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Snapchat rolls out interactive ads that we’ll want to watch

Snapchat just overhauled its ads in a big way.

It looks as though social media companies are finally getting a grip on how to properly use ads. Instead of just playing 15- to 30-second clips that we’re forced to watch, Snapchat is one of the first in a wave of apps that could possibly make our ad experience a little less painful, and dare we say, enjoyable.

Before the introduction of Snapchat’s Ads Manager last year, if you wanted to post an ad you would have to go through one of Snapchat’s partners to do it. Now, advertisers are able to use the Ads Manager to create their entire ad in the app with features like its cool video editing software, choosing the audience that they would like to target, and seeing the results all in one place.

Recently, Snapchat added a few more updates to what you’re able to do with Ads Manager:

Shoppable Snap Ads: users can simply tap on the product being advertised to see more information. You’ll be taken to the advertiser’s website to buy, but remain in the Snapchat app.
Product catalogs: retailers can upload their entire product line at one time, and the ads manager will create an ad automatically.
Snap Pixel: companies can specifically see products or information that a customer has viewed or searched on their site to make for easier merchandise targeting. This information is made into lists that can be used for later reference, like which areas of a website are most popular, and which areas people don’t like as much.
Snap Partners: a whopping 40+ new marketing agencies have partnered with Snapchat to work with advertisers to better help them create great ads that users will actually want to see.

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With all these new Snapchat improvements, advertisers are already starting to see an increase not only with their revenue, but with the quality of communication with their customers as well.

We like that instead of looking at an ad about an unrelated app for home design, we can see an ad those new shoes that we wanted, and buy them from the app while we wait to get back to serving our impatient cooking game customers. Early holiday shopping, anyone?

How to add swipe up links on Snapchat and Instagram

Adding a swipe-up link is easy. Just follow our guide.

If you’re a frequent user of Snapchat and Instagram then you may have noticed their “swipe-up” features. This allows for someone to swipe up on a picture to be redirected to a website. Popular YouTubers will do this in their Snapchat stories with links to their new videos, while some people might link to their other social media accounts like Twitter. Regardless of what you’d like to link to, it can be a little confusing to get started. Here is an easy to follow step by step guide for both Snapchat and Instagram:

Snapchat Free Download

How to add swipe up links on Snapchat and Instagram

Swipe-up link in Snapchat

1. Take a picture in Snapchat

2. Press the paperclip on the right-hand side of the photo

3. Add the link you want to use into the URL box (Snapchat can use your clipboard so you don’t have to go looking for links frequently, you just have to save them).

4. Send the snap

Once you’ve done this, the picture will have a swipe-up link that will direct viewers to whatever URL you’ve put.

Swipe-up link on Instagram

Unfortunately for Instagram users, not everyone can create a swipe-up link. Your account either needs to be verified or it must be a business account with at least 10,000 followers.

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The swipe-up feature itself works similarly to the one for Snapchat. You have to take a picture for your Instagram story, then there should be a paperclip-like symbol in the top middle section of the screen. Press this and you can fill in whatever URL you’d like to link. Then you can post the story, and the link will be attached to the photo.

Snapchat uses augmented reality to team up with Amazon

Snapchat and Amazon team up for an impulse buyer’s dream.

You ever wish you could just look at something cool and then buy it within a few seconds? There’s good news for you, my impulsive friend, as Snapchat has teamed up with Amazon, allowing Snap users to scan items using their phone cameras, taking them directly to their Amazon store page.

As shown in the picture above, scanning an item in Snapchat will bring up a window for its Amazon store page, displaying its price and a few related items. The technology combines augmented reality with Amazon’s machine-based visual learning software, which analyzes shapes, colors, and logos in order to identify products. Given the gigantic variety of items available to purchase on Amazon, this kind of software is no small technological feat.

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Shopping features have been slowly added to popular social media apps for a while now, but haven’t really gained much momentum because they took too many extra steps. Snapchat and Amazon’s partnership is ingenious in that it only takes a tap or two to get to the product page, encouraging impulse buying and increasing profits. Ensuring impulse buying is especially important for Snapchat’s userbase, as its users tend to be younger and more prone to buying things en masse.

It is currently unknown what the financial details are in this partnership. Some believe that Snapchat will get referral money from Amazon when its users buy products, while others think that this may simply be a new feature that Snapchat hopes will allow it to gain new users and engage and maintain current ones.

This feature is slowly being introduced throughout the United States, and it will hit international users soon.

Why Facebook is losing teens

It’s been shown again and again that digital services age in dog years. There was a time when having a MySpace profile was edgy and cool, with its Top 10 Friends feature and music-based model. However, the arrival of Facebook, with its simple interface and lack of ads, toppled MySpace completely. Falling as quickly as it rose, MySpace went the way of the telegram; an archaic means of communication mentioned only as the butt of the joke. Facebook laughed, and it’s been laughing for years. But with the coming of newer, hipper rivals like Instagram* and Snapchat, Facebook isn’t laughing anymore.

