South Australia Featured on Snapchat with a Live Story
Exciting times this week for South Aussie tourism businesses who use Snapchat to engage with their customers.
You (and everyone else in the state) have the opportunity to contribute your snaps to a "Live Story".
Here's the announcement from the official South Australia Facebook page:
Snapchat are creating a dedicated story featuring South Australia as a travel destination and they want your snaps! The Snapchat team in LA have asked to see our beautiful state through your eyes and experiences.
Submit your snaps by taking a photo or video and then choose "South Australia Trip" when you submit it to your story!
The Snapchat story will be live for 24 hours commencing at 6:30pm Adelaide time next Tuesday 25 October and will be shown to over 100 million snap-chatters around the world!
Let the world #SeeSouthAustralia on Snapchat! Send lots and lots of snaps until this Sunday!
(Snapping tips: Shoot vertical, provide context by narrating your snap, use captions, emojis and doodles to take it to the next level and have fun! Show the world our legendary scenery, take snap-chatters on a wine flight, share your experiences out in our regions, showcase our wildlife, and show the world why you love South Australia!)
How do you post a snap to the South Australia Trips story?
Note: the "South Australia Trip" story won't appear if you're outside of the state.
But, if you already have a Snapchat account AND you're "snapping" inside South Australia's state boundary, then it's easy!
First, create your snap
Decorate and personalise it as you wish. Swipe right to speed up/slow down/show the time, temperature or speed. Bonus points if you add any local geo-filters that promote your location.
Then tap the blue/white arrow to post your snap.
Ahem. Don't know where that bald, bearded Bitmoji sprang from, but hey, Snapchat is meant to be fun 🙂
Next, you get to choose where to post your snap.
Normally, you would add it to "My Story" and perhaps send it to some of your friends as well.
But, for the next few days, you'll see "South Australia Trip" featured.
Tick that so your snap will go into the library for Snapchat to review and possibly feature when the story launches next week!
Confirm you're ok for your snap to be public if chosen.
And you're done!
We'll come back and update this post as more news (and hopefully, some data from Snapchat to confirm how many people viewed the South Australia Trip story!).
Are you new to Snapchat? Wondering how to use it for marketing your tourism business?
Check out these comprehensive resources to get you started.
The Basics of Snapchat
- Official How To Guide via Snapchat
- How to Use Snapchat: A Guide for Beginners via Hootsuite
- More about Live Stories via Snapchat
Using Snapchat for Tourism Marketing
- 2 Easy Ways Tourism Brands Can Engage Customers on Snapchat via Tourism eSchool
- 14 Top Travellers and Travel Bloggers to follow on Snapchat via The Hostel Girl
- Spotlight on How to Market Tourism Products with Snapchat via Trekksoft
- Creating Snapchat Geofilters advertising for tourism businesses via TourismTribe
- Instagram Stories vs. Snapchat Part 1 via Destination Think (note: the benefits of the types of content mentioned in this article apply to both platforms)
Should you use Snapchat for your tourism business?
Honest answer is maybe. Maybe not.
As with any social media marketing channel, if you want real results, you have to put in more than just a part-time effort before writing it off.
And live social media (Snapchat, Instagram Stories, Periscope, Facebook Live) will not work for you if you jump on there and tell people to buy your product 80% of the time.
People see through it, so just don't. It will harm your brand more than not using the channel at all.
These so-called "live" channels are best used in a raw and authentic way to tell your story and give people insights into you, your team, your business. This will help you build trust, develop relationships and create ongoing brand awareness in the minds of your biggest fans.
So before you jump in boots and all, here's my advice:
- make sure your audience is there (hint: start asking your customers what social media channels they use);
- connect with, and learn from, others who are already great at the platform before you dismiss it;
- be prepared to invest time and effort to learn something new and do things a little differently (reality check folks: if you don't already have that approach in business, you may not be in business for the long term…);
- Don't be afraid to fail and screw up the first few times – we all start somewhere!
Lastly, don't underestimate the value of the skills you learn as you tinker with new digital marketing tools like Snapchat. They're transferrable to other social media channels (e.g. the best Instagram Stories I've seen, have been created by people who were already using Snapchat well).
Happy snapping!
P.S. Want to keep in touch on "the Snaps"?
Click this link on a mobile device to add me (findpeter).