Snapchat is an image messaging and multimedia mobile application created by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown. It currently has 100 million active daily users who watch 7 billion videos per day and share nearly 9000 photos per second. Snapchat is constantly adding new features including live text plus video and video calls between contacts to expand its services.
Why should you use Snapchat?
The growing number of users has made Snapchat a vital avenue of global marketing strategies that can be successfully used to increase engagement and brand awareness through innovative marketing campaigns.
Recent survey unfolds why you should be paying more attention to Snapchat:
These figures reflect that local marketing campaigns have more than 50% chance to work, a good number of users are active on the social platform on a regular basis and very few marketers using the media shows lesser competition and more chances of success.
Although your aim is to increase sales, do not constantly churn out sales pitch on the platform as it will turn off the customers. You first need to build a relationship with your followers and gain their trust. This can be done by posting a variety of interesting content and responding in a personal manner.
- Access to Live Events
You can offer direct access to live events through this real-time social media marketing platform. Use it for product launches, trade shows or one-of-a-kind events like the 1000th customer to shop in your store. The NBA has used Snapchat in various ways including at the Draft, All-Star Game and Finals.
- Deliver Private Content
You can provide special content to your audience and surprise your followers that they might not receive on other social platforms. This excites the audience and makes them feel that they too are a part of your exclusive event.
- Create interesting videos
You can think of something that is specific to your business and create interesting videos accordingly. For example, if you are a mobile phone retailer, you can create videos to show your followers how to change a password or download an app. Since your snaps can be on Snapchat only for a short time, the quality of video does not have to be very high which will save both time and money.
- Go behind the scenes
According to the businesses already on the platform, Snapchat is a great platform to tease customers with a sneak peek into your operation through its feature of an immersive video experience.
- Offer Contests, Perks and Promotions
Customers are delighted with social media giveaways and promotions. You could offer promo codes or discounts to the fans who watch your entire Snapchat story or ask them to take a snap while holding your product. This will not help you market your products innovatively but also make the customers keep coming back for more.
- Partner with influencers
You could partner with influencers like Instagram or other social medias to help spread awareness to a demographic that’s hard to reach through traditional media. Your influencers can also help you create spectacular video contents that would enhance your brand voice and personality.
- Tease Fans with New Products
You could excite the users of your products about an upcoming new addition or update through images or videos and create an early buzz for your product.
Keeping your snaps or stories fun will yield you quick and positive results since 71% of its users are young and aged between 12 and 34.
Some successful case stories of companies that have touched news levels of success in terms of customers include:
- World Wildlife Fund’s Last Selfie Snapchat Campaign Awareness about Endangered Species
- The NBA generates excitement for Kevin Durant’s MVP Announcement via Snapchat
- GrubHub uses Snapchat to find Summer Intern
- Audi partners with The Onion to Snapchat the Superbowl Live
- NARS uses Snapchat to Release Preview of New Collection
- Mcdonals’s
- Free People
