Contrary to public opinion, Snapchat is not dead.

Trust us when we say that the best thing you can do for your business is to take advantage of every social media platform out there. Since its humble beginnings as a photo and video-sharing app in 2011, Snapchat continues to be one of the most popular social media platforms in the world.

While Instagram and TikTok seem to be dominating the social sphere, Snapchat’s importance cannot be dismissed. It has fiercely loyal users, high-end brands, and the ability to connect with niche audiences in an organic way.

Just like on Instagram, the Snapchat economy depends on the number of followers and views your snaps receive.

Why You Need to Use Snapchat

When Snapchat first appeared on the scene, the social team groaned at the idea of having to figure out yet another social media platform. I quietly hoped that it would turn out to be another flash-in-the-pan fad that would quickly go away so that I could be spared the embarrassing task of going to my younger sister again and having her explain it to me like the out-of-touch adult that I’ve somehow turned into.
Despite the dominance of TikTok, Instagram Stories, and other media platforms that seem to pop-up on the daily, you may be surprised to learn that in 2024, Snapchat still has 513.2 million daily active users worldwide.

In data released by Statistica, that’s a 20.5 million increase from 2023! Just look at this graph:

If your target market is teenagers, Snapchat is a goldmine of opportunities. 48 % of U.S. internet users aged 15 to 25 years were reportedly using Snapchat.

It’s undeniable that Snapchat remains one of the world’s leading social media platforms right now, something that many businesses have been quick to notice. From deepening their relationship with their community to promoting upcoming events, there’s a whole variety of ways you can start using Snapchat to bolster your marketing efforts.

12 Growth Hacks How to Get More Views on Snapchat

1. Spotlight

Snapchat Spotlight is Snapchat’s answer to TikTok, a vertically-scrolling feed of user-generated short-form video content. It’s also one of the fastest ways to rack up views and followers if you post strategically.

Here’s how to make the most of it:

• Post High-Frequency, Short-Form Videos: Spotlight favors content that’s short (5–15 seconds), vertical, and native-looking. Try posting 3–5 clips per day, especially during peak activity hours (7–10pm local time).

• Follow Current Trends: Use trending audio clips and hashtags. Snapchat often highlights certain music or memes—using these can give your content an algorithmic boost. Follow Snapchat’s Trending Sounds inside the app, or use third-party tools like Tokboard and Trendpop.

• Hook Viewers in the First 2 Seconds: Attention spans are short. Use rapid movement, captions, or intrigue (e.g., “Watch what happens next…”) in the first 1–2 seconds to maximize retention.

• Use Captions & Emojis to Boost Engagement: Add on-screen text and emojis to highlight key moments and give context without sound. Many users watch with audio off.

• Keep It Authentic, Not Overproduced: Spotlight’s algorithm tends to reward content that feels raw and relatable, not overly polished. Use your phone’s camera and speak directly to the audience.

• Track Analytics: Use Snapchat’s built-in analytics for public profiles to monitor views, shares, and engagement rates. Double down on formats that perform well.

• Include a Strong Call-to-Action: End each Spotlight video with a subtle CTA like “Add for part 2,” “Follow me for more,” or “Comment what you think.” This boosts conversion to followers.

• Experiment and Iterate Quickly: Because Spotlight reach is unpredictable, test different styles—tutorials, memes, reactions, personal stories, and analyze which ones drive the most watch time.

Bonus tip: Snapchat occasionally pays creators whose Spotlight videos go viral. While payouts have decreased from 2021, some creators still report earning $100–$1,000 per high-performing clip.

Don’t Skip: 30 Expert Tips on How to Get 10k More Followers on Instagram

2. Boost Growth with Paid Promotion Tools (The Smart Way)

If you’re serious about scaling your Snapchat presence, whether as a creator, brand, or business, paid tools can help you get traction faster. Here’s how to use them strategically:

Promote Your Stories or Spotlight Videos

Snapchat’s self-serve ad platform, Snapchat Ads Manager, allows you to promote content directly to new audiences via:

• Story Ads: Appear between user Stories or Discover content.

• Single Video Ads: Auto-play videos placed in Spotlight or other feeds.

• Public Profile Boosting: Promote your profile to drive follows.

You can target by location, interests, gender, age, language, and even device type.

Pro Tip: Use “Swipe Up” CTAs (e.g., “Add Me,” “Watch More,” or “Shop Now”) and short, vertical video creative (5–10s).

Understand the Performance Metrics

Based on public creator reports and Snap’s own marketing materials, here are some benchmark numbers:

These numbers fluctuate by niche. Lower CPMs are common in under-saturated categories like ASMR, educational tips, or hyperlocal content.

Use Snapchat+

While not a full ad product, Snapchat+ ($3.99/month) offers exclusive tools that can help you optimize content:

• Story Boosts: Prioritized in friends’ feeds

• Insights: View story rewatch count, best friends, and audience breakdowns

• Profile Customization: Create standout Snapcodes, emojis, and bitmoji effects

Use these features to make your profile more visually compelling and to track what’s working more effectively.

