Introduction
It’s a beginner guide, where one will learn Snapchat and find all the vital information needed to master this app.
Do you want to grow your business with an audience of millennials and Gen-Zers looking to snap it up? Learn how to use Snapchat to its fullest for more brand engagement, awareness, and driving revenue.We’ve got you covered every step of the way.
What is Snapchat?
Snapchat is a visual social networking site for the sharing of ephemeral pictures and videos.
Launched in 2011, and with the Stories feature appearing on the scene in 2013, Snapchat has grown to become one of the world’s largest social media platforms. And, just like Shakira’s hips, the Snapchat statistics don’t lie. It has now chalked up 293 million daily active users as of July 2021—a year-on-year increase of 23 percent.
Today, it enables the recording and sharing of live videos, seeing friends on that cool of a map, experiencing AR, and much more. Kinda cool, right?
The first thing that really makes Snapchat special for business owners and users alike is its new features.
It’s clear that Snapchat firmly has a seat at the table of social media giants—even if its users’ demographic skews more toward Millennial and Gen-Z cohorts.
If your target audience is less than 34 years old, then this might be the best platform for your business—especially if you are operating in the direct-to-consumer market.
It signals that the platform can boost sales, drive more revenue, and translate to ROI when 60% of all Snapchat users are more likely to make impulse purchases.
Snapchat Features and Terminology
From features to help you drive audience engagement and build brand awareness, Snapchat has many more things in store. But before we get deeper, let’s take a gander at some key Snapchat terminology.
Snap
A picture or video available to all users since day one that you send through the app to one or more of your friends.
A video snap may be as long as 60 seconds, known as a Long Snap. True to its original feature, Snapchat doesn’t retain any photo or video content; that is, the platform clears content once the recipient views the Snap.
Stories
Stories are Snaps you would like to share with all of your Snapchat friends. Stories last in the app for 24 hours before being deleted. Should you want to save your Story, you can download them to your device’s camera roll or save them to Memories.
Custom Stories
Custom Stories will allow you to create Stories together with other people from your list of friends.
Filters
A Snapchat filter is a cool way to jazz up your Snaps by laying an overlay or other special effects over them. Filters can change based on special events or holidays, location, or time of day.
Lenses
Lenses are where AR comes into play. Using Snapchat Lenses, you can add 3D special effects, objects, and characters to your photos or videos. Unlike filters, you use lenses while you are taking a Snap.
Geofilters
Similar to Filters, Geofilters are location-based, meaning they are connected to where you are in the world. To use a Geofilter, you must turn on location in Snapchat. You can also design a custom Geofilter for as little as $5 — a prime way to drive brand awareness or promote an event.
Snapcode
Snapcodes are unique QR-style codes that you scan to add friends or access features and content on Snapchat. Every user gets assigned a Snapcode automatically, and you can also create additional Snapcodes, which link to any website.
Chat
Chat is the Snapchat version of an instant messenger for individual and group chats. Messages disappear after they have been viewed.
Memories
Memories are Snaps and Stories that you can save for viewing later, rather than letting them disappear. You can think of Snapchat Memories like your personal photo album you can access anytime.
Friends
The friends are those whom you have added on the Snapchat or who have added you. You can share your Snaps, Stories, or any other content from you with your friend’s list.
Discovers
Discover is a Snapchat screen on which brands may share their Stories with the large audience of the app. Perfect for businesses, publishers, and content creators, this option is excellent for increasing engagement and raising brand awareness.
Snap Map
Snap Map shows both your location and those of all your friends. You can see Snaps submitted to the Snap Map from all parts of the world. Of course, if you don’t want to share where you are, you can turn Ghost Mode on.
Context Card
Context Cards pull in informations from Snapchat’s partners in order to provide users with additional information about a place mentioned in the snap or to take action, such as booking a ride or table for dinner. You can access Context Cards by swiping up on a Snap or Story.
Bitmoji
A Bitmoji is an avatar that’s built with a Snapchatter’s face. Bitmoji is a personalized way to add personality to your profile and account inside of Snapchat.
Cameo
These are not the celebrity displays in the reflection of your sunglasses, but animated Gifs with your face in them that you can send to your friends.
