How to Make Money on Snapchat in 2023; 10 Fun Strategies

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The best way to make money on Snapchat is to build a huge audience of followers who love your content and then leverage that audience to attract brand deals, sell products or cross promote other platforms.

That’s the best way, but not the only way.

In this article I’m going to walk you through 10 different routes to making money on one of the world’s most popular social media platforms.

No matter whether you’re an experienced techie or a total newbie, if you want to know how to make money on Snapchat, read on!

Screenshot of Snapchat Webpage

How to Make Money on Snapchat – 10 Fun Strategies;

1. Post Short Form Videos to Get Featured on Snapchat Spotlight

The Spotlight feature is a place where your videos can be found, not only by your followers, but also by anyone who might be interested in your style of content/niche.

It’s a great way to reach new users who don’t follow you yet!

To maximize your potential to become viral and get paid, it’s important to create content that stands out, whether it be funny, informative, or heartwarming.

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To be featured on Spotlight, your content needs to resonate and get shared, so be sure to use captivating images and clever titles to draw people in, and encourage them to engage and share.

Also try to make videos about trending topics or current events for an even bigger impact.

The wider the audience you reach, the more likely you’ll get featured and the more chance you have for monetization opportunities.

Screenshot of Jaden Sprinz Profile in Snapchat

2. Design Augmented Reality Lenses on Lens Studio

If you’re looking for an interactive and creative way to monetize your Snapchat platform, designing augmented reality (AR) lenses on Lens Studio is an engaging and inventive way to make money on Snapchat.

With Lens Studio you can design your own AR experiences that allow users to add interactive and playful elements to their snaps.

Lens Studio offers a range of powerful editing tools, such as a library of text, animations, and effects you can add, and a range of face and object tracking so your lens reacts to the environment it’s in.

The possibilities are virtually endless – from a custom-designed 3D face lens that overlays animation, to a dancing hotdog filter, and even a special exclusive lens that can only be accessed by the user’s followers on Snapchat.

You can also submit your lenses directly to Snapchat, who then approve lenses and put them in the marketplace for users to find and purchase. There you’ll have the opportunity to set your own prices and make money on Snapchat for each time your lens is purchased by users.

Creating a unique and outstanding lens will help you stand out from the crowd, drive user engagement, and ultimately, generate revenue.

Screenshot of different Snapchat filters

3. Become an Influencer and Attract Brand Sponsorship Deals

As I said at the start of this article, becoming an influencer on Snapchat can be an extremely lucrative way to earn money and lead to a multitude of opportunities.

To get started, you’ll need to create engaging content. For example, show people how to do something worthwhile, entertain, educate, inform, host giveaways, and make sure to connect with your followers on a personal level.

Once you have established yourself and garnered a following, you can start negotiating brand partnerships that can bring in a steady stream of additional income.

You can also cross promote to other platforms, negotiate affiliate deals and sell your own products.

The key to success as an influencer, is having a clear understanding of your target demographic and catering content to the appropriate audience.

Screenshot Loren Gray post in Snapchat

4. Sell Products and Services Using Snap Ads

Snapchat gives you the opportunity to promote products and services to your viewers with a few simple clicks.

Whether you’re an individual looking to monetize your personal account or a larger business looking to reach a wider audience, using Snap Ads helps to drive brand recognition and increase sales.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Create a high-quality advertisement that provides viewers with an engaging story or experience. You could include videos, photos, infographics, or carousels. If you’re a business, your ad should include a link to your website so customers can easily purchase your product or service.

2. Choose your audience. You want to target people who are most likely to be interested in the products or services you’re offering. Snapchat’s audience insights tool allows you to select the demographics and interests of your desired viewers.

3. Set up a budget. Snapchat’s Ads Manager allows you to select a daily budget and determine how much money you want to spend per day or week.

4. Start selling. After setting up your ad, it will be distributed in users’ stories, stories ads, and on the discover page. You can include a special offer for viewers who click your ad, or let customers purchase directly from your website or app. You’ll be able to see the performance of your ads in Snapchat’s Ads Manager.

With the right strategies and the right ad, you can start monetizing your Snapchat account straight away.

Take the time to research your audience and create a compelling ad that resonates with them.

Screenshot of creating Snapchat Ads

5. Promote Other People’s Products for a Commission

Commissions from sales of products and services, otherwise known as affiliate marketing, is a great way to bring in more money with your content.

To get started, you’ll either need to be proactive in building your audience, or use advertising to promote.

Here are some tips for how to maximize your success in promoting other people’s products.

