5 Ways You Can Use Snapchat To Build A Following For Your Personal Brand

Social media is no longer a growing fad. It's a way of life for this generation and every generation to come.

When everyone has a story to tell, it becomes harder to get people to pay attention to yours. Getting social media to work in your favor and boosting your following can be tricky, but Snapchat could be the solution to all of your social media woes.

Here's how:

1. Tell stories through the Internet.

The Internet and social networking are here to say. It's safe to say that using Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat to tell your stories isn't a trend, but rather an integral part of our modern society.

Having the traditional “est. 1886” or something that implies vast experience in a title isn't enough or even that useful in this day and age. If you are trying to create a personal brand and build your audience, you'll need to provide context about who you are.

You're not a filmmaker or a writer, so how do you even get started with laying out some sort of story? Well, Snapchat is here for you. Its key "story" feature allows you to add videos and photos together, and they will disappear after 24 hours.

What's the point of that? You can tell a small story every day, which gives users and customers a look inside your day-to-day and adds to a big picture of your story IRL.

You become a television show, something people can watch and take in every day. Snapchat gives you that power with just a few touches of your smartphone.

2. Build basic video narratives.

Editing videos can be difficult and time consuming, especially when you do it every day. (Trust me, I used to post videos on YouTube every day.) Who has time for that? You have people to talk to, deals to make and things to do. To build context around your brand in 2016, however, daily content is necessary.

Taking a couple of minutes to talk to Snapchat is easy, and there's no editing required. In fact, the more raw the video, the better. Snapchat puts aside the need for Oscar-worthy editing, and it only asks that you record and then post. The story features posts them consecutively, so all you have to do is record your pieces in order of when you want them. Done and done.

Snapchat is all in real time, which can be harnessed in some pretty creative ways.

3. Target users with your content.

The weakness to Snapchat stories is that your friends have to take the time to click through and watch the entire thing. Have a story you only want certain people to watch? Select the contacts you want to see your story, and send it to them as well as posting the video and/or picture to your main story.

Know your audience, and form content based on their interests. Send them things you know they will like.

Snapchat just requires a little real-world work. To get people to follow you in the first place, you have to go out and meet people. It relies entirely on real people, so get out there give the people what they want.

4. Selfies are OK.

There was a time when the word “selfie” wasn't even in our vernacular, but now it's a mainstream term. Tweens and teens owned the trend, but now everyone is on board.

I've heard selfies described as the new autograph, a way for people to document the celebrities they meet. Selfies are now a symbol of trust. James Franco once said people shouldn't follow him if they don't want to see selfies. It's a reminder that there are humans behind these Internet profiles, and it's a way to know that a content creator is just like you.

Being too cool for selfies just doesn't work anymore. Talking directly to the camera, posting a thumbs up or taking fun photo at dinner keeps your profile grounded. People love people, and they want to see your inner workings.

Market with 80 percent of your personality and 20 percent process. The nitty gritty stuff can be fun and cool, but we (your followers) want to learn about you more. If “snappers” can trust you, they can trust anything you create down the line.

5. Take it one day at a time.

How often do you get a clean slate? Resetting can be refreshing, and it gives you room for new ideas. Made a mistake on your story yesterday? Well, fortunately for you, your mistake has been forgotten. Snapchat will reset your content exactly 24 hours after it was posted.

If you want to join the daily content movement, you are forced to forget about yesterday and tomorrow. Think about what's valuable right now.

Snapchat content doesn't have to hold up. It doesn't have to age well. Address current events, or talk about recent movies. It doesn't matter because it will all disappear before the next thing happens. Snapchat lives in the now, which more and more people need to be living in.

Be there for your Snapchat friends at the same time every day. Say “good morning” and “goodnight" to them. Have a conversation. Daily is what people want. Daily is the only way you will get anything done in 2016.