Hey there. Today we're talking about if the newest features added to Snapchat+ make it worth the $3.99/month and how you can start reaching out to brands for potential sponsorships.

Now, let's get into it! 👇

Snapchat Drops New Features To Snapchat+ 👀

Snapchat added 4 new features exclusively for its Snapchat+ subscribers. These new features are custom story expirations, custom notification sounds, colorful camera borders, and Bitmoji Halloween backgrounds.

What is Snapchat+? Fair question, considering the app has nearly 500 million users and only 1 million Snapchat+ members. Snapchat+ is Snapchat's $3.99/month subscription that gives users access to exclusive features. The 4 newest features are just a few of them.

Can these features be beneficial to you, as a creator? If you have a following on Snapchat currently, then one new feature in particular - the new Custom Story Expiration feature - could potentially be beneficial. It allows you to set a preferred expiration date on your story, with options ranging from one hour up to a whole week. This is, of course, quite the increase from the normal 24 hour time frame.

If you are a Snapchat creator with a large following, you may be able to charge brands a higher rate for a longer story post, considering a Snap story lasting 7 days will likely get more exposure than one lasting 24 hours. No matter your following the increased potential for more views could be beneficial, but is it worth the $3.99/month? Probably not... Unless you want the colorful camera border or "Can't Touch This" to play when you get a new Snap.

How To Reach Out To Brands For Paid Collaborations 💰

Brand deals and sponsorships are a massive opportunity for creators to make money.

According to BrandMentions, YouTubers can charge brands the following, on average:

• 50,000 to 100,000 channel subscribers: $500 to $1,000 per video

• 100,000 to 500,000 channel subscribers: $1,000 to $3,000 per video

• 500,000+ channel subscribers: $3,000 to 5,000+ per video

So, how can creators even get to the point of price negotiation?

Reaching out to brands via DM. Tori Dunlap has over 2.3M followers on TikTok. She shared with Business Insider two of her DM templates that get the conversation started with potential brand collaborations.

"Hi, I've been using your product for [number] years and I would love to partner. Who would be the best person to talk to?"

"Hi, I love the work that you are doing on [recent campaign example], and I think that we would be a perfect fit. Who would be the best person to talk to?"

Now, we can't all have 2M+ followers, BUT these cold-DM techniques may still get you a name of who to get in contact with. From there, you can move on to email.

Reaching out to brands via email. Emma Cortes had about 38,000 followers on Instagram and was able to book $40,000 in brand deals in 2019, she told Business Insider. A lot has changed in 3 years, but she did share a great way to combat a "gifting" offer when reaching out for a sponsorship.

Hi [BRAND] ,

Thanks for reaching out! May you please let me know if there are other opportunities with the brand besides gifted campaigns — or — the affiliate program? I'd love to explore a collaboration with [BRAND] and potentially provide the requested:

One Instagram Post

3 Instagram Stories

Here are my most recent Instagram stats and my media kit is attached for your reference:

Instagram:

• # impressions and # reached last 7 days

• % engagement rate, # followers

Example of previous Instagram brand collaborations:

• Brand 1

• Brand 2

• Brand 3

Thank you! I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Sincerely,

Emma

If you have less than 5,000 followers, you can still get brand deals. Here's how: 

• Create a media kit that stands out

• Analyze you follower demographics

• Reach out to brands whose target customer fits perfectly within your demographics

• Take what you can get and ask for feedback when its done

• Use the feedback as a testimonial to get more brands to work with you

• Repeat

Quick Clicks 💻

• Paddy Galloway shares ways creators can improve viewer experience

• Instagram adds new safety features for creators

• Signal is testing a new Stories feature

• Adobe releases a "Future of Creativity" report (stay subscribed for a breakdown of this 34 page document on Monday)

Mind-blowing Tweet Of The Day 🤯

This isn't a normal segment on this newsletter, but we had to include it... 👀

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Have a good weekend and keep creating! 👋