As you’ve been busy leveraging social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, you’ve been missing out on using one of the most buzzed about social platforms; Snapchat.
Yes. That Snapchat. The social network that shares disappearing images.
How could that possibly be of use for freelancers?
Why Snapchat Matters
Let’s get right to it. Snapchat is a big deal. The social network has more than 200 million users and makes up 18% of social media users in the U.S. But, the most interesting fact about Snapchat is that generates approximately 400 Snapchat Stories per day! That’s more than what Instagram and WhatsApp are doing daily.
In other words, Snapchat could be the leading platform for sharing photos on mobile devices.
Finally, Snapchat is also extremely popular among people under 34 years old. That could be beneficial if you have clients that are a part of younger demographic. For example, if you’re in a field like web development or filmmaking, you can probably connect with your fellow freelancers who are in the same age demographic. Furthermore, you can use Snapchat to tap into that younger demographic who could become clients.
Getting Your Profile Up and Running
Just like with any other social media account that you’ve created, to get started with Snapchat you first need to sign-up for a free account and download the app onto your smartphone. The most important part of the signing up process is your username. This is how people are going to find you on Snapchat. Since you’re a freelancer, you probably want to stick with your actual name. If your name is taken, you can go with a username that describes what you do, such as @johnsmithdesign. Remember, you should have consistency between usernames on your social media channels.
When creating your account, you’ll have to supply your mobile number. Snapchat will then check your contacts to see who already has an account. Even if it’s just a handful of people in your network, it’s a start.
Finally, unlike other social media platforms, that’s about as far as you can go with your Snapchat profile. Start playing around with Snapchat to get a feel on how to use the app.
One-of-a-Kind Content
There are two types of content that you can create with Snapchat; photos and videos. That doesn’t mean that you’re creativity is limited. You can create one-of-a kind content with these techniques:
- Snapchat “Stories.” This feature allows you to create a series of videos that make-up a larger story. You can spread the story throughout the day or even week.
- Behind the scenes. Give your clients a behind-the-scenes look at you having fun, the work process, or a teaser of new service.
- Giveaways. Because of the time-limit to view content, Snapchat is great for giveaways because there’s a sense of urgency. Build anticipation for the giveaway by taking several Snaps that tease the contest. People then enter the giveaway by following you, submitting their email address, or answering a question.
- Different fonts and text. Spice up your images by playing around with different types of fonts and texts.
- Partnering with influencers. As with most other social networks, teaming up with influential individuals is a great way to increase followers and get your content in front of new people.
- Quick Snaps. Take some Quick Snaps as an experiment to see how much your followers can see in one quick shot.
- Q&A. Snapchat is extremely interactive, so take advantage of that by asking people questions like what they’re weekend plans are or feedback on the content that you’ve created. You could even use other social networks for your Q&A. For example, you could have followers ask you questions on Twitter, but respond on Snapchat.
- Draw. Another way make your images unique is to draw over your selfie. It could as simple as adding a moustache or hat. For freelancers, you could try and draw something related to your expertise, like maybe you using an animated computer since you’re a designer.
- Exchange ideas. Snapchat could be a fun way for you and clients to exchange project ideas since the images disappear. This not only keeps everyone on the same page, it also helps you keep the client engaged.
Promoting and Sharing
After you’ve created your one-of-a-kind content, you want to start promoting and sharing it to others.
The first place to start is by changing the filters in your account. Head into your Settings and change the filter so that everyone can view your stories instead of just limiting that to people in your network.
While in your settings, you may want to turn on the Replay filter so that your followers can replay images or videos, as opposed to just viewing them once.
Also, don’t forget to share your Snapchat content onto other social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
