Old School Meets New School: Teaching My Boss How to Use Snapchat
Written by guest blogger Claudia Watkins, a marketing and economics major at The University of Alabama and aspiring business mogulette
It’s not often that my boss does not know how to accomplish something on his own, so when he asked me to teach him how to set up, and operate a Snapchat account, I knew it was my chance to shine. I like to think that the future of our social media campaign was, in that moment, resting in my hands.
As I established a username and password for our company account–one that can easily be remembered, I went on and on about how great snapchat is. I was Snapchat’s personal hype-man. “We NEED tostep our Snapchat game up,” I tell him. Other magazines are utilizing it. It allows our readers to better engage with our magazine family, and feel that they are a part of the process. Given that we were working in an ever-changing market, knowing when and where to market our content was imperative. Snapchat is a social media sidekick to help attract and engage our audience, taking them on a journey with us. There is literally an entire Snapchat world to discover!
After setting up an account, the next step is learning how to take pictures, videos and flip to the front-facing camera, in order to selfie-taking, a very essential skill. You never know when you will need to take a staff selfie to update your followers on your latest project.
Once my boss saw the puppy dog filter, the brilliance of Snapchat clicked. MIND = BLOWN. I had opened my boss’s eyes to a new digital world. A new platform to display our content and convert our audience. It was my pleasure to serve as a guide into the future of video marketing.
Okay. I will admit…to the untrained eye, Snapchat is probably not the most user-friendly app out there. Many of its best elements are far from obvious. It takes skill. It takes talent. It takes….time! I am quite the prolific Snapper because I’m twenty years old and I have the time to perfect my craft. Do not give up! You too can become a Snapchat guru within your company.
Do not give up! You too can become a Snapchat guru!
Here are some quick tips to get started.
- Translate your Snapchat lingo into terms that your boss can relate to. Instead of “Friends”, use “Followers” and replace “Story Views” with “Video Views”. This cuts down on some of the novel confusion, and makes your lesson easier.
- Allow enough time for your boss to play with the app. It’s all about trial and error. Plus, it’s just funny.
- Don’t be afraid to really hype Snapchat up. Make sure you convey what Snapchat could do for your company and how it could be utilized. Your boss will be more impressed if it is presented from a business standpoint.
- Pitch the idea of purchasing a customized company filter. A little well-placed branding never hurt anyone.
With some luck, your boss will walk away from your lesson moderately proficient in Snapchat, at least. Applaud yourself. You are one person closer to mending the generational social media gap. Snapchat is the gold standard of social media; if they can master it, then they can work with any social media platform comfortably.