Why Use Snapchat Public Profiles?

Snapchat launched public profiles in mid-2020, but until recently, only verified creators could access this feature. As of June 2021, all Snapchatters can create public profiles and leverage the many promotional opportunities they offer.

Essentially, a public profile is your business’s home on Snapchat. Snapchatters can find it through search, on the Discovery tab, via lenses, or through a paid ad. They can also access it directly from a snapcode or shareable URL.

Public profiles come with these elements:

Short bio: Like many other social media platforms, Snapchat gives you up to 150 characters to introduce your brand and tell subscribers what you’re all about.
Location: If your business serves a local clientele, you can select a city and state to help customers identify you.
Business type: Choose from dozens of business categories ranging from brand to entrepreneur to non-profit organization.
Subscribe button: Rather than adding your business as a friend, Snapchat Users can subscribe to your public profile content.
Subscribers: As your business gains subscribers, the total count appears in your public profile. Subscribers are separate from any friends your brand’s account may have.
Verified status: If your brand is verified, a yellow check mark shows next to your business name, confirming that your public profile is an official page.
Website link: If you’d like subscribers to visit an external website, add your brand’s URL.

Snapchat public profiles also feature up to four types of content:

Public story: Automatically show any stories your business has published within the past 24 hours.
Highlights: Display curated collections of your favorite stories, photos, videos, and public snaps.
Lenses: Showcase the lenses you’ve developed.
Shop: Allow Snapchatters to experience your eCommerce store.

How to Create or Switch to a Snapchat Public Profile

You can set up a Snapchat public profile in just a few minutes. If you’re ready to design lenses, create highlights, set up your shop, and add members, plan on spending at least an hour.

Set up a Business Account by logging into Business Manager and selecting ‘Public Profiles’. To create a free business account, you can find more information here.
Create a free Public Profile by setting up a username (or connect an existing one), and add business information to the Profile. Then click ‘Update Profile’ to make your Profile live and searchable.
Add content like Lenses, Stories, and Highlights to the Public Profile from the Snapchat app.
All users are now able to find, engage with, and subscribe to the Public Profile.

Conclusion

If your target audience includes typical Snapchat user demographics, creating a public profile is likely to be a smart choice for your business. Although you certainly don’t have to leverage all of the features, at the least, Snapchat recommends posting snaps or stories a few times a week to keep your audience engaged.