Snapchat ghostSnapchat is increasingly a popular space for travel influencers—like these 10—to share their travels. But what if you’re looking to build your own following?

Whether you’re using Snapchat to keep friends and family back home entertained or using it as another window for your social media audience to follow your journeys around the world, there are best practices that will help make you be the best Snapchatter that you can be. In no particular order, here are six of my tips to help you keep your stories entertaining and informative—and your followers coming back for more:

 

Be comfortable on camera1. Get comfortable in front of the camera
Most times people are following you on Snapchat for you. While we don’t want to see your face 100% of the time, we do want to see that nice smile every once in a while telling us about where you are and what you’re doing. Becoming comfortable on camera is one of those skills that takes time, but practice makes perfect. The more you film yourself, the more comfortable you get, and the better and more authentic-feeling your Snaps become.

One of the most important notes I have with this as well is to make sure that you always look into the lens. When you look at yourself on the screen instead of the lens, it looks a bit off. The minute you look into the lens, you’re making eye contact with the viewer, which will keep them around longer.

 

Use geofilters on Snapchat2. Use the geofliters
Most cities around the world have one if not more geofilters stating the name of the city or town that you’re in. Some, like Chicago, even have more specific ones identifying the park or neighborhood that you’re in. A geofilter is a great way to show your followers where you are and to also liven up the image you’re sharing. If you have the time and resources, Snapchat now also allows people to make their own custom geofilters anywhere in the US, Canada and the UK.

 

Have fun with Snapchat3. Have fun
If you’re being boring and doing boring things, your Snaps will be boring. Remember that not every second of every day needs to be shared on Snapchat. Have fun with your travels, and you’ll have great content for your Snaps. And have fun with the app. Mix it up with different filters, make funny faces, and use the emojis and color options to make your Snaps more entertaining. I also like to add different music to my Snaps to fit with what I am seeing or doing.

 

GhostCodes4. GhostCodes
On Snapchat, there isn’t currently a way to search for friends or like-minded people. However, there is a new app that has just come out called GhostCodes (currently for iPhone only but coming to Android in about two weeks). Once you sign up for GhostCodes, you can add your own snapcode, choose a category that your Snapchat stories fall under, and select your interests. Once that’s done, people can easily search and find you and download your snapcode so they can easily follow you on Snapchat. You can find me there in the travel section as Cailin O’Neil.

 

Engage with your followers5. Engage with your followers (and adjust your settings)
Make sure that all of your followers are able to send you messages so that they can react to your snapchats. If you have messages turned off in your settings, you’re essentially using Snapchat as a soapbox and you won’t know if the people following you are enjoying your Snaps. It’s also fun to engage with them and ask them questions. I even like to give away postcards to a few of them at each new destination.

 

My Snapchat code!
My Snapchat code!

6. Play back your Snaps
One of the great things about Snapchat is that there is essentially no editing and everything happens in the moment. From time to time, however, there can be glitches or sound issues so after each Snap, you should make sure to play it back. Often, Snapchatters turn the audio off by mistake or cover the microphone on their phone by accident, leaving their Snap with poor or no audio. If you play back each Snap right away, you can avoid this kind of mistake by quickly deleting it and doing a retake. By playing back your story, you can also see how good it was and see where you can improve and make your Snaps better, shorter and to the point.

Have your own tips? Leave them in the comments below! And if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me on Snapchat at cailinoneil!

Editor’s note: You can follow Johnny on Snapchat at johnnyjet747:

Johnny Jet's snapcode
Johnny Jet’s snapcode

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