Snapchat Business Model 101: How to Turn Snaps Into Dollars

In just a few years, Snapchat has gone from being a niche app used mostly by teenagers to one of the hottest social media platforms, with a net worth of $18.63 billion and around 347 million daily active users as of 2022.

With the fast development of Snapchat and its great market potential, have you ever thought of how people make money on Snapchat? Well, it’s actually pretty easy to do, and you can get started with just a few simple steps.

In this step-by-step guide, we’ll walk you through exactly how to make money on Snapchat; so whether you’re looking to make a little extra cash on the side or want to start a full-fledged Snapchat marketing career, this article is for you!

Part 1. Snapchat Overview

There is a saying goes: Know the weather, know the terrain, and your victory will be complete. Before we look into the detailed guidance in Part 2, we should know more about Snapchat.

Snapchat is a photo messaging app developed on September 16, 2011, by Bobby Murphy,Reggie Brown, and Evan Spiegel while they were studying at Stanford University.

With Snapchat, you can take photos, record videos, add text and drawings, and send them to a controlled list of recipients. These sent MMS are known as “Snaps,” and you can set a time limit on how long recipients can view them (a maximum of 24 hours, after which they will be automatically deleted).

Since its inception, Snapchat has evolved to include a wider range of features, including live video chat, story sharing, and lenses (augmented reality filters). Each of these functions is discussed below in detail:

Chat: A messaging functionality you can use to communicate with your friends and family, share snaps, send stickers, or make a video/audio call.
Stories: With this feature, you can add a compilation of images or videos for public viewing - available for 24 hours and then automatically disappear.
Live Stories: There are stories of other users from a specific location or event that disappear after 24 hours.
Lenses: These AR filters can be used to add fun effects to your pictures and post them as your stories or send them to someone.

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Filters: Unlike lenses, they are static photo overlays/effects that you can apply to your pictures to make them more captivating.
Snap Map: This functionality lets you share your location with your friends. On the map, you will appear as a Bitmoji for them.
Snapchat Spotlight: This is a TikTok-like feature helping many Snapchat users to make money. You can submit your best videos with a chance of earning a share of up to $1 million/day, depending on the number of views.

Part 2. Methods To Make Money On Snapchat

Snapchat’s focus on short, time-limited content (your snaps/stories stay only for 24 hours) encourages more personalized sharing and contrasts more substantial relationships between brands and customers.

So, how to make money on Snapchat?

Keep reading to find out!

Method 1: Creating Viral Video

When you submit your videos to Spotlight, Snapchat uses an algorithm to personalize the content to its viewers based on their interests by looking at factors such as how many times they watch a video, the number of skips, shares, and likes.

Thus, if your videos get more viewers and become viral, you will start earning money real quick. With that being said, let’s understand with a report to see how you can begin making millions with your viral videos on Snapchat.

Cam Casey , 19 years old TikTok star, decided to post his science experiment involving the explosion of a Coca-Cola bottle on Snapchat. His video went viral on Spotlight, and within two weeks, he became the top performer and earned hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Here is one example video about an experiment of Coke bottle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXs0a7BoWxs

Casey is just one example of how Snapchat’s new feature is helping people earn money, and you can be a part of it, too, by following some simple guidelines for posting Snapchat videos. A few of these suggestions are:

Post up to 60 seconds long videos.
Add at least one hashtag.
Make content that is appropriate for a 30+ audience.
Avoid forbidden content .
Do not use sponsored or promotional content.

You might be thinking, “how can you edit your videos to enhance them and make them go viral?”

Well, you can use Filmora - a user-friendly mobile editor that can help you with all your editing tasks on the go. The app has an AR camera, fun filters and effects, cool transition effects, and an impressive exporting feature to help you share your content with multiple social platforms.

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Now that you know about Spotlight, its guidelines, and Filmora for editing your videos, the next step is to generate good Snapchat video ideas that can go viral as soon as posted. Click here to find out!

Snapchat has a more extensive user base and reaches almost 75% of all 13-47 old in the US, making it a great advertising channel.

There are two ways to earn money through ads:

Get Paid to Advertise On Your Stories

You can get paid to advertise content on your stories or Spotlight and get paid by the businesses.

For example, a famous content creator on Snapchat, Shaun McBride, collaborated with Disney to advertise the Frozen movie on his stories. However, for this method, you must have a solid follower base to be an influencer for any brand out there.

Create Snapchat Ads For Businesses

Ads are one of the commercial modes of Snapchat. While most business owners are unaware of Snapchat or how to use it to promote their products and services, you can grab this opportunity to earn more.

With creative and interactive ads, you can catch users’ attention and advertise other businesses to earn some extra cash in a short time.

Some ads formats offered by Snapchats are:

Story ads (a series of ads).
Collection ads (a series of products).
Filters (artistic overlays).
Commercials (up to three minutes long).
Single image or video ads.
Lenses (interaction with augmented reality).

Besides creating ads, you can also help businesses create AR filters and stickers to attract the masses. For instance, Sephora created an AR game lens to advertise their make-up products, as can be seen in the video:

Similarly, Domino’s created a non-skippable ad campaign, “New Bigger Better,” in Europe and reached more than 800,000 Norwegian Snapchat users.

