In my first 11 days, I was making money from Snapchat, we attributed $11K in sales to the channel. By week 6 it was over $20K. And after 8 weeks we have had over $67K in sales and it is growing steadily.
I won’t be retiring anytime soon but I am pretty excited about where this is going and want to share some social media tips for Snapchat marketing with you.
Snapchat, at this rate, will likely create for our business a revenue channel over well over $300K this year and more likely over $500K if the growth in followers remains solid.
Recently I received a lot of attention about my results from mainstream Snap users when I shared on a Gary Vaynerchuk video that we had done over $11K in sales in our first 4 weeks.
Since then I have received hundreds of snaps from people all over the world asking “How the ‘hashtag’ did you do that?”
In this post, I will tell you but if you would prefer to learn by watching add me on Snapchat: Kerwinrae or click here if you’re on mobile.
I will give you step by step EVERYTHING I did but before I give you the exact process I used I need to give you some relevant context.
Snapchat is blowing up. It is estimated that Snap has active users of over 150 Million as of Jun 2016.
They have now reached 10 Billion video views a day up from 8 Billion only 9 short months ago (facebook only has 7B!).
Unlike Facebook or YouTube that register consumption/views after 3 short seconds, Snapchat has 3x the rate of completion for videos watched. Completion means the entire video gets watched.
People are sharing 9,000 snaps per second.
All this on an app that is considered by most as confusing and not very intuitive.
And the best part…
Only 1% of businesses already on social media have caught on to Snapchat as a part of their social mix for business.
Almost no one in business is taking any real notice. Which means massive opportunity for early business adopters and marketing focused entrepreneurs.
At some point, marketers will screw this channel up like we do every other channel, so now is the time to get ‘Snaptivated’.
I remember when I finally realized that Facebook was going to be a game changer for business, and by the time I had woken up I knew I had missed the ground floor opportunity.
It wasn’t all bad, I missed the first boat. Still got there in the end after having to compete with masses of other marketers using the platform who had caught on later in the game as I had.
With Facebook I wasn’t early, I was late and I still made a killing (and still do) but often fantasize about what I could’ve REALLY done if I had only got on it sooner?
That will never happen again and that’s why I am doubling down on Snapchat.
The assumption has been for quite a while now that Snapchat is a messaging app for kids who want to send naughty messages and pictures to each other without fear of their parents seeing them.
True and false. See my post Snapchat is not just for dick pics anymore.
The best Social Platforms ALWAYS kill it with the younger demographic (13-17) first before all the oldies wander over to look at what all the fuss is about.
That’s how it goes so park your beliefs and stories. This is already happening…
If you are still thinking Snapchat is just for kids well then you are definitely older and you will definitely miss out if you don’t learn the context of this channel in your social marketing mix and the style of content that creates the engagement.
Snapchat is now a ground floor Social business tool with a ton of attention from people who buy all sorts of stuff.
Where the attention goes the money flows and Snapchat has a MASSIVE market share for attention right now. Quality attention in high quantities.
It is reported that Snapchat is the most OPEN smartphone app on iPhone today.
Highly engaged, highly focused attention is the key to buyer engagement.
But before you get all your offers ready to blast people on Snapchat you need to know I made $67,000 without making one direct offer.
Let me say that again – NOT one single offer…
I made $67K in 8 weeks and I didn’t act like a sales & marketing douche bag once.
The value of the Snapchat real estate.
The value of something is often derived from what the market is willing to pay and the market as of Jan 2015 was reportedly lining up to pay $750,000 a day to advertise on Snapchat with ads that disappear!
With Discover channels on Snapchat getting 10s of millions of views per week is it any wonder why.
Snapchat is making money and its revenue is growing so it isn’t another pre-revenue unicorn it is a ridgy didge business.
Snapchat revenues for 2014 were $3M, in 2015 they popped to $59M and in 2016 they are projected to explode to $350-$400M.
In 2013 facebook offered Snapchat $3B to buy it and today nearly 3 short years later it is estimated to be worth $20 Billion.
