9 Ways to Make Money on Snapchat
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In today’s gig economy, people are finding all kinds of creative ways to make money on social media. Snapchat is no exception.
What makes the app special is that the content people share is only available for a short time. Photos and videos uploaded to the app, or snaps, last no longer than 24 hours. This concept is incredibly popular, especially among younger users. About 60% of U.S. internet users between the ages of 13 and 24 use Snapchat.
Because snaps are temporary, users who don’t want to miss out on something are highly engaged. Interesting snaps can easily go viral. And users and brands are eager to take advantage of Snapchat’s potential. As a result, there are plenty of opportunities to make money.
How to Make Money on Snapchat
We’ve rounded up a variety of ways you can earn cash using Snapchat. There’s something for everyone, whether you’re an aspiring mega-influencer or an artist who creates designs for businesses. Check out this other article on how to make money online for other ideas.
1. Promote Affiliate Products
Affiliate marketing on Snapchat works the same way it does on other social media platforms. You talk about a product or service in a snap and provide a link. If someone buys something using your link, you get a cut.
Amazon’s Associates Program is an easy way to get started with affiliate marketing. You can recommend any products you like on the site. If someone uses your link to buy, you get up to 10% in commission.
The Amazon program also lets you create a storefront so that people can browse a variety of your favorite products. You’ll get a customizable URL. A short, recognizable URL is a good fit for Snapchat; you want people to remember it after your snap disappears.
When you consider posting an affiliate link, put some thought into whether it’s a good match for your fans. Products or services that align with your brand and personality are more likely to be successful.
Keep in mind that legally you’re required to disclose affiliate links. Include #ad or #sponsored in your snap, so people know you’ll earn money if they buy.
See Also: 10 Ways to Make Money on Pinterest
2. Sell Your Products
If you have products or services you want to market, Snapchat makes it easy. You can post Snaps that show off handmade items or artwork and entice people to buy. You can also talk about services you offer, such as online courses and consulting.
You can either include a link in your Snap or let viewers purchase directly through the app. Either way, the interested user just needs to “swipe up.” Swiping up on the screen leads the person to your link or purchasing options. Snapchat then lets you complete the sale using CashApp or Venmo.
Offering a promo code or discount is a fun way to reward people for watching. If people are interested but don’t want to buy yet, an email newsletter lets you stay connected. Either way, make sure you include a call to action, so people know what you want them to do.
3. Sponsorship Deals
As with affiliate marketing, you’ll need to build up a following to make money through sponsorships. If you have enough fans, brands will want to pay you to work with them.
The way sponsorships work is that a company pays you to create content related to their product or service. They might ask you to post one snap or several. They’ll then pay you for promoting them to your audience.
This is an effective form of marketing as your viewers are likely to trust your recommendations. On that note, it’s important to be honest and only post about things you believe your viewers would like. You should also disclose that you’re posting sponsored content.
So, how do you go about landing a sponsorship? Once you’ve developed a following, there are a few options. You can reach out to brands directly to offer your services. You can also wait for them to come to you. Or, you can work with a social media manager to arrange deals for you.
See Also: 11 Ways to Make Money on TikTok
4. Run Snapchat Ads for Businesses
Snapchat offers a robust ad platform, and people view them up to a million times each day. You can use Snapchat Ads to promote your business if you have one. Or, you can create them for someone else for a fee.
People engage with ads on Snapchat at higher rates than other social networks, including Facebook. This means that businesses will pay more for help taking advantage of the platform.
There are several types of ads you can purchase. The best option will depend on the type of campaign you want to run. To select and create your ads, you’ll use the built-in Ads Manager.
Within the manager, choose Instant Create, which lets you get an ad up and running in a few minutes. Or, you can use Advanced Create, which offers more options. For example, if you want to promote an app, you can use the “app installs” category. If you want viewers to come to your website and buy something, select “website conversion.”
To use ads, you or the business you’re working with will need a business account. Ads aren’t available for personal accounts.
5. Make Money on Snapchat via Spotlight
In November of 2020, Snapchat launched Spotlight, a video feature similar to TikTok and Instagram Reels. The company reviews all submissions and shares the best Spotlight snaps in a dedicated tab within the app.
To promote Spotlight, Snapchat is paying out more than $1 million each day to creators.
Snapchat uses a proprietary formula to determine who receives payment and they don’t provide a ton of details. But there are several ways to improve your chances. Make sure your snap is a vertical video with sound. It should be original and creative and include a hashtagged topic so people can find it. Tools like lenses and gifs will help your video stand out.
Spotlight may be one of the easiest ways to earn some cash from Snapchat but it also takes some luck. One Snapchatter, Andrea Romo, posted a video of her sister cooking a turkey on Thanksgiving. The snap became so popular on Spotlight that Snapchat paid Romo around $500,000 for it.
See Also: 7 Ways to Get Paid to Advertise on Your Car
6. Sell Snapchat Filters
If you’re an artist or graphic designer, selling custom filters is a fun way to earn money on Snapchat. This feature lets you add text and images to a user’s snaps.
One fun way to use them is to celebrate an event, such as a birthday party or wedding. The Etsy seller Filterity offers custom wedding and bachelorette filters for $12.12. Their shop boasts thousands of sales and positive reviews.
If your customer wants people in a certain area to be able to use the filter, you can add a Geofence. You can also add a start and end time or run the filter for up to a year.
To create filters to sell, try a free design software like Canva. Or, you can use Adobe Photoshop or Spark, which has a built-in Snapchat template.
7. Create a Snapchat Lens to Promote a Business
Lenses are similar to filters, but they include augmented reality. Ever seen someone with dog ears and a nose added to their face in a snap? That’s one example of a lens.