Facebook: Boomer Central?

A commonly cited reason for leaving Facebook among teenagers is the influx of parents and older people to the website. Facebook is still the most popular social media platform by far amongst people outside the 12-17 year old demographic. When you’re a teenager, there is nothing less cool in the world than your parents. Why on earth would you want to share a social media platform with them? There’s no quicker way to have your hot new pic seen as uncool than to have your mom comment “CUTE! That’s my baby!! Love, Mom” underneath.

Old people and social media mix to hilarious results

The presence of relatives on Facebook has deterred teenagers from acting like themselves while posting, wary that whatever they say will be brought up at the dinner table. Teenagers have to moderate what they post so much that Facebook might as well be LinkedIn.

For today’s teenagers, their presence on social media is crucial for their social status. They don’t want to present themselves as some sort of sanitized, grandma-friendly figure. They’re teenagers; they want to seem rebellious, unique, and aloof. The demographics of Facebook do not allow them to do that.

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Snap Today, Gone Tomorrow

Snapchat has stolen Facebook’s teenage users away, and they show no signs of turning back. The main appeal of Snapchat to teenagers is its impulsivity and lack of permanence. The Snap Stories feature, which allows users to upload videos or photos that last for 24 hours before being deleted, is incredibly popular among teenagers because users are encouraged to post more spur of the moment content, as opposed to Facebook’s timeline model encouraging the posting of more “significant” content. People aren’t going to post that shaky three-second clip they took of that cute dog on Facebook, but it would be perfectly normal to see it on a Snap Story.

By encouraging off the cuff, mundane content, Snapchat constantly stays in the back of its user’s heads. Facebook recognizes this design philosophy and has copied it wholesale with its “Moments” feature. Facebook’s core design is that of a timeline, displaying significant events or content chronologically on a user’s profile.

Snapchat is the exact opposite, being a social media platform that focuses on content that’s in the moment. For teenagers, who constantly ebb and flow between what they see as cool, having your embarrassing or uncool posts erase themselves only to be replaced by cooler and newer content is highly appealing.

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Facebook in the Future

Snapchat currently stands as the most popular social media platform among people 12-17 years old. Reports from eMarketer suggest that Snapchat will gain 1.2 million new users in that demographic by 2022, while at the same time Facebook will lose 2.2 million teenage users. Because Facebook is still the most popular social media platform outside this demographic, they may double down and cater to their older user base. While this may alienate their younger users even further, it seems that Facebook is now past its trendy, younger days.

* Yes, Facebook owns Instagram. But the migration from the lucrative Facebook platform is a problem for the company.

These retro photo apps are taking over Instagram

If you’ve scrolled through Instagram in the last week, you’ve probably noticed an influx of grainy pictures with the date 1998 on them. These pictures are the result of apps like Huji Cam and 1888, which take photos taken on your phone and filter them to look like a Polaroid picture from 1998.

The apps function almost identically. They take photos on your phone and “de-master” them to give them a warm, nostalgic aesthetic. Grain is added, edges are softened, and colors are bled and oversaturated, placing a strong emphasis on reds, oranges, and blues. They even add random light streaks that perfectly and charmingly emulate the shortcomings of the convenience-store bought disposable camera. These vintage effects work best in photos that are well lit and feature a wide variety of colors.

The apps have caught on and become incredibly popular. Huji Cam alone has already been downloaded over 22 million times. The app is named as a homage to the popular photography company Fuji Film, whose instant cameras have regained widespread popularity in the age of Instagram. Likewise, 1888 is based on the photography company Kodak and is named after the year the company was founded.

Huji Cam download free ►

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Some may be asking: what’s with the rise of retro photo apps and Polaroids in the last few years? In an age where anyone with a smartphone can take a virtually unlimited amount of instant, high definition photos there’s something to be said about the intimacy of Polaroid pictures. Having a limited amount of film means you can’t just snap away aiming for the perfect picture, you need to actually set up the picture and make sure each photo is significant. These retro photo apps aim to emulate this feeling of emotional connection, as even users who weren’t alive in the 90’s can feel nostalgic for what pictures used to look like before the age of HD and Photoshop.

All pictures in this article were taken by yours truly.

Snapchat is killing off Snapcash

According to TechCrunch, code buried deep within the Android version of Snapchat reveals that Snapcash is being discontinued, stating that “Snapcash will no longer be available on August 30th.” A Snapchat representative confirmed this statement:

“Snapcash was our first product created in partnership with another company – Square. We’re thankful for all the Snapchatters who used Snapcash for the last four years and for Square’s partnership!”