A/B Test Your Content + Ads

Don’t just boost randomly—test two to three ad creatives at a time. Try varying:

• Hook (first 2 seconds)

• Caption style

• CTA language

• Audio track

Snapchat’s Ads Manager lets you compare performance in real-time. Pause underperforming campaigns and reallocate budget to what works.

Consider Influencer Whitelisting

Brands and creators with a budget can collaborate on sponsored Stories or run ads from a creator’s account using Snap’s whitelisting feature. This often drives better performance due to high trust and relevance.

You can partner with niche micro-influencers who already engage your target audience.

Keep Learning: How to Get More Views on TikTok with Expert Talia Datt

3. Shared Stories

Custom Stories allowed you to create a stories series with friends and family. Perfect for a wedding or reunion, but not practical if you’re trying to grow your audience. Now, Snapchat has “Shared Stories” that allow followers to add to your story topic. This is a perfect tool for showcasing products, getting feedback, or collaborating with an audience. Another application idea is to allow Patreon supporters or members to have access to your exclusive Shared Story.

Shared Stories disappear after 24 hours, but it is an easy way to get more views on Snapchat by collaborating with users.

4. Change your Profile Pictures

The very first step to getting more views on Snapchat is to start driving people to your account. Outside of Spotlight, there isn’t any organic search function within Snapchat, meaning that it’s pretty difficult to discover other users.

But it is possible to add new users outside of your contact list through their username or “Snapcode”. A Snapcode is basically a QR code that’s unique to your account and just so happens to be your profile picture on Snapchat. Anytime anyone takes a picture of your Snapcode with Snapchat they’ll be able to automatically add your account.

That means if you want to grow your Snapchat following, you should immediately change the profile pictures on all of your social media accounts to your new Snapcode.

But the main problem with Snapcodes is that you’re only given the option to take a photo of yourself, or whatever happens to be around you, to use as your profile picture. This can be a bit of a problem if you’re intending to run a branded account like we are. The last thing you want is a profile picture of yourself with terrible lighting and bed hair.

But never fear because there is a way to customize your Snapcode for better branding.

Thankfully, Snapchat allows you to download your Snapcode sans Snapchat profile picture through their website. From there it’s a very simple matter of using something like Canva, or any other basic image editing tool, to create your branded profile picture.

The only caveat is that you can’t edit the Snapcode itself; otherwise, it’ll be unreadable.

If you have a personal brand, another creative way to stand out is by creating a Bitmoji. The customized avatars of Bitmoji were made popular through the platform, and it’s still a strong way to speak the language of the platform.

Also, be sure to frequently remind your followers that you have a Snapchat account. It certainly doesn’t hurt to try to give your Snapcode more attention wherever possible.

5. Post Content Frequently

Just like with Instagram, the more you post, the more followers and views you’ll get.

In Snapchat, public stories are ordered chronologically, with the latest story shooting straight to the top of your follower’s feed. That means if you want more views on Snapchat, you should be posting as frequently as possible in order to stay at the top of your followers’ feeds.

But that doesn’t mean you should start firing off snap after snap of poorly thought-out content that does nothing but annoy your followers. Like any great social media marketing plan, you need to come up with a great content strategy.

Your content strategy depends on your brand and what type of Snapchat account you have. But needless to say, the last thing you want to do is just post random snaps of your day and whatever it is you’re thinking about at that moment.

While this is great content if you’re a celebrity or if your audience is primarily made up of your friends and family, random snaps are terrible if you’re looking to appeal to a wider audience.

While it is important to post content as frequently as possible, never sacrifice quality for quantity.

6. Always Give Value

At Foundr, we live by one rule when it comes to creating quality content: great value equals great content. But what qualifies as great value depends on what your brand is like and who your audience is.

If you’re a celebrity, you can get away with making snaps about your personal life because your fans would find your routine hijinks valuable. If you’re not a celebrity, you might want to rethink that content strategy.

As always, the easiest way to give value to your audience is to educate them.

This is a great way to further establish your authority and influence by actually giving your audience content that’s relevant to them.

Of course, it’s a little tricky trying to adhere to these rules within the 10-second time limit. But by doing this consistently, our followers know that they can always rely on us to give them something valuable every time they visit our account.

You always want to make sure that your audience feels valued whenever possible, so reward them for taking the time out of their day to watch your snaps. The most straightforward way is to offer deals or gifts exclusive to your audience.

7. Mimic Trends and Music

With the advent of Spotlight, Snapchat is inherently supporting short-form video and audio trends like TikTok. Make sure you’re actively researching Snapchat to see what’s popular on the platform. An easy way to do this is to explore Spotlight and look at brands within your industry that are having successful growth.

8. Show Off What’s Going On Behind the Scenes

What makes Snapchat unique among other social media platforms is that the content posted onto Snapchat actually feels personal and intimate. It doesn’t have that polished quality that can come off feeling disingenuous or fake.

This is one reason Snapchat is such a great way to engage with your audience and really drive home your brand’s message and mission. While this may be off-putting to some brands, at foundr we embrace the opportunity to show off what’s going on behind the scenes and really connect with our audience.

