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Snapchat Guide for Beginners: Learn to Use Snapchat in 10 Steps

Snapchat guide

Seeing people making silly faces at their phone does not surprise us nowadays- And the reason is Snapchat. Being the trendiest mobile messaging app, it lets you add captions, filters and drawings to your photos and videos (commonly known as Snaps). Unlike other image messaging and multimedia mobile applications, it lets you view snaps for a maximum of 10 seconds, and then it gets disappeared for all the time. Such unique and appealing feature has made Snapchat one of the most popular Social Networks that incorporates 166 million daily active users, which is the reason why most of the businesses and marketers prefer to utilize Snapchat for their advantages. In this Snapchat Guide, you will learn how a Pro Marketer uses Snapchat in simple 10 steps.

Let us go through those 10 steps-

10-Step Snapchat Guide to be a Pro Snapchat Marketer

1. Know what Snapchat is

Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown created Snapchat as an image messaging and multimedia mobile application in which pictures and messages are only available for a short time before they become inaccessible

According to PCmag, Snapchat is-

A mobile messaging service from Snap Inc. that sends a photo or video to someone that lasts only up to 10 seconds before it disappears. During that time, the recipient can take a screenshot, and the sender is notified that it was taken.

Earlier this app was designed to focus on person-to-person photo sharing, but now, it includes features like-

  1. ‘Stories’ that highlight 24-hour chronological content
  2. “Discover” that allows brands show ad-supported short-form entertainment

The Snapchat app is accessible for Android and iOS devices and by downloading and installing the app; users can easily create an account aand add friends. Below given stats demonstrate the power of Snapchat

Snapchat guide
Snapchat statistics

Next step of this Snapchat guide will help you learn how to create a Snapchat account.

2. Learn How to Set Up a Snapchat Account

Snapchat guide
How to set up a snapchat account

As per company’s Snapchat Guide, you need to follow below given steps to set up a Snapchat Account-

  1. First, you need to download the free Snapchat app for which you can go to the Google Play Store (for Android) or App Store (for iOS Apple) and download it
  2. Second, you need to create an account that you can do by opening Snapchat App and tapping on “Sign up.” Then you need to add your personal details such as your birthday, your email address and create a password for your account
  3. Third, you should create a username that can represent you or your brand and then you would be required to verify that you are a human
  4. Now, you need to scan your contacts, in which you will be guided by Snapchat suggestions and then finally, you will be required to take a Snapcode selfie.  By tapping on your Snapcode, you can let your Snapcode selfie screen pop up automatically

3. Learn the Snapchat Language

This would be one of the most important steps of this Snapchat Guide, as this will help you learn the Snapchat Language, which is one of the most confusing parts of Snapchat learning. So let us delve into important Snapchat terms-

Snap

  • It can be understood as a picture or video Snapchat users send via the app to one or more of their friends
  • Snaps disappear after a maximum of 10 seconds and replaying of a Snap is only allowed once

Stories

  • The Stories is a section of Snapchat that lets you showcase photos and videos you wish to share with all your Snapchat friends
  • You can also see your friends’ stories by swiping left from the Snapchat app’s camera screen

Snapchat score

Snapchat guide
Snapchat score
  • It is the number under your profile name and it is based on the number of Snaps and stories you’ve sent and received
  • By Snap Score you can see where you rank among your friends

Filter

  • It is a fun way to make your Snaps look better by adding an overlay
  • Different filters are available as per special events or holidays, location, or time of day

Snap lenses

Snapchat guide
Snap lenses
  • It lets you add animated special effects to your photos or videos
  • You need to add Snapchat lenses while you are taking a Snap

Geofilter

  • Geofilters are special filters unique to your current location and you can enable Geofilters by turning on your location in Snapchat
  • Custom geo filters can also be created for as little as $5 which is a powerful way for building brand awareness

Snapcode

  • The unique QR code of your Snapchat profile is Snapcode
  • Snapcodes are the easiest way to add friends on Snapchat

Snapcode selfie

  • Snapcodes can be personalized by adding a selfie
  • Snapcode selfie can be seen by all your friends and other Snapchatters

Chat

  • It is Snapchat’s instant messenger
  • Messages in Chat disappear once they are viewed, plus, if someone takes a screenshot of a chat, you will be notified about the same

Memories

  • It can be understood as a camera roll feature that stores your Snaps
  • Your Memories can be public or private, plus, you can also post older Snaps to your Story by using Memories

4. Steps to add friend by Snapcode & Accept a Friend Request

Snapchat guide
Add friend by snapcode

Now this Snapchat Guide will help you add friends via Snapcode, plus, it will also tell you how to accept a friend request in Snapchat-