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For the uninitiated, Snapcash was a service within Snapchat that allowed users to send money to each other. The feature was the result of a partnership between Snapchat and Square. However, strict competition between other mobile payment services like Apple Pay, Zelle, Chase Quickpay, and especially Venmo led this service to an early demise.

Snapcash was never an especially popular feature of the app anyway, with its far and away most popular use being payment for explicit snaps. The combination of Snapcash’s unpopularity and its connection to explicit content could be the reason Snap Inc. decided to shut it down. Given Snapchat’s increased desperation to attract advertisers and disassociate themselves with sexting, the shutdown of Snapcash should come as little surprise.

As consolation for the loss of Snapcash, we offer you this hilariously over the top advertisement Snap produced to promote the then-new feature:

5 amazing Snaplenses for gamers

Snaplenses add unlimited meme potential to your snaps. Sure, filming your friends doing embarrassing things is fun, but a well-placed snaplens will take your snap to the next level. Here’s a list of the most exploitable and hilarious gaming snaps we could find:

NOTE: To add these lenses, simply open the links in the article on your phone.

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1. Super Smash Bros. Melee

Super Smash Bros. Melee is one of the greatest games ever made. A staple in college dorm rooms for over a decade, it’s been a source of endless trash talk with no signs of slowing down. Now you can pile on the trash talk by putting Melee snaplenses over your friends. Utilizing the announcer’s booming voice, you can superimpose “SUCCESS”, “GAME”, “TIME” or the infamous “FAILURE” over your friends. Please enjoy the above picture of my little brother with “FAILURE” over him, which I took immediately after 3-stocking him in Smash.

Download the snaplenses: “FAILURE” “GAME” “SUCCESS” “TIME”

2. Call of Duty Nazi Zombies: REVIVE

Nazi Zombies is arguably the most popular couch co-op game of our generation. Millions of players all over the world have mowed down countless undead foes since the release of Call of Duty: World at War back in 2008. Spice up your snaps with the iconic “REVIVE” icon. Friend fell asleep in class? Awkwardly passed out on the couch after a long night out? Hit ’em with the REVIVE.

Download: “REVIVE”

3. Cuphead and Mugman

Cuphead is the most maddeningly difficult game we have ever played, with a difficulty curve so steep it makes Dark Souls look like Kirby. It’s hard to stay too mad at the game, however, with its gorgeous animation, creative character design, and dizzying ragtime soundtrack. Get some catharsis from the relentless boss fights and add some old-school flair to your snaps with the official Cuphead and Mugman snaplens.

Download: “Cuphead and Mugman”

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4. Overwatch Play of the Game

Getting a Play of the Game is one of the most satisfying things in Overwatch. You know that you’re an amazing player, and having everyone bask in your glory as you pick up a multikill just feels right. Now you can let your friends know how great you are in real life too with the Play of the Game snaplens. Featuring the announcer and an “ENEMY ELIMINATED” popup, this is one of the most hilarious and detailed snaplenses we’ve seen.

Download: “Play of the Game”

5. Grand Theft Auto V

Last but certainly not least, the infamous “WASTED” from the Grand Theft Auto series arrives on Snapchat with endless applications. The truly infinite amount of situations where you can embarrass your friends make this one of the greatest snaplenses ever.

Download: “WASTED”

6 of the best Snapchat lenses

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5 ways to improve your Snapchat Stories

If you use Snapchat, you’re probably familiar with Stories. Although the app started out as a new way to share photos, Stories gives you a new way to interact with your friends and followers.

Rather than sending isolated photos, Stories lets you create a narrative out of the interesting things you’ve done. Better yet, they live for 24 hours, and can be viewed again and again. Once the time limit is up, they’re automatically deleted.

Stories are a particularly good way to interact with a larger number of people. Celebs, brands, and other high-profile users can share their Snapchat name manually or by snapcode so thousands of users can watch their Stories, such as that time DJ Khaled got lost at sea on his jet ski:

So how can you improve the impact of your own stories? While we don’t recommend buying a jet ski and getting lost in the ocean, we can help with some top tips on making the most of your Snapchat posts.

1. Keep It Dynamic

Stories make you the director of your own movie. Remember the last film you watched? Was every shot static and unmoving, or did the camera change location, pan, and zoom in and out? Unless you’re watching something really arty, it was probably the latter, and you should remember these techniques for your Stories.

Change the angle of your shots, have one close up, and another further back. Keeping things moving creates a more interesting visual style, and keeps your audience engaged and excited.

2. Timing… is everything.

It’s a classic statement, but timing really is so important. In an app which focuses on short-lived interactions, anything longer than it needs to be will have your audience clicking away faster than a buttered bullet.

