9 Snapchat Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Small Business

Running a small business takes hard work and dedication. You need to handle many tasks. Creating a brand from scratch is just the beginning. The business world keeps changing, and you must adapt. The work never stops for small business owners.

Starting a business is more than just offering products. It’s just the beginning. As most small business owners know, the real journey starts when they “open up.” Growing your business involves:

Creating awareness about how your products or services can improve your customers’ lives.
Expanding your customer base to reach as many potential leads as possible, increasing sales or conversions.
Re-engaging past or interested customers to build brand loyalty and encourage repeat purchases.

The goal of marketing is to invest in areas where you can connect with the right customers—those who will find value in your products or services. This blog will explore 9 proven marketing strategies to help drive small business growth on Snapchat.

Before diving into your marketing strategy, it’s important to understand:

Who your customers are: What demographics make up your customer base? Where are they located? How old are they? What are their interests?
How your customers interact online: What websites, platforms, and apps are your potential customers using to search, shop, browse, learn, and discover? Where do they communicate with friends? Where do they get their information?
What influences your customers: Who do your customers listen to or how are they entertained? Do they follow influencers, celebrities, or media outlets like TV and news?

While there’s no “one-size-fits-all” formula for growing a business, most marketing strategies are simple and can be done with just a laptop, some planning, and a growth mindset.

Now, let’s explore 9 marketing strategies to help you grow your small business.

1. Snapchat Marketing Strategies: Establish Your Brand

Customers want to understand what your company does, what you stand for, and how you stand out from your competitors. Once you have a clear company mission, make sure your business name, logo, and marketing materials align with that mission and reflect your brand’s core values.

Small business owners might consider hiring a freelance designer or creative agency to develop a consistent brand identity system, including a logo, brand colors, and guides. While this can be an investment, it’s a valuable one, as it builds awareness and helps customers connect your mission and goals with your brand’s visual identity.

Additionally, there are many online design and creative tools available that can help maintain a consistent look and feel for your business. These tools can help you create assets that stay aligned with your brand’s vision.

2. Know Your Audience

Marketing is about more than just reaching customers—it’s about truly connecting with them. Understanding your audience helps you make real connections that encourage them to buy your product, invest in your services, and return for more.

Every business caters to a specific demographic with unique needs and characteristics, meaning your marketing strategy should be tailored to your target market.

To develop an effective marketing approach, small business owners should be able to answer the following questions:

What is my target audience’s demographic?
How old are they?
Where are they located?
How do they interact online?
How do they search for and find products or services?

With Snapchat Ads, you can target users based on their online behavior, location (whether by country, metro, or specific radius), and key demographics such as age, gender, language, and device type. You can also combine your customer data with Snapchat’s platform behavior insights to better target users.

Snapchat’s Audience Insights tool lets you track how users engage with your ads, helping you create more relevant content. You can also identify additional targetable segments to expand your reach.

With Audience Insights, you can:

Create relevant audiences with Saved Audiences.
Understand the interests of people in your Custom Audience.
See the demographic breakdown of people in your Custom Audience.

3. Build Your Online Presence

In today’s digital world, having an online presence is crucial for getting discovered by potential customers. When people search or browse online, your business needs to be easy to find.

The first step in building your online presence is launching a website for your business. Your website serves as a hub where customers can learn more about your products or services. Depending on your business, it makes sense to create profiles or listings on platforms where people are already searching for products like yours.

For example, if you run a restaurant, ensure your business is visible on map platforms, food ordering apps, review platforms, and booking websites. This makes it easy for potential customers to find you and engage with your business.

4. Track Online Traffic and Behavior

The path to purchase is rarely straightforward. It’s important to understand what actions your customers take online during their buying journey. This helps optimize your marketing and get the best return on your ad spend.

For businesses using Snapchat Ads, we recommend using the Snap Pixel. It tracks what Snapchat users do on your website after seeing your ads. This helps you see how your campaigns are performing and find ways to improve them.

