Today’s Topic Tuesday is from Guest Blogger Sean Brown of Sean Brown Productions.  He shares with us some awesome tips about Snap Chat and how it will change your game in the social media world!

Snapchat Is A Game Changer

Post by Sean Brown

There hasn’t been a new social media account that I’ve been this excited about in awhile. To put it into perspective, the last time I got this excited was when Instagram launched and we see how big that has become for the senior photography industry! Snapchat is so different from other social media apps and the reason it’s so relevant to senior photographers is that the main users of this platform are teens!

You might be thinking “Oh great… Another form of social media to learn.” However, I believe that the benefits of being on the platform far outweigh the downsides of not being on the platform. The biggest reason why senior photographers should be on the platform is that it’s where every teenager’s attention is at right now. Snapchat isn’t just a social media platform, but it’s almost become a way that teenagers communicate – much like texting! Because almost every senior is paying attention on this platform, this gives you a huge advantage in having the opportunity to reach them and tell your story.

So what is Snapchat? Snapchat is an up and coming social media app that is centered around photo and video content. However, it isn’t like other social media platforms. One of the big differences between Snapchat and traditional social media is that the photos and videos are only temporary! Each user has their own Snapchat “Story.” Users can post photos and videos that they take throughout the day and these are available to their followers for 24 hours. Anyone that follows you has access to your My Story, which is the main way that Snapchat is utilized for business purposes. Each video or photo only lasts for a maximum of 10 seconds and you have the option of adding text, emojis or drawing on your content, which adds a level of creativity. You also have the ability to “direct snap” those who you are friends with. These are slightly different and disappear once the user has opened the snap and cannot be replayed.

All of this might sound complicated, but it’s simple once you get the hang of it! The best way to figure out the app is to just play around with it! You navigate by swiping from screen to screen. Swiping up, down, right and left all navigate to different screens based on which one you’re currently on. Each screen does something slightly different and once you play around in the app for a little bit, navigating becomes second nature.

The best way to approach Snapchat is to think of how you can produce content that is unique to the platform. I believe that this is something that is often overlooked when utilizing social media. Instead of posting the same content that you’re putting on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, think about how you can post a slightly different take on it for your Snapchat account! This is a great way to bring value to your Snapchat followers. By not posting the same content as your other platforms, this gives your followers reason to keep coming back to your Snapchat account.

There are a couple things that I do with Snapchat that I have found to be extremely successful in implementing it into my business starting with the class of 2016! The first thing that I use Snapchat for is for my behind the scenes and peeks into what I’m up to. Behind the scenes content is excellent for this platform because it gives your followers a lens into your world and puts a face to your brand. This can be anything from hair and makeup before the session, which senior’s gallery I’m working on, a photo I’m editing, short videos of their slideshow from their in-person image premiere and even delivery of their products! The reason that I use Snapchat for behind the scenes is because I largely don’t post this content on my other social media platforms. By keeping this solely on Snapchat, this has allowed me to grow my audience and provide value to them by not reposting the same content that they follow on Instagram and Twitter for example. Once again, it’s important that you’re bringing your Snapchat followers exclusive content rather than bombarding them with the stuff they already see on other accounts. Posting the same content doesn’t draw them into your Snapchat account because they have already seen what you’ve posted! Plus, they come to this platform to see what you’re up to and get a feel for who the person behind the brand is.

My favorite content to post is when I am on-location at a senior session! Even if you’re not on Snapchat regularly, you need to be when it comes to senior sessions. I believe that choosing a senior photographer is a very personal decision. You want to make sure that your photographer is someone that you trust, enjoy being around and someone that you’re able to connect with. By posting snaps during the session, this allows prospective clients to see what it’s like being on-location with you! Everything from the excitement you bring to a session to how you pose your clients can be effectively communicated via your Snapchat story. Up until Snapchat, this wasn’t something that wasn’t readily accessible to all photographers. Yes you could hire a videographer to put together a promo video of sorts, but Snapchat is much more genuine and comes across as less edited, which appeals to this generation. Your seniors get to truly experience the session as if they were there in person.

We all get SUPER busy as photographers when we’re on-location with our clients. So what I like to do is have my senior or someone that is with us on location (parent, friend, makeup artist, etc.) help run the Snapchat story. This is called a “Snapchat Takeover”! While it’s important to curate what is going on the story, I usually just remind them not to overpost, keep in mind the variety of content they’re posting and post content that they themselves would want to see. What better way than giving the senior themselves control of what they believe their peers want to see rather than having to try and figure it out ourselves! When I hand my phone to them for their takeover, I turn on Guided Access on my iPhone, which ensures that they’re staying within the application. If you have no clue what this is, Google ‘guided access’ and Apple has a step by step support page that will show you how to use it! Once we have an outfit change, I use this time to go through the Story that my senior or their friend has posted and delete anything that’s repetitive or photos and videos that just add to the length of the Story and don’t add much value to my followers. It’s important to keep your Snapchat stories somewhat short so that your followers don’t become bored by it. The biggest thing is to truly treat it like a takeover and let the senior post what they want to. I believe that them running the takeover connects well with their peers and allows you to develop a brand that is centered around them. It shows you truly want them to have an incredible experience.

Another favorite thing I do is to show off sneak peeks early on Snapchat before I post them to other social media platforms. Your clients will be so excited about showing their friends the photos that they will tell them to go follow you. This is built in word of mouth that happens naturally and is great for you since you don’t have to ask people to follow you – it all happens organically. Since Snapchat doesn’t really have a native search option, you have to rely on using other platforms to help get your name out there. What I love to do is create a collage with my Snapchat username logo (the thing that kind of looks like a QR code), a selfie of the senior and general branding photos. I then have the senior post this to their Instagram and Twitter telling people to follow the behind the scenes on my Snapchat account. This brings in new followers every time since people will want to see what their friends are up to and it allows you to leverage your seniors’ social media accounts for increased word of mouth!

I think the single biggest thing that I’ve noticed from being on Snapchat is the number of inquiries about my senior rep team and pictures from members of the CLASS OF 2018! Yes, the class of 2018. It shows that the attention is there from our future clients and it’s essential to be on this platform now rather than trying to figure it out when it’s too late. By having a presence now, you might not see benefits now, but they’ll be here before we know it. In addition, don’t be afraid to engage with your followers. Create snaps that have them engage such as having them tell you their favorite photo that they want you to post to Instagram. Seniors love when you engage with them and using Snapchat is just another way to make this happen.

I believe that Snapchat is going to be a huge platform and gives us the tools to creatively tell our story in a unique way and put a face to our brand. Are you on Snapchat already? How have you implemented it into your business and what success have you seen because of it? Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts!

Sean Brown is a photographer based out of Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR specializing in high school senior portrait photography. Sean believes that photography should be personal and that each person should come away with images that reflect themselves and who they are as a person. Sean enjoys working with people and embraces the challenge of capturing each person’s personality in a different, unique way that’s true to who they are at this point in their life.

Website: www.seanbrownproductions.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/seanbrownproductions

Facebook: www.facebook.com/seanbrownproductions

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