When you’re creating a Story, you have an option to select the time for each snap. Don’t default them all to 10 seconds. Just like the visuals, mix up your timing to keep it fresh. This is particularly useful when you’ve got a big joke reveal at the end of your story, like this post about two friendly coke cans.

3. Get Creative

Snapchat Stories has all of the same filters, text, and lenses that you can use in your direct messages, so go crazy! You can draw all over everything, add messages, change colors – the sky’s the limit. For some inspiration, check out these posts from well-known Snapchatters Christine Mi, CyreneQ, and Chino.

4. Openings and endings

Your opening and closing snaps are the most important of your Story. With your opening snap, try and draw in your audience – tease them with a message that gets them interested, and makes them want to continue reading.

Your last snap is just as important – it’s the thumbnail that others will see as the preview for your story. Although it’s pretty tiny onscreen, this is the first thing that users are going to interact with when they see your story. If your first thumbnail already has them interested, you’ve already won.

If you’re snapping for a business or brand, it’s also good sense to end with a question or encourage some sort of response – it drives engagement with your audience, and makes them feel more involved in your content.

5. It’s all about the plot

They’re called Snapchat Stories for a reason. Just like any good book, TV show, or movie, remember that every story needs a beginning, a middle, and an end. Bearing this in mind when you’re making your posts will put you miles ahead of anyone posting random headshots and their breakfast for the day.

Now you know how to make awesome Snapchat Stories, it’s time to get out there and start snapping. Have fun.

6 of the best Snapchat lenses

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Play tennis against Serena Williams with this new Snapchat lens

Snapchat’s new lens allows you to play a tennis match against the legendary Serena Williams. This is how you can play…

With the World Cup in full swing, it may have escaped your attention that Wimbledon tennis Championships have started in the UK. To mark the launch of Wimbledon, Snap and Serena Williams have teamed up to bring Snapchat users a brand new 3D lens bitmoji mini-game. This isn’t one of the third-party developed games we reported recently, but it will let you take on the tennis legend herself in a game of tennis.

As with all Snapchat mini-games, you can play against Serena anywhere. Just remember, that while you might be locked into an intense rally one of tennis’ biggest legends, nobody else will know what is going on. You definitely need to leave your embarrassment at home if you’re going to come out on top against Serena.

How to play tennis against Serena Williams on Snapchat

How to play tennis on Snapchat — Play against the Greatest Tennis Player of All Time!

The new tennis game was announced via a Tweet from the head of global sports partnership at Snap, Inc., John Brennan. The instructions on how to activate the game are pretty straightforward. To play tennis on Snapchat:

“Tap on the front-facing camera to activate an interactive 3D Bitmoji Lens and see how many points you can score against the GOAT.”

Of course, you need Snapchat before you can play. If you haven’t already, you can download it here:

Snapchat Download Free

In case you’re wondering GOAT stands for Greatest Player of All Time. It was Roger Federer who called Serena the GOAT so, yeah, you’re going to have to work hard to beat her. Good luck.

Gaming on Snapchat could be just around the corner

Snapchat is looking to launch a gaming platform for third-party developers in the fall and, reportedly, has already lined up at least one games publisher to the project.

Poor Snapchat. It carves out a place for itself in an overcrowded social network market by offering something truly unique, self-destructing messages. It does so well that it ends up becoming a public company worth billions of dollars. Success draws attention, however, and before long, Snapchat was being cannibalized by other social networks offering “Stories” that disappear after a set amount of hours.

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Fortunately for Snapchat, self-destructing messages wasn’t the only string to its bow as the company houses a fair amount of innovation. Cool filters and stickers for example or Augmented Reality effects that you can put right there in your snaps. Snapchat is now working on a new feature. It wants to create a Snapchat gaming hub so that third-party developers can create games for Snapchat users.

Snapchat's new gaming platform — Gaming is coming to Snapchat. Will you play?

The platform should be ready for launch in the fall, and a report from The Information claims Snap has already lined up at least one gaming publisher to the project. What is less clear, however, is what the games will be like or even whether they’ll be AR-based titles that fit with the current Snapchat experience or whether they’ll be something else altogether.

Snapchat introduced Snappables, small mini-AR games, back in April. This new effort, however, seems to a much bigger project with Snap providing the platform for third-party developers to create bigger and more ambitious titles. These titles will then be available for download via an internal app store.

With so many sharks in the water already taking bites out of Snapchat’s originality, this move could open up new waters for the beleaguered Snap. Snapchat boasts a young and engaged user base, which could be much more open playing games in the app than users have been playing games in Facebook or Messenger for example. If game developers can find a way to utilize Snapchat’s AR platform effectively, Snapchat really could start sailing out into unchartered waters again.

We’re looking forward to seeing what happens here.