With the Snap Pixel, you can use goal-based bidding to focus on specific actions, like adding items to the cart or checking out. It also lets you create Pixel Custom Audiences to retarget website visitors on Snapchat, moving them from just browsing to making a purchase.

5. Test and Measure What’s Working, and What’s Not

For any business, it’s crucial to regularly track and report on your marketing efforts. Understanding what’s working and what’s not helps you optimize your strategies. A data-driven approach can reduce churn and improve underperforming campaigns.

On Snapchat, the Ads Platform makes it easy to measure your performance. You’ll get real-time insights that help you make smart, data-driven decisions. This allows you to improve your campaigns, optimize ads, and boost your return on investment.

Another tool to use is Split Testing. With Snapchat’s Ads Manager, you can run A/B tests to compare different ad campaigns. This helps you understand what works best with your audience and refine your strategy for maximum impact.

6. Showcase Your Key Selling Points

When trying to get customers to buy or sign up, it’s important to show them how your product will benefit them. Highlight your key selling points and any special sales or offers you’re running. This may seem obvious, but some businesses focus on creativity that doesn’t clearly show what they’re selling.

On Snapchat, we offer full-screen mobile ads that engage users and encourage them to learn more about your business. Make sure your ad has a strong message, and include any relevant offers to increase consideration.

Here’s a quick guide on ad creative based on your business type:

E-Commerce or Retail: Feature your products prominently to drive purchase intent.
App and Games: Show the app’s features and benefits within the ad.
Local Businesses: Highlight key features of your location or service. For example, a restaurant could showcase popular dishes or specials to attract customers.

7. Leverage Testimonials and Word of Mouth

Word of mouth is a powerful way to bring in new customers. It’s simple and doesn’t cost much. One easy way to do this is by sharing short video testimonials from real customers. These could include unboxing clips or reviews of your product or service.

Spoken testimonials help people understand your product better. They also build trust and show the real value of your brand. When creating testimonial ads on Snapchat, keep them short—around 5 to 6 seconds works best.

This format matches the quick style of Snapchat and helps your message feel more natural. Ads that feature user-generated content or Snapchat planets elements are often watched in full. They feel more like real conversations, not polished ads.

8. Nurture Customers Through the Buying Journey to Convert

Marketing is more than just making noise. It’s about guiding people from interest to purchase. Start by running broad awareness campaigns. These help more people discover your brand without heavy targeting.

Snapchat’s wide reach lets you see how users react and engage. Once you gather enough data, move to retargeting. This helps you turn interested viewers into buyers.

Run reengagement ads to bring users back. These are cost-effective and keep your brand top of mind. Think of your strategy like a funnel: awareness builds reach, consideration builds interest, and conversion drives sales.

Stay consistent. Meet your customers where they are—and lead them to the finish line.

9. Think of Digital Advertising as an Investment, Not a Cost

Digital ads are one of the smartest ways to grow your small business. They’re affordable, easy to start, and flexible to scale. Unlike traditional ads, digital platforms let you test what works. You can improve your messaging, creativity, and targeting over time. Every dollar you spend helps you learn and grow.

Snapchat lets you advertise for as little as $5 a day. It’s built for small businesses and easy to manage from your browser. You can reach a global audience, try different strategies, and track real results. Use digital ads to test ideas, refine your offers, and double down on what works. Think long-term. A small ad spend today could turn into big wins tomorrow.

Conclusion

Snapchat offers small businesses a powerful way to reach, engage, and convert today’s mobile-first consumers. With the right mix of strategies—like showcasing your strengths, sharing real testimonials, and retargeting with purpose—you can turn everyday Snaps into real sales.

Start small, stay consistent, and test what works. It doesn’t matter if you are you’re building brand awareness or pushing for conversions; Snapchat marketing can drive real results without a huge budget.

Now’s the time to get in front of your audience where they spend their time. Use these strategies to build trust, stand out from competitors, and grow your small business through smart, targeted Snapchat campaigns.