Method 3: Promote Your Own Products Or Services To Increase Sales

Aside from promoting other businesses, you can also promote your own products and services on Snapchat. You can share a clickable link or a downloadable asset of your product or service with your followers and friends.

One limitation here is that you must have a larger number of Snapchat friends to generate the desired revenue.

Note: Avoid being too commercial. The audience’s feeling is the most important thing to consider here.

Method 4: Refer Other Products (Affiliate Marketing)

While Snapchat provides influencers with an opportunity to create sponsored content that showcases a brand or product to their followers, you can also use affiliate marketing, in which you receive a commission for promoting someone else’s products or services using a link or promo code.

Try to create content that is creative, engaging, and captivating for affiliate marketing. This will definitely help you get user attention and generate more money via your provided links.

If you want to know more about Snapchat Affiliate, please read The Ultimate Snapchat Marketing Strategy That Converts

Method 5. Utilize Geofilter

Geofilters are a fun way to add creative flair to your snaps! These filters can be customized with personalized messages or designs for a specific event, new store openings, or grabbing users’ attention and are available only at specific locations.

There are two types of Geofilers:

On-demand Geofilters: These are paid ad filters created by businesses. For instance, Starbucks used a fall-themed geofilter for users near a Starbucks.

Community Geofilters: These are free-to-create filters that must be approved by Snapchat and can be created for special events or landmarks.

Note: Make sure the location is intriguing to users while establishing a Geofilter.

Method 6: Use Sponsored Lenses

Sponsored lenses are AR filters you can create on Snapchat to promote your business by sharing them with your targeted audience.

When you produce a campaign using sponsored lenses, the platform will guarantee that certain users will use the lens, resulting in huge revenue in return.

For instance, to accelerate their app’s user growth, UK’s famous Starling bank used an AR lens in 2019 to grab the viewer’s attention. As a result, they received a 61% lower cost-per-install than their other campaign.

Similarly, BACARDÍ produced a lens with the summer theme to enhance their brand awareness and drive more sales. In their ten days campaign, they reached over 2.5 M Snapchatters and increased the purchase intent of BACARDÍ products.

Method 7. Get Featured On The Snapchat Spotlight

Snapchat Spotlight is a new feature highlighting the best content from Snapchat creators. Every day, the platform curates a selection of videos from creators worldwide and puts them in the Spotlight for the viewers.

If you can create awesome content, this will help you expand your exposure instead of generating profits directly. To use the Spotlight, create a snap, add music or voiceover, and click the “Send >Spotlight” option.

Method 8: Use Story Ads

Story Ads let you expand your following base, increase your brand awareness, and get more customers around the globe by displaying ads in the Discovery feed on Snapchat. So, you must put your efforts into creating great story ads for maximum exposure.

If you offer services or owns a business and want to know how to put Ads on Snapchat, please read Snapchat Ad 101: Create Stunning & Effective Snapchat Ads and learn how to use a great video editor tool, Filmora , to edit your video ads.

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Do you get paid for views on Snapchat?

No, you will not get paid for views on Snapchat. To earn money, you have to use other means such as ads, affiliate marketing, etc.

How many followers do you need to make money on Snapchat?

To make money on Snapchat and have a creator account, you’ll need a minimum of 100 followers.

Does Snapchat pay you for views?

No, Snapchat does not pay you for the number of views on your videos.

What are Snapchat subscribers?

Subscribers are different than friends. They are your followers who follow your content in the Discovery feed.

Conclusion

In this article, we’ve explored eight ways to show you how to make money on Snapchat. With these methods, you will surely start earning generating revenue. But make sure to focus on one method at a time to get satisfying results.

Hopefully, you find this guide informative, and now you have a clear idea of how you can earn money on Snapchat.

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Snapchat has a more extensive user base and reaches almost 75% of all 13-47 old in the US, making it a great advertising channel.

There are two ways to earn money through ads:

Get Paid to Advertise On Your Stories

You can get paid to advertise content on your stories or Spotlight and get paid by the businesses.

Create Snapchat Ads For Businesses

With creative and interactive ads, you can catch users’ attention and advertise other businesses to earn some extra cash in a short time.

Some ads formats offered by Snapchats are:

Story ads (a series of ads).
Collection ads (a series of products).
Filters (artistic overlays).
Commercials (up to three minutes long).
Single image or video ads.
Lenses (interaction with augmented reality).

Similarly, Domino’s created a non-skippable ad campaign, “New Bigger Better,” in Europe and reached more than 800,000 Norwegian Snapchat users.

Method 3: Promote Your Own Products Or Services To Increase Sales

One limitation here is that you must have a larger number of Snapchat friends to generate the desired revenue.

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Note: Avoid being too commercial. The audience’s feeling is the most important thing to consider here.

Method 4: Refer Other Products (Affiliate Marketing)

Try to create content that is creative, engaging, and captivating for affiliate marketing. This will definitely help you get user attention and generate more money via your provided links.

If you want to know more about Snapchat Affiliate, please read The Ultimate Snapchat Marketing Strategy That Converts