SpotLight
Spotlight is where you can share video content with a public audience. Just like TikTok or Instagram Reels, Spotlight will enable users to post 60-second videos to the app’s Spotlight section. Think of Spotlight as a place where you can upload your best hopes and it goes viral.
SnapCash
Powered by Square, Snapcash is a fast, free, and easy way to send money to your friends right from the Snapchat app.
How to Setup a Snapchat for Business Account
To be able to make use of any marketing type campaigns on Snapchat, you would first need to log in using your Snapchat business account.
It is very easy and would not take up more than seconds, we shall be sharing that with you now.
- Search your app store for the app (IOS) or android playstore.
- Download the app to your devices.
- Sign Up for a personal Snapchat Account.
- Posting a picture is beneficial.
Before You Create a Business Account, Set Up a Regular Account Using These Steps:
- Open the Snapchat app – click Sign Up Enter your first and last name – after doing this, click Sign up & Accept Enter your birthday and click continue.
- Pick a username that embodies the name of your business.
- Snapchat will provide recommendations on some names in case that which you pick is not available.
- We would recommend you to pick username that you will not have regret of, the only way to change a username is, by opening another Snapchat account. Click Continue.
- Make up the password and click Continue.
- You will then be needed to enter your e-mail address and click ‘Continue ‘.
- Enter your phone number then tap Continue. Snapchat will send you a verification code to your mobile phone, input this code, and Snapchat will verify your account.
Sign Up for a Business Account
- After you have already created a personal Snapchat profile, sign up for a Business Account is as easy as pie.
- It is accomplished by following these easy steps:
- Visit the Snapchat Ads landing page on your device or desktop.
- Tap Open an account, and it’ll take you to the next screen.
- You’ve already opened your account, so tap Log In at the very top of the screen and key an account username or email that you’ve just made.
- Enter the business name that you have, your email address, and then your name, and tap Next.
- Add the primary location that you do business from.
How to Navigate Snapchat
If you are familiar with other social media apps, it would be pretty easy to navigate Snapchat.
If not, we have picked out each screen, how to access them, outlined their purpose, and set you on the right path to learn how to use Snapchat fully.
Camera Screen
Think of the camera screen as your home screen. Here, you can take Snaps and send Snaps, but more importantly, you will also have the navigation for all the other areas of the app. That includes:
- Senha left for the Chat Screen.
- Swipe right for the Stories Screen.
- Swipe up for the Memories Screen
- Swipe down for the Search Screen.
There is a toolbar down the right side of the Camera Screen where you can toggle flash on and off, switch between front and back-facing camera, establish a self-timer, set your focus settings, and put a grid on your camera screen for more effective Snapping.
Chat Screen
The Snapchat Chat Screen is where you will find “everything that deals with your friends.” Here you can chat with friends, view Snaps they’ve sent you, edit your friend’s list and make audio and video calls.
How to use Snapchat’s Chat Feature
You can use the Chat feature on Snapchat to talk with friends one-on-one or to have a group chat of many. For one-to-one chats, individual messages are automatically deleted after you both leave the conversation.
Messages in group chat also clear after 24 hours.
How to Chat with just one Friend
To initiate a conversation with a friend, tap their name from the Chat Screen, or tap the blue icon in the bottom right corner and choose the friend you’d like to start chatting with.
How to Create a Group Chat
To chat with many friends, tap the blue icon in the bottom right corner, select which friends you would like in your group chat, and then tap Chat.
How to use Snapchat’s Chat Features
You can use the Chat feature on Snapchat to communicate individually or to have a group chat.
Messages will be cleared when you both leave the conversation in the case of individual chats. In group chatting also, the messages get deleted after 24 hours.
If you want the message not to disappear, press and hold on said message to keep it. Note that all other friends will know since the background of your message will gray out.
How to Chat With one Friend
How to start a conversation with a friend: Either tap their name from the chat screen, or hit the blue icon in the bottom right corner and then select the friend you want to start chatting with.
How to Start a Group Chat
To message many friends at one time: Tap the blue icon in the bottom right corner. Select the friends you would like to have in your private conversation. Then, tap Chat.
How to Add Friends on Snapchat
A Snapchat without friends is like going to a party and being the only person in the room—dullsville! You’re going to have to start adding people to Snapchat if you want to get anything out of it.
