How to use social media to grow your group

4 Ways to Use Snapchat to Promote Your Trip

by Lacy Saye

Part 2 Snapchat

If you’re like us, using Snapchat for the first time can seem confusing and frustrating, but with the right information it doesn’t have to be! No longer used for just face-swapping, more and more groups and businesses are using Snapchat to increase their awareness. You may already know that a person can send “Snaps” to friends and family, but did you know that you can use Snapchat to effectively promote your educational trip to Washington, DC? Keep reading to learn how!

1. Connect on the student's level

As one of the fastest growing social media apps for all ages, Snapchat averages more than 173 million daily active users. You might have noticed your students engaging with Snapchat without considering the possibility of using it yourself to communicate to them. On average, Snapchat users under the age of 25 use the app for 40 minutes a day. That amount of usage provides a wonderful opportunity to connect with your students and their families. Take advantage and create your own account to start promoting your class trip today!

2. Share your story

There’s a reason Snapchat calls their primary feature “Story”. Stories are a series of images or videos posted together and when used the right way, can be an effective promotional tool for your trip. From the classroom, share why you’re passionate about educational travel and why it’s so important to you.

Helpful tip: Concerned with privacy? Stories can be shared privately to designated groups you set up or specific individual users. Alternatively, you can opt to post on "Our story", which shares with any user within your local town or community.

3. Get creative

Snapchat’s stories offer a cool and creative way to visually share details about your student trip. For example, use this platform to preview your trip itinerary! Using images from your past trips (You can upload images from your camera roll) and the text overlay features (found by swiping right on your phone), create a story filled with trip highlights. Another example is the option to add videos of past student tour activities such as laying a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery or riding the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. Snapchat gives you the opportunity to use Geofilters, which is an artsy “overlay” of text that shows your current location, providing a unique way to share your experience.

4. Promote next year's trip while on this year's trip

Snapchat was originally created for sharing moments in real-time, as it’s happening, and I encourage you to do the same. Creating daily stories of your tour activities keeps people interested while also keeping friends and family updated. This is a great way to give a snake peek of the tour to next year’s group of parents and students, getting them excited to see the sites the following year. Previewing the sites creates anticipation and helps build a lasting tradition within your community.

Helpful tip: Depending on your policy of cell phone use while on tour, we recommend encouraging students to use social media to share their tour experiences. They're friends could be next year's participants! For more information about cell phone use, check out our blog "Establishing Tour Rules for Student Electronics".