The platform works, it is proven, it is growing, the biggest brands are investing huge sums in it and 99% of businesses of businesses already on social media are NOT using Snapchat.
99% of businesses on Social don’t use Snapchat = Massive opportunity.
So let’s get into the HOW of what I did.
It is really important to know this upfront: Snapchat for me is NOT a lead generation tool.
It is a value delivery and nurturing tool that gives an experience not available anywhere else.
We have created a reality web series called “The Social Experiment” that documents my Snapchat use, you can check it out below I hope you enjoy it?
Here are the 7 steps I used to make $67K on Snapchat in my first 8 weeks
1. I started publishing content – I got off my ass and started
When I started I sucked. All my videos were getting cut off because I wasn’t used to the whole 10-second thing. It was raw unrehearsed (still is) and clunky but I kept publishing and started to find my feet and my groove.
For the most part, I publish most days Mon – Fri, I don’t typically publish on the weekend as that is my family time.
There have been times where I have not published for days at a time when I am busy (I am running a business after all) and recently I took a week holiday and only published twice.
The consequence was an increase in direct engagement with people asking where I was (bonus). But the downside was my video views dropped when I re-engaged. But they lifted back up quickly.
See examples of my content on Snapchat: Kerwinrae or click here if you’re on mobile.
2. Publishing frequency – every hour on the hour
By publishing a few snaps every hour you push your story to the top of the pile where it is likely to be consumed. Snapchat was updated a while ago where now all stories roll into others which has increased views slightly.
But if you want to get consumed by your followers spread it out and post frequently not in big brain dumps.
I find it best not to front load content (publish too many snaps all at once, back to back), although I am guilty of it, it creates a glut of snaps for people to watch and it can increase the likelihood of them bailing out and not consuming all the snaps.
However if you make sure it is quality content you’ll be fine.
What makes Snapchat so powerful is its brevity. Short, sharp and to the point. But you can lose that if you publish 50 snaps back to back.
You want to keep people hanging in there for the next piece of content. If you want to blast 50 snaps (which is 5 mins of content) use Facebook Live, Periscope or film a longer video to use on another channel such as YouTube or Facebook.
3. Build followers through cross-channel promotion
The biggest question I get is how to build followers on Snapchat. Snapchat is a powerful tool but it is a closed system when it comes to knowing who to follow.
Snapchat doesn’t give you suggestions (at least not at the time I’m writing this) on people they think you should follow so you need to use your clout on other channels or mediums to get people over for the “more” intimate exposure.
Offer followers something from Snapchat that they can’t get anywhere else on any other platform.
When I got serious in my second week I sent an email to my database, posted links & snap codes on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram and my following grew substantially.
There is also an app called Ghost Codes where you can find users based on interests and popularity. Make sure if you download it you give me some love on the app.
4. Give Snap followers a unique experience
Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn are all different channel with different “rules” of engagement.
With different channels should come different content. Don’t use Snapchat as a way to push out the exact same content just through a different channel.
You want to give the users of each platform a unique experience to the platform.
What I offer on Snapchat is a raw, uncut, intimate, interactive and behind the scenes experience that shows the day to day shit I do. Plus I am super responsive to everyone’s questions and feedback.
“My Snap community get to interact with me personally in a very intimate way, unlike any other platform.”
See what I mean by checking out Snapchat: Kerwinrae or click here if you’re on mobile.
5. Give enormous value – give away the house
My content strategy for Snapchat is pretty straight forward. Give, give, give, give and then give a bit more. Every day I try to open with a theme and dive into it. But you don’t want to dive too deep leave that for your blog posts.
Every day I post a series called “In The Car With Kerwin” where I deep dive into a special topic on business, psychology, relationships or spirituality.
I also do a series from time to time called “60 Seconds With?” where I interview successful entrepreneurs and ask them 6 questions, 1 per snap and it creates some powerful content.
We have interviewed CEO of Infusionsoft Clate Mask, Oren Klaff Author of Best Seller Pitch Anything just to name a few.
