The quickest way to lose a following on any social media platform is to lose the fans’ interest. Merely posting text to Facebook, releases to Twitter, and stock photos to Instagram isn’t going to develop a following — It’s a surefire way to hinder it. In this sense, Snapchat is no different.
With more than 70 teams across the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and MLS on Snapchat, there’s no shortage of content to look at. Each day features new pictures, videos, ‘takeovers,’ and more. Yet in scrolling through team stories, I find a lot of similar pieces: Shootarounds from NBA teams, skating drills from NHL teams, and other repetitive content that fans will have seen over and over.
So how do teams shake it up? Part of the answer: Don’t put up a Snapchat Story for the sake of having something up. Taco Bell, easily one of the best brands on Snapchat, doesn’t post daily and it works extremely well for them. Why? Because Taco Bell’s following understands that each Story is going to have a point, it’ll be more than a couple mundane photos, and they’ll be able to act on it in some way.
With emojis, colored font, and a drawing tool all a part of Snapchat, there’s no shortage of ways to use the platform. Here are three teams engaging their fans on the platform in different ways:
New Orleans Saints
The Saints didn’t play in yesterday’s Super Bowl, but you can bet a number of their fans did. Off-season for a team doesn’t necessarily mean the same for a fan’s interest and the Saints are using Snapchat to keep their following engaged.
The finals of this creative contest, posted this afternoon, features four fan-submitted entries with a simple activation: Screenshot your favorite to help select a winner. The account manager on the Saints’ side will be able to see which image garnered the most screenshots (as pictured here) creating a simple contest with content from fans.
Milwaukee Bucks
There are few things that fans crave more than ‘behind the scenes’ material. This can include locker room videos, pictures from events fans may not be able to make, and countless other examples. In each one the theme is consistent: Bringing the fan somewhere they otherwise couldn’t have been.
Over the weekend, the Bucks took their Snapchat followers through the recently renovated facilities. This particular story included both photo and video to showcase the updates.
The Bucks (username ‘BucksDotCom’) also do an excellent job featuring the giveaway on game day. These stories include pictures of the giveaway, details behind it, and a shortened link at the end of the story for a deal on tickets. The Bucks are easily among my favorites in the NBA on Snapchat.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Who says you have to be an NFL team to capitalize on the Super Bowl? The Penguins featured a number of players making their game predictions in a recent Story including both photos and video. It’s not super flashy and it’s not original. But it’s timely, new, and revolved around something that crossover fans are likely to pay attention to.
When you’ve got an event the size of the Super Bowl going on, it simply makes sense to find an avenue to get your fans involved.
Jeff Mason 
