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If you follow me on Snapchat, you’ve probably noticed me asking you if I can take over your Snapchat stories. I’ve only done about 20 (although there’s been 500+ requests), but I wanted to take a second to talk about how they can be a great opportunity for your brand.

If you don’t know what I mean by a takeover, it’s basically a collaboration where you give me your Snapchat login, I jump into your account and snap myself saying “hey” or a giving a shout-out to your pals, and then I go ahead and push it out on your stories for all of your followers to see. It’s a ton of fun and gives great results on both ends.

Very rarely in life do you find true 50/50 value exchanges. Let me explain: In my world, I always try to go 51/49 (where I take 49% of the value and give you 51%). Most marketers try to grab a full 100%. It’s rare in the current landscape to have an even transfer of value, but that’s exactly what I’m seeing with these Snapchat takeovers. Both parties win big.

Snapchat story takeovers are an even transfer of value—both parties win big.

Because it’s 50/50, I’m truly grateful for those of you who have let me collaborate with you. It’s super valuable to me because I get exposure and face time with your followers. Whether your community is 8 or 8,000, I get to be right in front of them. At that moment when I show up in your story, something that has been primarily just you, I have their attention. Just like a custom geofilter, you’re putting your face in a place you know viewers are looking.

The other 50% of the value exchange, your 50%, is that it’s fun and, as a host, you get some great content out of it. A lot of you have been emailing me to do it because it’s a great inside joke for your friends or you want to me surprise someone with a shout-out. I totally get it. I’d love it if a Jets player took over mine (hint hint) because my buddies would love it.

I’m really excited to be doing more of these and I can really see these Snapchat takeovers taking off. Reach out to someone you think would be a cool guest on your story and who would bring value to your viewers.

Even if these don’t work for you or your brand, the opportunity for these takeovers is a valuable lesson. When you see an opportunity where both parties get great results, when a “1+1=3,” you need to go all in. These Snapchat collaborated takeovers are truly a “win + win = super win” for both parties and I highly suggest you try them out.

When a 1+1=3, you need to go all in.