The best way to make big bucks from lenses is to create them for businesses.
Lenses are popular as a marketing tool because they’re interactive, fun, and creative, which makes them memorable. That’s why big brands have paid up to $750,000 for a sponsored lens.
While Taco Bell didn’t report what it paid for a lens in 2016, the campaign resulted in 224 million views. The immensely popular lens let users turn their heads into giant tacos during Cinco de Mayo.
To create a lens, try Snapchat’s free Lens Studio. You’ll need a business account to get started. The software has a bit of a learning curve, but there are plenty of tutorials to help.
See Also: 15 Surveys That Pay Cash Instantly
8. Create Geofilters to Promote an Event
Geofilters are related to filters and lenses, but they’re unique in that they focus on users’ location. If you have a business with a physical location, they’re a great way to reach potential customers. If not, you can create geofilters to sell to other businesses.
Geofilters include geofencing, which means users can only apply them to snaps within a specific physical location. Disneyland, for example, has filters that people can only use inside the park.
Because they work for a specific time and location, geofilters are great for events. Potential buyers might include wedding vendors, event planners, and businesses planning a grand opening or other celebration.
One easy way to create your geofilter and find buyers is through the app FilterPop. You can also sell lenses and geofilters on sites like Etsy.
9. Promote Other Accounts for Cash
This strategy is similar to sponsorships but on a smaller scale. Once you have a decent following, you can promote other accounts in exchange for a fee. And you don’t need millions of fans. Some micro-influencers make money on Snapchat with a few thousand followers. When you get to that point, people with smaller accounts will begin wanting to work with you.
The key with this method is to focus on a specific niche—something like baking, fitness, or sustainable fashion. That way, it will be easy to find other users in the same niche who want to work with you.
You can start by reaching out to people and offering to promote their content. Once you get to a certain amount of views, there’s a good chance others will start coming to you.
If you prefer, try a site like Shoutcart to let people buy a mention on your account. This option takes some of the guesswork out of finding people to pay for promotions.
See Also: 32 Best Gig Economy Jobs That Pay Well
FAQ About Making Money on Snapchat
Looking for more information about how to make money on Snapchat? Our answers to some of the most commonly asked questions are below.
Can You Make Money on Snapchat?
There’s no question that people are making money on Snapchat.
From Spotlight alone, more than 2,000 users received a total of $42 million by January 2021. The top earner, Cam Casey, made $3 million in just a few weeks. Earning this amount took some work—Casey sometimes posted 120 videos per day.
For most of our strategies, it’s important to build up a following on the platform to start. If you’re willing to put in some effort, we feel that it’s worth a try.
How Much Can You Make on Snapchat?
As with any social network, the amount you can make varies depending on a few things. The amount of time and work you put in will have an impact. Your personality and the niche you choose are also factors.
The highest-paid Snapchatters, like Cam Casey, are making millions of dollars. 18-year-old Katie Feeney earned more than $1 million in two months in 2020. She posts videos about her daily life along with funny content.
Micro-influencers, on the other hand, can expect to earn up to $20 per 1,000 followers for each post.
Keep in mind that you can try a few different strategies at the same time to find out what works. You could create some filters or lenses to sell while also submitting your snaps to Spotlight.
Do You Get Paid for Snapchat Views?
Snapchat doesn’t pay users for views. However, the more views you get, the better your chances are of making money on the platform.
How Do You Receive Money on Snapchat?
The way you get paid depends on what money-making methods you use. If you have a brand sponsorship, they might pay you via PayPal or a paper check. The same is true for companies purchasing a filter, lens, or custom geofilter from you.
If you earn money by getting a snap featured on Spotlight, you’ll receive payment through Snapchat Pay. In this case, you’ll need to activate a Pay account. You’ll get an email from Snapchat’s payment partner Hyperwallet with instructions. Follow them to create an account and verify your taxpayer info.
Once you have funds in your Pay account, you can transfer them to PayPal or your bank account.
How Do I Grow a Snapchat Audience?
It can be tricky to know which audiences will engage with your content. Luckily, there are a few strategies that will help you get started.
First, think about the kind of presence you want to establish. While some popular users share random content, having a niche or theme helps followers know what to expect. It also helps them find you in the first place.
Consider your target audience, including age and location. Snapchat is most popular with Gen Z, although that doesn’t mean others don’t use it.
If you have accounts on other social networks, invite your friends there to follow you on Snapchat.
Once your account is up and running, begin posting consistently. Snaps that you post to your story last 24 hours, which gives followers a chance to engage. Promoting other users’ accounts is a great way to build a network, and you might get a shoutout in return.
Use filters and lenses to make your snaps more appealing. You can also use Canva or Photoshop to produce professional-looking content.
Building an authentic following can take some time, so be patient. Pay attention to what works and what doesn’t so you can learn as you go.
Final Thoughts
With features like Spotlight, Snapchat has done a great job of keeping up with marketing and social media trends. If you’re willing to put in some effort, there are tons of opportunities to make money on the app. Thousands of people are doing it already.
Not sure which strategy to try out? If you’re not already on Snapchat yourself, create an account and see what’s out there. Interacting on the platform might inspire you. And remember that Snapchat is most popular with tweens, teens, and young adults. Any money-making efforts should keep this demographic in mind.
Whether you want to become an influencer yourself or help a business with a marketing campaign, we hope our ideas will help.
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Amy Besen is a freelance finance writer who covers topics including the gig economy, small business funding, and FinTech. Before starting her writing business in 2019, Amy worked in financial services for 12 years. She believes in helping people access the tools and knowledge they need to make better decisions about money.
