Three weeks ago, we talked about the difference between organic and paid social marketing. Last week, we talked about 3 distinct ways to advertise on Instagram. Today, we’re going to talk about how to advertise on Snapchat, and how advertising on Snapchat is different than advertising on other social media platforms.

How Advertising on Snapchat Works

Advertising on Snapchat is unique because, according to Peter Naylor, Vice President of Sales at Snapchat, 95% of advertising on Snapchat is auction-based. Snapchat explains Snap Auction as a Goal-Based Bidding model, “which means you will be bidding on a specific goal such as Swipe Ups, Impressions, or Shares.” From there, Snapchat will deliver your advertisements to those Snapchatters who are most likely to help you reach your goal of x amount of Swipe Ups or Y amount of Impressions.  

How to start you auction campaign

There are a few ways to go about setting up your auction-based ads on Snapchat:

1. Auto-Bidding: Auto-Bidding puts the bidding process in the hands of Snapchat; they set the bid for you based on your goals, budget, and target audience.
2. Max Bid: The Max Bid strategy lets Snapchat know the most you’re willing to spend while keeping the CPA (cost per ad) as low as possible.
3. Target Cost: The Target Cost strategy tells Snapchat that you want your average CPA to stay “at or below the amount set by the ad set end date.” Snapchat warns that this strategy might be risky if your target cost is set too low.

Other Ways to Advertise on Snapchat

There are other bidding strategies available on Snapchat such as Minimum Return on Ad Spend and Suggested Bids. Before you decide how you want to manage your ad campaign on Snapchat, though, you need to decide what type of ad you want to run. At present, there are more than 10 different types of ads that exist on Snapchat from Single Image Ads to Swipe to Call or Text Campaigns. To get started, visit Snapchat’s For Business site.

Two weeks ago, we talked about the difference between organic and paid social marketing and when it’s best to use one over the other. As discussed, paid social marketing is best for when you want to gain new followers or customers, or if you want to increase general awareness about your business or brand. Today, we are going to dive deeper into paid social marketing, specifically in terms of how to advertise on Instagram.

TikTok and music have undeniably merged together since the app’s popularity exploded last winter. TikTok’s entire existence relies on the use of background music, and for some lucky musicians out there, their music just so happens to be picked up by TikTok influencers and regular users. Both rising stars trying to make their big break and classic rock heroes alike have gained massive attention on the app, and as NME frankly states it: “TikTok now has a huge effect on the music industry.”

Some of you might be reading the title of this post thinking to yourself: Am I supposed to already know the difference between organic versus paid social marketing? The answer is maybe, but if you don’t, you’ll have a grasp on the topic in two short minutes.

You know when you’re scrolling on Instagram, or Facebook, or TikTok, and you come across a post on your feed with a little “Promoted” tag in the corner? That’s paid social marketing, and it’s what companies spend their precious money on for various different reasons (but we’ll get to those reasons later).

Instagram’s newest algorithm is being as well-received as losing an hour of daylight in November – that is, it’s not being well-received at all.

Word of a new algorithm started circulating among the social media influencer community last week. Influencers like Cameron Rogers of @freckledfoodie and Danielle Berstein of @weworewhat took to their profiles to let their followers know that Instagram’s newest algorithm likely meant that followers wouldn’t come across their content as frequently anymore. For influencers, or for anyone that makes money off of Instagram, for that matter, this threatens the engagement rate of their posts. Cameron Rogers reposted an Instagram from the account @shityoushouldcareabout instructing her followers on the best way to engage with her posts in order to keep engagement up amongst the new algorithm change.

So, what exactly is Instagram’s newest algorithm going to mean for the average, run-of-the-mill user? According to a social media managing website, Mavsocial, the algorithm is supposed to show you the content by the people that you actually care about: “Their idea is to show you posts that could be most valuable to you based on your previous activity.”

It’s unclear exactly when the new algorithm is going live and how different it’s going to be from the current algorithm, but if you want to make sure that your or your clients’ posts continue to have high engagement on Instagram, you need to educate your followers on how they can best interact with your posts.

1. Saves. The save functionality on a post is the biggest factor affecting engagement rate.
2. Shares. Instruct your followers that direct messaging your posts to other users on the platform is another great way to keep engagement high.
3. Comments. Interacting with a post via commenting is another great way to show influencers support.
4. Likes. Likes are the fourth and least impactful way to increase engagement. Encourage your followers to keep on liking, but let them know that the first three steps are even more important.

Instagram has become notorious for switching up its algorithm when users are least expecting it, so it’s best that you stay up to date on how the app changes on a regular basis. As far as Instagram’s newest algorithm, encourage your followers to follow the four steps of engagement, and continue to support your favorite influencers as well by doing the same.