got me more involved with the students, chatting about how they use Snapchat, and other ideas they might have.
STEP 5: Never stop promoting.
Once a student won the giveaway each week, I would take a photo of them with their prize and post it on Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Wherever possible, I would tag the contest sponsor as a thank you, and ask the student to post on Instagram or Snapchat about their winnings as well. I continued the promotion of the contest on Snapchat at least one other time during the week and kept other signage up on campus.
Though it was tough to measure the exact effect the contest had on our account, it was overall a positive one. Between the beginning and end of the semester, our follower count rose by an estimated 400 individuals, though some of that may be related to other content efforts on the platform. Since the contest cost us nothing in terms of budget, and only a limited amount of work-hours, I felt it was well worth my time. A platform like Snapchat is meant to be fun, and this was a great way to stay within that framework and get our students excited.
Please comment below with questions, concerns, or other ideas!
