What I’ve Learned in the First 6 Months of The Snapchatters Podcast
Lessons from a Snapchat Student-of-the-Game
Hello everyone! My name is Brad Ouldhouse, “nextgenbizman” on the Snaps and host of The Snapchatters Podcast. I have learned an awful lot in these first six months since I started the show that focuses exclusively on my favorite messaging app.
Let me give you some context first. Back in late November 2015, I really wanted to improve my Snapchat game. As a social media marketer-turned small agency startup owner, I knew I needed to understand it better if I was ever going to be able to pitch its use to my clients. So, I searched for podcasts, since I seem to learn more by listening and doing than I do from reading.
I scoured the internet; where could I find a show specifically about Snapchat? I found a lot of individual episodes but never came across the show I really longed for. I had hoped to find the one that talked to Snapchatters who know the platform the most, who could teach me to be just as good as they are, and a show that could help me find other Snapchatters to follow. I couldn’t find it.
So, I reached out to some friends, and asked them if they’d ever listen to a podcast just about Snapchat and nothing else. The overwhelming majority (all of them, actually all 4 of you J ) said DO IT! Go make it!
I am NOT a professional podcaster, and I maintain to this day that I am a student of the game in Snapchat and every other platform. That said, what came from that awkward launch date on a chilly December 13th, 2015 up here in Montana has changed the course of entire my life.
I’ve learned that Snapchat, in its best form, is still a private messaging app. That’s how it started, and that is still how the majority of its users are using it. Many people will post to their Stories, but a great number of users simply like to watch their friends act silly, or follow their favorite singers and other celebrity types to get that exclusive look into their lives. It is so easy as marketers to argue with each other, back and forth, about “how to use it for business” or “the right way to grow a following” and I’m afraid that it’s really all relative to the vacuum we are in, right?
Seems like a lot of us marketers are following an awful lot of marketers, meanwhile there are a whole slew of Snapchat celebrities that are being paid by big companies to Snap their style of storytelling to massive followings, yet they don’t seem to be invited into those conversations. This became one of the core values of the show from the very beginning. I wanted to talk to the ones no one in the marketing space were talking about. I haven’t scratched every name on my list off quite yet, but I’m off to a great start!
By interviewing the best, I’m learning from the best; a typical outcome. But, something I’ve gained from Snapchat are the powerful and authentic relationships I have with “my Snap peeps”. I was lucky enough to attend Social Media Marketing World this year in San Diego where, as Brian Fanzo says, I turned a lot of handshakes into hugs. Snapchat allowed me a deeper connection with these folks I had Tweeted with for the last 18 months. I wasn’t too afraid to go to a new place because I had friends I could meet with. Snapchat just has that visceral, raw and real feel when you allow those one-to-one conversations.
I’ve learned some great tips and tricks; I’ve learned where the most trusted resources are for finding useful information (snapchatstrategy.com is a favorite of mine to plug on the show, so it is a HUGE honor to contribute to this community!); I’ve heard a lot of noise, yet seen folks putting in the real work to make Snapchat such a wonderful place. I’ve had interviews that made my cry, laugh and jump for joy. I’ve seen guests of my show go on to far greater things; I’ve learned how to use emojis for grouping people that I can show secret content to, much like an email list. I’ve learned these things and so much more since the idea came to me last November. Shoot I’ve even gone so far as to record an entire interview for The Snapchatters Podcast using only Snapchat!
Most of all, I’ve learned by doing; that’s the only way I can absorb something and make it stick in this hockey-rattled brain of mine. All of this studying has afforded me some confidence that I can hold a conversation about it, to the point that I was running around Social Media Marketing World telling people to pull out their phones because I had something AWESOME to show them. I’ve turned “haters” into Snapchat evangelists and ambassadors for my show. Without finding those trusted sources like this one here in Medium, I’d still be sitting here wondering what the hell an On-Demand Geofilter is!
Where will I be in another six months? Well, I’ll still be growing, trying new things in my favorite app, and hopefully still bringing Snapchat’s best to a growing audience of listeners all over the world, who I have had the greatest honor in conversing with and serving.
I’m curious to know something: What has been the BEST article here in Medium for you so far? Which ones really turned your Snapchat game around? Leave me a comment if you like, or reach out on Snapchat, of course!
Let’s Snap To It!