First, join quality affiliate marketing programs that are relevant to your audience. There’s no point in promoting the latest brand of catnip, if your audience loves you for your travel posts!

Second, find products and services that you’ve personally used or come highly recommended. If you promote poor quality products, it will come back on you and damage your reputation as an influencer.

Third, create valuable and interesting content around what you’re promoting. Rather than just adding a link to a post and telling someone you recommend it, show how you’ve used it, or how a follower might use it.

People love to buy but they hate to be sold too, so don’t sell, educate, or entertain. The likelihood is you’ll have better conversions.

Lastly, build an email list. I talk more about this later in the article, but the more people you can take off of a 3rd party platform and nurture a relationship with on an asset you have full control over, the more money you can make.

Screenshot of sample Snapchat ad post

6. Create Snapchat Ads for Other Businesses

If you don’t want to build your own following, or sell your own products, why not create Snapchat Ads for other businesses.

Essentially you’re now offering a digital marketing agency service rather than being the digital marketer.

With this model, businesses will pay you to come up with the creative, the copy, and research the right audiences to advertise their products, services, or events.

To do well with this, you’ll need to have a track record of creating high converting ads for businesses. Start by roping in some friends and offering your services for free while you hone your skills.

When you have some results and testimonials you can use a platform such as Upwork.com to find businesses and clients looking for Snapchat Ad experts.

As you build your business and your reputation you can create your own website and hire contractors to help you expand your business. The world is your oyster!

Screenshot of Web FX homepage

Image source: WebFX

7. Ad Revenue Sharing

Ad revenue sharing is a huge opportunity for any Snapchat user with a following, as it allows them to take advantage of revenue generated by ads that appear on their content.

The process is relatively simple. If you have content that is popular enough and an audience that engages with the content, as Snapchat serves ads, you get a share of the revenue generated through those ads.

Ad revenue sharing allows you to capitalize on the popularity of your content, and generate an income based on your following size and level of engagement.

Much like youtube, after time, if your content gets high engagement rates, it’s a form of passive income as you don’t have to do any additional work on top of what you did to create the content in the first place.

As an aside it’s the same in the blogging world. I created all my written content, added affiliate links and monetization strategies, then one day decided to start working with an ad network and boom! Just like that an extra $1500 – $2k a month for doing no more work. It’s a great business model for doing something you love!

Screenshot of sample mid-roll advertisements in Stories

8. Cross Promote Your Other Social Media Accounts

Engaging with your followers on Snapchat is the key to making money on the platform.

However, it doesn’t end there; once you’ve built an audience on one platform, it becomes infinitely easier to grow other platforms!

If you’ve already got a following on another platform like Instagram for example, post links to your followers to come and see the content you’re creating on Snapchat.

If you’ve already built an audience on Snapchat, but now you want to dominate TikTok, then tell your followers on Snapchat to follow your new TikTok account.

The goal is to use each platform to help grow another platform which you can further monetize.

The more popular platforms you have, the more money you can make!

9. Use Snapchat to Grow Your Email List

Gaining subscribers for your email list can be a daunting task, but if you’re looking to make money on Snapchat, including list building efforts in your strategy is an absolute must.

As I said before, it’s important for the long term growth of your brand to take followers off of 3rd party platforms and create an asset you own and that you have control of.

That way, you can nurture and grow deeper relationships with your subscribers and your email list gives you another more personal avenue to generate sales.

Start by posting content on Snapchat that encourages users to join your email list. Make sure to mention exclusive offers and deals that await those who subscribe.

You can add some fun content to your snaps, such as including a competition or game entrants can play, to be in with a chance of winning a prize, with the incentive to enter being subscribing to the list.

Include links to the sign-up page in your bio, so viewers can simply visit the page if they want to subscribe.

Also, if you have a blog, you can post snippets with a link to the blog post in your snaps. This will give the user insight into your content and enable them to visit the post for more information, and eventually subscribing to your list.

You can create Snapchat stories that contain links to your business page, where users can find all the information about subscribing to your list, such as what will be sent following a sign-up and how often.

Make sure to include compelling and exciting visuals that will urge viewers to check it out.

You can also host regular Snapchat Q&A’s and ask viewers to join the list to receive other exclusive offers and giveaways. This simple and fun way to encourage signups will give you plenty of new members to your email list.

Screenshot of a smple Snapchat stories

10. Become a Snapchat Social Media Marketer for Other Brands

Becoming a social media marketer for other brands on Snapchat is one of the quickest and most lucrative ways to make money.