Keep the content deep enough to be of real practical value but high level enough to digest quickly to keep the attention span engaged. Front loading deep content kills attention in its tracks.
Then throughout the day, I do check-ins and share what is going on as it is happening.
6. Ask for Snapbacks – create a REAL conversation
A snapback is when someone sends you a snap in response to your content, comment or pic. Don’t always expect people to respond just because the content is good. It’s not like other channels that make it very easy for people to reply.
Snapchat is certainly not the most responsive channel but it is highly engaged. Followers will respond but it helps dramatically if you ask them or tell to. “Snap me back with thoughts, ideas and questions”.
This is where the conversation starts. This is where I ask what they do, what their biggest challenges are and how can I help them? The crazy thing is I really want to know, I love helping people so for me this is genuinely fun – for me.
This is THE MOST important part of the process. Be human and have real conversations, don’t try and get all sales – help a people rather than trying to sell them!
Ask me a question on Snapchat: Kerwinrae or click here if you’re on mobile.
7. Take them off Snapchat – onto the phone
The conversation starts with me “asking questions” and usually leads to me providing advice, then more questions followed by me offering to jump on the phone with them to really drill into their situation.
It is here that I am able to get really clear on their real issues, how it affects them and the real costs to their business to see if I can help them.
So that’s it in a nutshell!
Some people are probably looking for some magic hack or button or way to link content to landing pages or to be able to scrape data (email addresses) or retarget users on other platforms.
My advice if that is your way of thinking, is to pull your head out of your ass.
Snapchat is not as much a sales channel for me as it is a value added nurturing channel. I don’t sell on Snapchat I add massive value, I nurture, I share, I care and basically give everything away for free and ask how I can help people.
I offer massive value and all I ask for is feedback on how I can serve better and if what I am saying makes sense and if we get a connection I ask to jump on the phone.
As of publishing this article we are now over $90,000 in sales directly attributed to Snapchat.
Get on it.
Let me know your thoughts and questions below and make sure to share!
To stay up-to-date with all my behind the scenes action Like my Facebook Page and follow The Social Experiment here.
The Social Experiment is a documentary-style reality Web TV show that gives you unprecedented access behind the scenes to discover how successful businesses are run.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Kerwin Rae
Snapchat: @KerwinRae
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Hey Kerwin,
Only just found you recently on Facebook, through a Dan Norris share, for your Social Experiment. Really appreciate all the value bombs and I’m hoping to learn alot more. I too suck at social so it’s easy to relate.
Throwing myself back into snapchat to get this sorted.
Thanks
Hey Byron,
Dan is a great man and a content machine. Glad you’re enjoying The Social Experiment and stoked you can relate! Here to help 🙂
Great stuff Kerwin, thanks! As The Reno Coach I can see a great opportunity to use this App several times a day from the building site…quick 10 second reno tips…that’s gonna be a challenge! Cheers from Mike.
Snap will work for anyone who works it but for your business being very visual it is extra perfect! Crush it..
Awesome content, real, raw. May I ask..what was your end pitch? CTA? Consulting?
Thanks for this K
Thank you! We are an education and training co for businesses who want to grow fast but don’t know how. We specialise in creating fast growth. Here to help 🙂
Hey Kerwin! You give great value and started to follow you on Snapchat after this. (looking forward to see your snaps)
I love to serve people especially leaders.
What do you think of just helping people with leadership on Snapchat, relate everything in daily life to leadership?
My snapchat is: tedgunnarsson
Thank you once again!
Snapchat is an incredible medium to help any industry and now is the time to get on to establish yourself first. Enjoy Snaps 🙂
G’day Kerwin
You are my inspiration man!!! just love the content you create ( content is king, context is the God-Gary Veynerchuck, he he I know you know him well) I too started creating stuff, I don’t know what i’m doing but I started 🙂 Have a good one ey.
Under the Sun
Ran
Just start and get it out there bro! Thanks for being on part of the journey!
Awesome stuff just connect on FB today
Thank you let me know if I can help in any way.
