A Snapchat Masterclass: New Opportunities for Content Creators.

Five billion Snaps are sent per day; Snapchat is an incredibly popular platform. But historically, it has been thought of as primarily for friends and family. So, in the past few years, the platform has been expanding its focus to cater more to content creators – some of whom have already become millionaires simply by posting Stories. Here’s how. 

Last week, MG Empower had the pleasure of welcoming Emily McDonnell, Head of Creator Partnerships UK at Snapchat, to our HQ to give us a masterclass on all things Snapchat. Specifically, she brought us up-to-date on how the platform has been reconfiguring itself for Snap Stars (that’s the term Snapchat uses for its verified creator community). 

Here’s the big takeaway: Snapchat is an incredibly hospitable, empowering and lucrative environment for people who work in the creator industry. That’s for many reasons, but just to scratch the surface…

• Snapchat is all about raw, real-time content, so it doesn’t take a lot of editing or time investment to make content that works on Snapchat. Creators can get paid simply for uploading Stories. 
• Snapchat is making a concerted effort to cater to and invest in its creator community, by continually adding new creator-specific features, API integrations and monetisation opportunities to the platform.  
• The platform’s reach is huge and the audience is engaged. 90% of all 13-24 year olds in over 20 countries, including the US and UK, are on Snapchat. And that audience is unique and incremental to other platforms. 

And there’s more where that came from. The opportunity on Snapchat is huge. So, let’s talk about it.

What are the perks of being a Snap Star?

Once your account is verified on Snapchat, you become a Snap Star. And that comes with a lot more perks than just the highly coveted Gold Star. Firstly, it comes with opportunities to be discovered by new audiences by having your Stories shared on the publicly available Stories page; immediately extending your content’s reach to a pool of potentially millions of active users. 

Secondly, Snap Stars get access to a whole host of creator-specific features that can help you monetise your content, connect with brands, and generally empower your career. These include:

• The Stories Revenue Share Program. Once you’re accepted onto the program (provided you’re 18+) ads get inserted into your Stories and creators share the revenue with the platform – and people have become millionaires from this. This is truly a game-changer because you can literally make money just from posting Stories. No brand collaboration required. 

• Shopify integration. If you use Shopify to sell merch, you can link up your account with Snapchat and sell stuff through the platform. Snapchat won’t take any commission on sales either, so it’s pure profit for you.  

• The Snap Star Collab Studio. This service (available in the US) allows brands to source, partner and drive results with Snap Stars, helping agencies like us to bridge the gap between brands and Snap Stars on 360 campaigns, from production and influencer procurement to contracting and paid strategies. 

• Creator Discovery API. Snapchat’s integration with a Creator Discovery API makes it easier for agencies like us to pull data on creators and match them with brands and campaigns.  

How is Snapchat different from other platforms?

Snapchat is more about being raw and authentic, with less pressure than other platforms to have a ‘perfect profile’. If you’re only posting 1% of your camera roll on Instagram, for example, Snapchat likes to think that it exists for people to post the 99% that’s left over. People can’t see who’s following whom, and there are no public ‘likes’ (except on Spotlights) – so it’s truly a low-to-no-pressure platform.

The lack of pressure makes it easier for creators to feel comfortable just showing up as their natural, authentic selves, without the expectations that we know all too well on other platforms. That makes the content on Snapchat a little different, too. Here are their top tips for making content that works:

• Hook people in straight away. The first second is crucial. 
• It’s more show than tell. You want people to be able to follow along.
• Optimise your Tiles. Your most recent Snap shows as a thumbnail, so make sure you use a photo and add a caption to signal the kind of content your followers can expect. 

If you have any questions that we haven’t answered, feel free to get in touch at the Connect page!

We also just want to say a big thank you to Emily for coming in and sharing her world with us. We’re loving the evolution of Snapchat’s story. And we hope our readers are, too – whether you’re a creator or a brand looking to tap into the power of Snap.