A social media marketer is essentially responsible for managing the social media accounts of different brands, often on several platforms at once, in order to create a buzz and grow online presence.

Snapchat, in particular, is a great platform for businesses to reach out and engage with their audiences in a fun and creative way.

As a Snapchat marketer, your job is to create content, monitor the brand’s social presence and increase its reach.

You’ll design innovative content and campaigns to get maximum engagement. You’ll also be a liaison between the brand and the community by responding to comments, messages, and questions.

You could also be responsible for increasing Snapchat’s performance and track the results.

The qualifications required for a Snapchat social media marketer are creativity and current knowledge of Snapchat. You’ll need to have a strategy for creating content as well as track your results.

You’ll also have an understanding of analytics and use analytics tools to measure performance. It goes without saying that your communication and writing skills are outstanding.

If you’ve got the skills and some knowledge about the brand you’re advertising, becoming a Snapchat marketer is a great way to monetize your Snapchat account.

You can either offer your services independently or work directly with a brand or marketing agency. This type of work is a great opportunity to gain valuable hands-on working experience and earn an income while doing so.

Screenshot of sample snapchat ads manage in fiverr

Tips for Making Money on Snapchat

Making money on Snapchat can seem like an intimidating task, but with the right strategies it’s possible to quickly turn a profit.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind to ensure success:

1. Leverage Influencers – Influencers on Snapchat have the power to reach a large audience and drive high engagement. Utilize their ability to reach a broad audience to create sponsored content for your product.

2. Utilize Ads – Snapchat Ads put brands in front of users who have expressed a genuine interest in their products. Utilize Ads to generate leads, drive sales, and increase brand awareness.

3. Promote Offers – Create exclusive offers to promote your products on Snapchat. You can incentivize users to purchase by offering coupon codes, exclusive discounts, or other incentives.

4. Have Fun – Embrace the fun nature of Snapchat as a platform to create content that engages users. Hold challenges and giveaways, or share funny stories.

How to Grow Snapchat Followers

If your goal is to become an influencer and make money via brand sponsorships or selling products and services then growing your followers on Snapchat is essential.

Here are a few tips to help you build your Snapchat following;

  • First, it’s important to post frequently and be consistent with your Snap content. Making sure your Snaps are interesting, creative, and engaging while staying true to your brand can help you to draw in more followers. Get good at posting relevant content on a consistent basis.
  • Second, consider partnering with like-minded people and brands on Snapchat. Reach out to industry leaders and collaborate with them to boost followers and engage your audience.
  • Third, use Snapchat’s features to your advantage. For instance, using Snapchat’s stories feature in your posts can help you create content that is dynamic and can be easily shared to increase followers. Additionally, try experimenting with filters, geofilters, and other lenses to make your Snaps stand out and help get more views.
  • Fourth, ask friends and family to give your snaps a shout-out or share them with their followers. This is a great way to increase exposure and create buzz about your content and what you have to offer.
  • Last, consider hosting contests or giveaways on your Snapchat account. This will not only engage your current following, but can also attract new followers and brand sponsors.

By following these simple tips, you can start to grow a successful following and make money on Snapchat!

1st picture shows image of 2 girls wearing black smiling, 2nd pictures shows children happy and playing and lastly 2 man riding horse

How to Make Money on Snapchat FAQ’s

Now you know how to make money on Snapchat, let’s go over some common questions and queries about the platform.

What is Snapchat?

Snapchat is a popular social media app that’s been around since 2011. It’s become an increasingly popular way for young people to stay connected with their friends, family, and peers and for brands to create engaging content for their audiences.

The app itself is fairly simple and straightforward. You create your profile and add people you know from social circles. Then, you can start “snapping”, that is sending photos and videos to a recipient which will vanish after a few seconds.

You can also use Snapchat’s filters, lenses, and other features to make some fun and interesting snaps of yourself. It’s a great way to keep up with current trends and what’s going on in your friend’s lives.

For those who are looking to make a few extra bucks, Snapchat is a great platform to monetize.

With sponsored stories, influencer programs and affiliate marketing, Snapchat has opened up a world of opportunities for users to earn some money from their content.

Screenshot of Snapchat lens examples

How Does Snapchat Work?

At its core, Snapchat is a messaging platform that allows you to send photos, videos, texts, and other media to friends and family.

What sets it apart from other messaging platforms is its use of ephemeral messaging. Essentially, anything sent will ‘disappear’ after a set amount of time, ranging from a few seconds to a few minutes. This ensures users feel comfortable sending personal and sensitive content.