You can add people that you know from your contact list, but Snapchat gets much more exciting when you branch out just a little. This is how to do it:
Add by Snapcode
To add a friend using Snapcode, open Snapchat, hold the Snapchat camera on the other user’s Snapcode, then tap Add Friend.
Add by Name
You can look up friends on Snapchat by their real name or username. You can do this by tapping the magnifying glass at the top left of the Chat Screen to enter who you’re looking for.
Then if they use Snapchat, and their profile is public, you can add them into a friend.
Quick Add
The quick add feature on Snapchat is, therefore, more or less like suggested contacts on other social media apps.
This feature will suggest those people that you might want to connect with, as indicated by your mutual contacts and contacts on your phone.
To use Quick Add, just open the Chat Screen, and a list of users will show in the bottom half. Just tap the +Add button alongside of the user you want to add.
You might not see anyone suggested in Quick Add until you’ve started building up your Snapchat network a bit.
How to Accept a Friend Request on Snapchat
Now, when another user sends a request to you for friendship on Snapchat, you have to confirm it in order to connect. Now, to accept the friend request,
- Open Snapchat and tap the Profile circle on top left of the screen.
- Tap Added Me.
- Next to your friend’s username, tap the + button to accept their friend request
Profile screen
In the top right corner of the camera screen, you will see an icon with your Bitmoji if you have set one up. Tapping this will bring up your profile screen.
On this screen, you can get a sense of your Snapchat info in one place, such as your account info, Bitmoji, location on the Map, Story management, and more.
Stories screen
Swipe right for the Stories screen: You have your Story, the Stories of your friends, and the Story section of brands or creatives—a small ad Discover section right at the bottom.
How to navigate through Stories Tap the screen, and the app will cycle to the next Snap in a Story. The app moves you to the next Story after an ending. Easy!
Want a little more help? We go into some detail on exactly how to create a Snapchat Story a bit further down this post.
Memories screen
Who doesn’t love looking back through treasured memories? Fortunately, this neat little Snapchat feature lets you swipe up from the camera view to access Snaps and Stories from days gone by.
Flick between your Snaps, Stories, Camera Roll and private Snaps along the main menu at the top of the screen.
How to use Snapchat Memories
Using Snapchat Memories, you can save Snaps and Stories so that you can view them again at any time, even for reposting purposes.
Any Snap can be saved to Memories by tapping the Save button. You can also make it so that your Snapchat account automatically saves all Snaps for your Memories by default.
Unlock Snapchat and swipe up, or tap the little circle below the capture button to find your Memories.
Want to know more about what you can do with Snapchat Memories? We’ve got a post on how to use Snapchat Memories to grow and engage your audience.
Map screen
Possibly the coolest feature on Snapchat is the Snap Map. On this screen, there are a few things you can do:
My Bitmoji
It’s all about expressing yourself to the world with Bitmoji. On the Snap Map, you can change your Bitmoji to let everyone know what’s up.
If you’re at a club getting your dance on, then update your Bitmoji to one of you poppin’ some moves! Or, if you’re pounding away, hard at work in your favorite coffee shop, update your Bitmoji to reflect you sipping on a brew.
| Pros | Cons |
| Engaging Features | Limited Content Longevity |
| Privacy | Privacy Concerns |
| Creative Expression | Addictive Nature |
| Discover and Spotlight | Complex Interface |
| Real-Time Sharing | Limited Reach for Businesses |
Conclusion
More than just an app, Snapchat is a platform that is vibrant and alive, providing you with the means of self-expression, communication, and connection. This guide for beginners is the first step in being able to truly harness its features, capture, share ephemeral moments, and get creative with filters and lenses.
Now, the point for enjoying Snapchat is to experiment and have fun. Don’t be afraid of trying anything new, most importantly, just being yourself. So, with time, you will become a pro at snapping!
Note: For more information visit Snapchat offical website
FAQ’s
What is Snapchat?
Snapchat is a popular social media app that allows users to share photos and videos (called Snaps) that disappear after a short period of time.
How do I create a Snapchat account?
You can create a Snapchat account using your phone number or email address.
Is Snapchat safe?
Snapchat has safety features in place, but it’s important to be mindful of who you add as a friend and what you share.
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