How to Add friends by Snapcode

  1. First, you need to capture your friend’s Snapcode for which you can take a picture of the Snapcode of your friend and open the app
  2. In second step, you should click on the ghost icon, and then, you need to go to ‘Add Friends’, select ‘By Snapcode’ and Add your friend’s Snapcode
  3. If you know username of your friend, you can also add them by username

How to Accept a friend request in Snapchat

  1. You can see the yellow ghost icon when someone would have added you on Snapchat
  2. You should click on the yellow ghost icon and then in your profile screen, you should click on ‘Added Me’
  3. By tapping on + sign you can confirm your friendship

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5. Steps to create and send snaps in Snapchat

Now this Snapchat Guide will tell you how to create and send snaps in Snapchat. Camera will be automatically opened, the time you click on the Snapchat app, and once camera gets opened, you need to follow below given steps

  1. You should take a picture or video that you can do by tapping the capture (circular) button at the bottom of the screen
  2. You should try to make your video as funky as possible and you can do that with the help of following options-
  • Stickers- Square icon
  • Caption- ‘T’ icon
  • Doodle- Pencil icon
  • Filters and Geofilters and Additional Snap option
  1. You can change up the settings of a Snap by tapping on ‘Timing’ (clock icon) that lets you choose the amount of time your Snap will be viewed, plus, by using ‘Download’ icon you can save your Snaps
  2. Now you are ready to Send Snap and for this, you only need to click the blue arrow icon on the bottom of the screen
  3. This will let you select which contacts you would like to send the Snap to
  4. You can also send multiple snaps by going through the same steps mentioned above and the receiver will receive your Snaps in the same order you send those to them

6. Add Special Effects to your Snaps with lenses

According to Snapchat Guide, adding special effects to your snaps with lenses is one of the most important practices that pro-Snapchat marketers should always follow, and below given tips will guide you do that-

  1. You should press and hold down on the screen of your phone where either your or friend’s face is
  2. Lenses will pop up at the bottom now
  3. You should follow the given prompts such as instructions like ‘raise your eyebrows’ or ‘open your mouth’, as this will convert your snap to a totally new form
  4. Finally, by tapping on capture button, you can take snap via lenses. You can hold down the capture button for taking videos

7. Steps to add snaps to your Story

Snapchat guide
Add snaps to your story

Below given steps of Snapchat Guide will help you add snaps to your Snap stories-

  1. By tapping on the blue circle with the arrow in the bottom right-hand corner, you can add your Snaps to your Story
  2. Then, at ‘Send To’ screen, you need to select ‘My Story’ and click the blue arrow button
  3. Your snap will now appear in your Story for 24 hours. However, you can delete it whenever you want to
  4. To delete a Snap from your Story, you need to tap your Story, swipe up and tap the garbage icon
  5. You can also see who has viewed your Story by clicking on the triangle icon in the bottom right corner

8. How to view your friends’ stories on Snapchat

  1. You need to click on the triangle icon in the bottom right corner
  2. Then you will see a list of friends whose stories are updated, to view their stories, you only need to click the username of your friend
  3. Snapchat will automatically direct you towards the story of your next friend, plus, you can exit from stories at any time by swiping down

9. Steps to use Snapchat’s Chat Feature

Snapchat guide
Chat feature of snapchat

Three steps suggested by Snapchat Guide to use Snapchat’s chat feature are-

  1. First you need to select your friend that you can do by swiping right on a friend’s username or clicking on the Chat icon in the top left corner of the Feed screen and choosing the person you want to chat with
  2. Next you need to type your message. Your messages will no longer be available once you leave the conversation
  3. Once you start typing your chat message your contact will receive the push notification, so you should be careful when clicking on chat

10. Steps to Create Memories on Snapchat

Snapchat guide
Create memories on snapchat

According to Snapchat user guide, the three important steps to create memories on Snapchat are

  1. You need to click on the small circle below the capture button after opening the Snapchat App
  2. You need to click on ‘Start using Memories’ to agree to terms and conditions and then you are ready to back up your Snaps in the Snapchat app for future use
  3. Snapchat also allows you to make memories public for your friends or for ‘your eyes only’

Congratulations!

You’re ready to be a Pro Snapchat Marketer Now.

Aforestated 10 steps of this beginner’s guide to Snapchat would help you target the user base of over 150 million people and effectively convert those who can boost your ROI.

Joining Social media Marketing Course would help you master Snapchat Marketing, and make a rewarding Snapchat Career.

If you face any doubts while using Snapchat- Update me in comments below.

Avatar of garima kakkar
Garima Kakkar
Garima is a data-driven marketing manager who is buff of Big Data, Digital Marketing & Social Media. Conceiving and executing Digital Marketing Strategies that focus on the audience engagement and acquisition/growth are her strong suits. Writing blogs is something that she holds high for sharing her expertise of which you can get the dividends here, through Digital Vidya blogs.

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