If you follow eskimosoup, you will know by now we’re really proud of the work we do with young people – and not just because we’re pretty successful at it! As a target market, young people are seen as a difficult audience to engage with due to ever changing trends and platforms they hang out on online. Everything from the wrong emojis to outdated abbreviations can seriously work against a campaign if you don’t quite get it right (and don’t get us started on the use of memes).

We tackle this issue by speaking directly with young people in the right age groups and locations, talking to them on their level and asking them for advice and opinions. We’ve noticed that Snapchat is the app to connect with young people, an app that certainly divides generations by a pencil thin line. You either get it or you don’t, and if you don’t get it – well you’re likely now considered “old” (you can hear the 23-year-olds crying into their Instagram feeds).

For those of you who don’t know what Snapchat is, aka those of you who would be considered “ancient” (sorry!), according to Forbes’ basic definition is it, “the mobile app that allows users to capture videos and pictures that self-destruct after a few seconds.”
Snapchat also brought to rise augmented filters, streaks, face swapping and those ‘Stories’ you’ll have noticed popped up on Instagram and Facebook recently. Used now for text chats, picture sharing, story sharing, documenting and as a primary photo-taking application, it is king amongst young people.

So how on earth do you become king of content on a personal photo sharing application that only 1% of marketers are currently taking advantage of? Well, let us share some valuable nuggets of sweet sweet knowledge straight from the horse’s mouth:

1. Creative imagery

Alongside just taking a few funky photos, users may also make use of functions such as pen drawing, text, augmented selfie filters, emojis and much more! You can spend a while playing with all of these functions to create bright and engaging content to add to your company story.

2. Geo-filters

Taking a trip? Look on snapchat and swipe left a few times to find your local geo-filter! Also useful for gathering additional content for location specific campaigns. You can even get snapchat to publish a non-company specific geo-filters for your cause, location or campaign.

3. Perfect for iPad

Although it isn’t yet an iPad app, just flick that little switch at the top of the search bar on the app store to ‘iPhone’ mode and download the iPhone app on your tablet! This larger screen allows for creating more intricate artwork using the vibrant rainbow pen colour strip (have you worked out how to get the hidden colour shades yet?) and your Apple Pencil.

4. Save your snaps

With the ability to save all your photos, art and content from snapchat, and with it being a recognisable interface for young people, you can re-use your screen shots and saved images from the app to share across all social media. Not only does it allow to advertise your presence on snapchat, but also gives a more fun and ‘youthful’ aesthetic to both your target audience and peers!

5. The comeback of QR codes

A dying form of sharing, QR codes are still a primary way to get connected on Snapchat. With everyone having their own person QR code easily accessible straight from the app, it’s the easiest (and we guess prettiest?) way to get connected. You can take photos as a part of your code and share them amongst your other social media platforms. They’re even the perfect size for setting as a profile picture.

Jenni Harrison
Social media Manager