It was once considered an app for high school aged kids who were trying to send inappropriate texts to their friends without the accountability and trace ability of a text. But, since its creation in 2011, Snapchat has been adopted by a newer audience and by brands looking to connect with their audience on an even more personal level than Instagram or Facebook ever offered. But, just like with any other social media platform, a business must consider whether or not it makes sense for their company to actually be present on Snapchat. So, we are going to lay it all out on the table in this post.
Who
When your business is considering whether or not to be on Facebook or LinkedIn, one of the most important questions to ask yourself is, “Who is my audience”. This critical question will help you determine whether or not it makes sense for your business to spend the time (and money) on a social media profile. If you’re a B2B business, it may not necessarily be the best choice for you, whereas LinkedIn may make perfect sense. According to Snapchat, their users are typically between the ages of 13 and 34. They’re also a tech-savvy group who are willing to whip out their phones to document almost anything. If your target audience falls within this demographic, you may want to seriously consider adding Snapchat to your resume of social profiles.
What
If you have determined that your audience fits within Snapchat’s key demographics, you have to then ask yourself, “what kind of content can I create that will work for Snapchat?” Snapchat can work really well for B2C companies, especially if the company has the right content to share. There are two ways to reach your audience, paid ads and organic content.
Organic content can be through your brand’s Snapchat profile through stories that you share with your followers.
Sponsored ads are another way to reach your audience. They can be served up in a variety of ways.
- Discover: this is content hand-crafted by different publishers specifically for Snapchat.
- Live Stories: curate content from fans to live in your story. Or, create and share your own live story from an event or activity to give your fans an insider perspective.
- Video Ads: these ads look native to Snapchat and are served up in between stories and can seamlessly show off your brand without disrupting the users experience
- Local geo-filters: proud of your business location? Then showcase it with a customized filter that users can add when in proximity to your location.
- Lenses: this one is definitely unique and will take some consideration if it makes sense for your brand and audience. It’s the option to add a creative lens to Snapchat for users to take a selfie and share it.
We’re going to take a little bit of a deeper look at lenses. By partnering with Snapchat via a lens, it’s a great way to let your users spread your messaging organically. It’s the original notion of “word-of-mouth” marketing through a snap. With such a return, the investment is definitely higher. Look at this lens that The Jungle Book launched a few days before the release of the movie. Please note that with lenses, you must take a selfie and then the lens actually distorts different facial features along with adding in additional elements around the image. (My eyes are not that large nor do they look like snake eyes).
In addition, here’s one from Starbucks that is clearly labeled as “sponsored”. For all of the Starbucks lovers out there, this filter is funny, engaging and most definitely going to be shared amongst coffee buddies
Now that you understand a little bit about the content that does well on Snapchat, you can further evalutate if the platform makes sense for your business. With over 100M daily users on snapchat watching 8+ billion videos every day, the audience is there for you to tap into. You just have to do it right.
How
We kind of outlined the how in the section above. But, now we’re talking logistics. How can you actually get your brand out there and in front of this audience? Some brands will just let their employees take over their account and share “a day in the life of”, others will take snaps of their activities at live events and share them, and others will create customized videos to share on Snapchat! There have even been a few instances where brands will share a snap of a coupon code or a free offer, so that users can screenshot it and then use it while in-store. Now, that’s pretty clever.
So how can you get started? Here are a few questions to ask yourself before signing up your company for Snapchat:
- What capabilities do you have?
- What level of commitment can you afford to Snapchat?
- Are you going to be able to interact with users?
- Can you consistently create content?
- What other channels can you leverage to grow your Snapchat following?
It’s important, just like with any other social platform to have a clear strategy for posting, engaging and responding to users on Snapchat this way you can keep consistent messaging all across the board. And as new problems and interactions arise, be sure to mark them down and come up for a game plan for if it occurs again in the future.
Key Reasons to Be on Snapchat
There are a few key takeaways that can really determine why you might want to consider Snapchat for your brand.
- Reach a younger audience.
- Show snap shots into the “behind the scenes” of your business.
- Get one-on-one engagement with your consumers and develop personal relationships.
- Partner with influencers via the platform.
If your audience is Snapchat friendly, and you’re looking to expand your social prowess in these ways, then what are you waiting for? Start snapping away!
Snaps to You!
Okay, so what do you think? Are you going to start transitioning towards Snapchat? With algorithm changes affecting the way users can see their Instagram feeds, we are not necessarily sure how that is going to affect brands and their interaction with customers – so it may become increasingly difficult to get your content out and in front of your Instagram audience. The time is now to consider adding Snapchat to your social media arsenal before it’s too late!