9. Have a Structure

A very important rule for creating good content is that you need a definitive structure or narrative. You need to set expectations early, otherwise, you’re going to end up frustrating your audience.

People have short attention spans, in fact, we actually have shorter attention spans than goldfish. If it’s taking you more than two or three snaps to get to the point, then you’ve already lost your audience.

The first three snaps you post should always be setting expectations so your followers know if the rest of your snaps are going to be worth their time.

This can be something as simple as saying you’re giving away five tips or that you’re going to teach them something in exactly 10 snaps or fewer works wonders. Letting people know that there is a clear end makes them more likely to view the rest of your story.

Treat your Snapchat stories as if you’re writing an article with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

10. Utilize Instagram

If you have a large following on another platform, like Instagram or TikTok, you can easily convert your to Snapchat by teasing exclusive interactions by following your profile. Now Snapchat allows you to upload straight from your camera roll. So test your top-performing videos from Reels and TikTok while customizing them natively for Snapchat.

The most straightforward way to promote your Snapchat account is to post your Snapcode on a regular basis. But don’t just post your Snapcode and think that the job is done because there is so much more you can do with Instagram to help you promote your account.

Take advantage of the bio link on your Instagram page, your stories, and your reels.

We use some of the same content from our Instagram stories in our Snapchat feed and visa versa. It reduces your workload, allows you to cross-promote faster, and also gives you the opportunity to sneak in your Snapchat link across other platforms.

The best thing about including your Snapchat link is that if you click on it while you’re on mobile, it’ll open up Snapchat on your phone, and you’ll immediately be given the option to add your account.

11. Ghostcodes

If you’re serious about getting more views on Snapchat then you should definitely check out Ghostcodes. Ghostcodes is an app that allows you to discover other Snapchat accounts based on categories like brands, adventure, fitness, and others.

With Ghostcodes, you’ll be able to create an account for yourself where you can fill out a quick profile, share your interests, and immediately start ranking in your category. Being able to rank and get featured in your category immediately makes your Snapchat account more likely to be discovered by an audience you actually want.

How you rank on Ghostcodes is based entirely on the number of those little purple hearts or “Kudos” you get from the rest of the Ghostcodes community. Meaning that if you want to be one of the top results in your category, let alone get featured, you need to dive into the Ghostcodes community.

You can do this very easily by finding other users who have listed similar interests to yours or are in the same category as you. Don’t be afraid to reach out to other accounts that are in your niche, show them some love, give them a like, and they’re likely to give you a like back.

Also make sure to promote your Ghostcodes account when you get a chance. See if any of your followers have Ghostcodes accounts and offer them something in return for giving your account a like.

12. Learn from the Snapchat Creator Community

Real-world creators often uncover algorithm tricks, posting strategies, and content styles that get results before the official playbook updates. Here’s what they’re doing right now to win more views:

Hook Viewers with Oddly Satisfying, Shocking, or Loopable Content

Snapchat Spotlight rewards high watch time and replays. Many creators on Reddit’s r/PayMeSpotlight subreddit say they gain the most traction with videos that are:

• Visually satisfying (e.g., slime, cleaning, symmetry)

• Unexpected or slightly shocking

• Perfectly looped so it plays twice before viewers realize

Tip: Start with a “WTF is this?” visual in the first second to stop the scroll.

Post Early in the Day to Get into the Rotation

Many Spotlight creators recommend posting between 8 AM and 12 PM to give your video a full-day runway. Snapchat appears to boost new content that gets early traction.

Experiment with different time zones if your niche audience lives elsewhere (e.g., gamers in Asia, beauty fans in the UK).

Repurpose High-Performing TikToks

Creators often repost their best TikToks to Spotlight—but with slight edits to avoid algorithm suppression:

• Remove watermarks using tools like SnapTik or CapCut.

• Add different captions or music via Snapchat editing.

• Flip the video horizontally or zoom slightly for variation.

This lets you test content that already performs well with new Snapchat audiences.

Ask for Interaction (Without Violating TOS)

While Spotlight doesn’t support comments, many creators cleverly build engagement by adding CTAs like:

• “Add me for part 2”

• “Screenshot when you relate”

• “Send this to someone who needs to hear it”

These CTAs spark more adds and shares, which indirectly boosts reach.

Join Spotlight Creator Communities

Connect with others testing the algorithm in real-time:

• r/PayMeSpotlight for viral test strategies

• Snapchat creator Discords (search “Snapchat growth Discord” on Reddit)

• TikTok to Snapchat cross-posting groups

Many of these communities share insights daily about trending topics, payout cycles, and optimal formats.

Keep Learning: How to Get More Views on TikTok with Expert Talia Datt

How to Get More Views on Snapchat FAQs

Now Grow Your Instagram

Snapchat is just one of the many platforms that can help grow your business and brand. That’s why we offer courses via foundr+ on how to grow your Instagram and YouTube following. Get the same strategies that helped us grow our Instagram account from 0 to 500K+ followers.

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This article was updated with support from Graeme Whiles.