My clients are corporate c-suite execs, do you think snapchat is relevant to them?
This reminds me of a question I asked someone about facebook in 2008 where I asked someone how relevant Facebook is to business owners. The answer I got was terrible, I was told it isn’t relevant and is just a fad that will pass. My subsequent delay on ‘really’ getting into fb has cost me easily multiples of millions of dollars in revenue I didn’t get because I didn’t think it was for my demographic. So are there c-level execs on Snapchat? Yes, no doubt. Are there millions? Maybe not. Will there be? 100% absolutely and whoever takes the time to dominate that market on Snapchat today will reign surpeme tomorrow as they start to arrive in greater numbers.
Check out my other Snap article to get your head around the demo’s on Snap already.
Great article Kman. Thank you. Question re your snapchat name if your business is not build around a personal brand. EG How would Nike develop a success Snapchat channel? Would the CEO snap or a whole lot of staff members or athletes contribute?
Thanks Greg, I would develop a company channel that is handed around within different departments while they share what they do in the co and how they make a difference. It gives the consumers an inside look into the business and people that they don’t get anywhere else. Vayner media who’s CEO is Gary Vayneychuk has their own brand channel @VaynerMedia on Snpapchat check it out. We will do that at some stage most likely.
Great article Kerwin! As a snap newbie with a massive interest in everything social, you have help…once again. The potential of snap is crazy. I’m pumped to see where it goes. I think one of the best things on it is the quick “Day In The Life” experience it can bring via stories. Love has been shown on the ghost app too brother. 🙂
Thanks Trav, it is going places so make you mark now 🙂
A great article, and a great video series – informative, and easy to relate to.
Ironically, I work in the digital sector, and have done for almost 18 years. Your fresh thinking has shown me that I’m behind your particular curve, especially with regards to Snapchat, and I guess despite my work I’m still guilty of thinking of it like the 45 year old that I am.
So, thank you for the enlightenment, Kerwin. I’m off to talk to my 15 year old with a view to embracing some fresh Social thinking! I think I may need to raise my game pronto 🙂
Keep it up, and best of luck with your own campaign.
Thanks Jon, glad you enjoyed the article and are enjoying The Social Experiment
You have the right idea, just find any teenager and they should be able to help! I’m 42 this year so hearing you loud and clear.
Appreciate the support 🙂
Hey Kerwin I’ve been fascinated by your Social Experiment.
We’re a digital marketing agency on the Gold Coast about to open in Sydney.
I’m like you, have that lack of confidence to get started but I have all this content in my head and definitely want to help my clients grow. (You can hear my Fear!!!’)
From a business reality side, we got got caught out expecting an awesome year on top of last years growth, but the exact opposit happened. Why? We were not practicing what we preached. Content, Social, Outreach Educate, Amplify was what we pushed and produced for our clients. Unfortunately we became the client at the end of that train and that usually meant it didn’t get done
We’ve learnt our lesson and whilst it was a difficult few months, you dust yourSelf off and come out the other side. We know what we were capable of.
Thanks for the inspiration and sharing not just your successes but your fears. Transparency is so underestimated.
Regards
Michael. (Insert snapchat account when account is created)
Sounds like you have had some really solid lessons Michael.. Sometimes it is a case of the shoe makers shoes having the holes in them, I get it I have been there and empathise. You will find your way I have no doubt, here to help if you need it mate. Best of luck..
Hey Kerwin looking at a change up in my life after years in construction Heavy Haulage trucking and Crane operations,now directing more of my attention to MLM for a new energy provider promoting and selling affordable responsible energy use . I love your enthusiasm for snap chat I got to get that just do it attitude, not sure how to go about kicking this off though .Our business opportunity is a part of a $20 billion a year industry within the energy sector and we are still in prelaunch,building our customer base by way of relationship marketing .I would certainly welcome you on board 10 minute video on my website. Regards Euan
Love it been.following.you now for a couple of weeks. Just started our own business to try something new here in Christchurch New Zealand. Love your work, openess and genuine ethics. Keep it up and look forward to more. Phil
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