In addition to messaging, users are encouraged to share content such as photos and videos. To make these posts stand out, they can make use of Snapchat’s many AR filters and lenses. This helps add an extra level of fun and engagement to posts, making them more likely to go viral.

Snapchat also encourages users to interact with one another. They can ‘like’ posts, comment, and add other creative elements to each other’s stories. This encourages users to form a community of like-minded people, building relationships and increasing their visibility.

Snapchat can also be used to create a business. Even beginners can leverage various features to make money by creating content, engaging with potential customers, and promoting their product or service.

With the right strategy, anyone can make money on Snapchat.

Key Snapchat Functions

If you’re looking to make some money on Snapchat, then you need to master its key functions. With its easy-to-use interface and highly engaging features, connecting with your audience is easier than ever before.

Through the use of its intuitive messaging format, you can get people talking and interested in your service or product. Here are some of the key Snapchat functions that can help you monetize the platform:

  • The Snapchat Story is one of the best functions of the app. This feature allows you to post multiple posts and images daily and is broken up into separate stories that stay live for 24 hours. This is perfect for generating interest and reaching a large audience. However, you can also invite people to watch your story directly, giving you specific potential customers to engage with.
  • Another great feature of the app are lenses. This is an interactive element where users can change the appearance of their image and add effects before they post. This immersive way of interacting with users can help your creative vision stand out. Plus, you can even save custom lenses with your branding and add them as sponsored or paid lenses for users to use.
  • The Discover area of Snapchat can also be monetized. You can use your content to directly advertise products in a non-intrusive, engaging way. Plus, adding polls and quizzes to engage users can be a great way to promote goods and services.
  • The Snap Ads feature is great for promoted posts that appear on the user’s ‘Stories’ feed. They are five-second videos or images that you can add links to, to get users to visit your website and purchase goods.

As you can see, Snapchat is a powerful platform with plenty of tools to monetize and engage with customers.

With these key features, you can leverage your creative and business skills to create a successful business on the app.

Screenshot of Snapchat sample filters

How Much Money Can You Make on Snapchat?

Depending on who you are, how creative you are and the types of opportunities you pursue, you could be making anywhere from hundreds to even tens of thousands of dollars with the right combination of effort, strategy and luck.

When it comes to the potential you have to make money on Snapchat, you’re only limited by your own creativity and ambition.

You can take advantage of numerous monetization strategies to begin making money, from sponsored partnerships and influencer marketing to direct sales of digital goods, fee-for-service services and more.

To maximize your earnings, it’s a great idea to understand the market and how best to leverage your talents and capabilities. Study up on different tactics, focus on one strategy and dive into building relationships with brands that need your help and services.

All it takes is a bit of creativity, a good strategy, and hard work. Soon enough, you could be seeing serious returns on your time investment.

Screenshot of sample images using Snapchat Lenses

How Many Subscribers Do You Need to Make Money on Snapchat?

The truth is that there is no set answer for this, as everyone’s situation will be different.

Depending on how you go about monetizing your snaps, the number of subscribers you need can vary greatly. Some may only need a few hundred followers, while others may need thousands or even tens of thousands.

One of the most successful ways to monetize your content on Snapchat is through promoting products and services. You need to have a large enough following to reach a wide range of potential customers and generate sales.

If you’re promoting a product that has a higher price point, you may need more followers who are willing to spend the money to make the purchase.

Affiliate marketing is another popular way to make money on Snapchat. Again, you’ll need enough followers to generate click-throughs to the product or service you’re promoting.

However, if your goal is to create snap ads for other businesses or become a social media manager you won’t need very many followers at all.

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How to Make Money on Snapchat – Summary

As you can see, there are many ways of making money on Snapchat. Whether you decide to monetize your content using ads, sell merchandise, or promote products for brands, there is something for everyone on the platform

But, just as with any social media platform, unless your goal is to help other people build their profile, the key to making money on Snapchat is to build a large and engaged following.

To do that you need to become a master at publishing creative and valuable content that people want to consume and share, and most importantly be consistent in doing so.

Most of the big accounts have been posting consistently for years, so don’t expect to see overnight results, unless you can supplement your content creation with paid ads, which will certainly speed up the process.

Most importantly, have fun! You could be at it for a while before you see any big results, so know your audience, create content that resonates and have fun doing it.

Good luck!

About the author

Disclaimer: Please note this post may contain affiliate links, from which, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Also as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I only recommend products and services I’ve used or would use myself. If you choose to purchase from any of my links, thanks so much for your support! 😊