4 Ways to Promote Your Snapchat Through Instagram

More often than not, here at Kicksta, we’re solely focused on helping our readers milk as much value as possible from their respective Instagram accounts. It’s always been that way, is still that way and will likely remain that way in the months and years that follow. However, today’s topic takes our Instagram coverage to an entirely new level—Snapchat.

Almost seems counterintuitive, doesn’t it? That’s right, Instagram isn’t only the perfect outlet for any brand looking to take advantage of the marketing powers of social media, it’s also awesome for helping boost another social channel’s follower base. In this case, the lucky medium just so happens to be Snapchat. So, how exactly do you use one to improve the other? No worries—the following four tips will help provide some answers:

1) Provide a Snippet of Your Snapchat Story

Your Instagram followers can’t follow you on Snapchat if they don’t even know you and your brand have an account. As such, instead of being blatant about it and telling your brand fans to follow you on Snapchat, take a screenshot of your latest Snapchat story and publish it as a unique, out-of-the-box Instagram post.  

But that’s not all—take things a step further by teasing what you’ll be snapping through your stories throughout the remainder of the day on Snapchat. As an additional idea, if your Instagram content strategy involves daily or weekly themes, bring them over to Snapchat, too. Though this might not appeal to everyone, your most loyal followers are likely to keep in contact with you on as many of your platforms as possible.

2) Include Your Snapchat Handle as Part of Your Bio

Seems simple enough, right? Well, that’s because it is. If you’ve built and launched a special product or service campaign in the past, odds are high that you included a shortened version of your featured landing page’s link as part of your Instagram bio.

No, a Snapchat handle isn’t a link, but it provides an immediate, short-hand portal through which your Snapchat content can be accessed and interaction can take place. As part of your bio, make certain to include that the handle is for Snapchat. You can literally write out the word “Snapchat” to do so, or use a ghost emoji—weird, but your brand advocates will know what it means.

3) Take Advantage of Your Account’s Unique Snapchat URL

Using this strategy, you’ll do the same thing as mentioned above, only you’ll use a Snapchat link instead of handle. And before you ask, we already know what you’re thinking—“Snapchat accounts have unique URLs assigned to them?” Prepare to have your mind blown—yup, they most certainly do.

When clicked on a mobile device, the link automatically takes a user to Snapchat to begin interaction. With all of this in mind, however, it’s important to note that Instagram has blocked ‘add me’ deeplinking. So, if you do decide to use this tactic, make certain to shorten your link using Bitly or another link-shortening tool beforehand.

• Note: Here, you’ll find the template for accessing your Snapchat’s unique URL. Simply add your username in the final section and you’re good to go: http://snapchat.com/add/yourusername.

4) Regularly Publish Snapchat Screenshots On Instagram

As any seasoned Instagrammer will tell you, it’s a daunting task to have to come up with new, exciting Instagram posts on a routine basis. Seriously, if you have a well-established history of doing this and have managed to build a loyal follower base because of it, anything less than the best will drive Instagram users away from your account, instead of towards it.

Though not always an ideal solution to the aforementioned problem, in the case of this Instagram/Snapchat tag-team duo, the cross-promotion of content is a great idea. Seeing as how both networks are similar in their focus on visually enticing information, once you’ve captured a quick image on Snapchat, take a screenshot and share it on Instagram. Yup, that’s a two-for-one scenario. Not bad, right?

Conclusion

Though it’s generally accepted that Instagram continues to provide more widespread value for brands than Snapchat, the more interaction you can have with your target audience, the better. Whether it be through Instagram, Snapchat or both, accessibility is the key to social success.