The photo and video app started its journey back in 2011, however, its rapid growth has allowed it to become part of the social media marketing mix for many businesses.
As with any social tool, it is a balance between being the early user for greater results and not wasting too much time on a platform that might not be around in two years time. Nowadays they say over 20 million snaps are made every single day, therefore it is no longer an option to ignore Snapchat as a tool for traffic and brand awareness. The issue for many is still how to utilise the tool to its full potential while staying within the advertising rules, therefore I have written my top tips below:
Demographics
Before jumping right in, I feel it is always important to consider whether your audience is using this platform. While the audience is growing and expanding, it is still believed that 71% of users are between the ages of 18-34. If you’re working B2B or you are targeting a slightly older audience, you might be best suited targeting another platform.
Businesses that have therefore seen success from this platform have often been businesses targeting students with coupons advertised through their Snapchat business profile.
Ways To Advertise
Many business owners are eager to jump on the next big thing without actually creating a strategy or a plan of action of what to do with the viewers and how to convert them into customers. You need to consider what type of campaign you want to run. I have included some below to help offer an idea:
- Vouchers: As previously mentioned, this has been one of the biggest success stories of Snapchat for businesses, as the ability to offer a voucher to customers just on Snapchat (with a 24 hour deadline) creates a sense of urgency while helping to increase leads and traffic.
- Flash Sale: This is a great way to alert customers of a flash sale you are running on the site. You could even alert them of a URL for a landing page that only users of Snapchat will be aware of, running deals much cheaper than elsewhere on the site.
- New Product Launches: This works better when you’re a brand which is highly sought after. You can show a quick glimpse of what they can expect. Think of it like a sneaky movie trailer being shown to your key fanbase before the general public witnesses it.
- How-To & Guides: these are lost with Snapchat, so don’t put hours into this, they can be quick and snappy tips relating to your industry or what you’re selling.
- Competitions : Alert your friends of a competition you are running and how to apply.
- Tell A Story: The pinnacle of what makes this platform amazing, you should be telling a story to the people following your account. Share what is going on behind the scenes, whether it is a recent success story or what the business plans are for the next year, or any events that will be occurring.
Interaction
Too many businesses see these social platforms as a one-way business, which is their biggest downfall. I’m not saying you should answer every snap you receive, but you should try to keep up with them. Interacting with your friends can help instigate a brand rapport and increase the virality of your brand.
Be Creative
Don’t just post a plain picture. Plan what you are going to take and put in some work before posting it. I’m not saying spend an hour on each picture, but write text in different colours, make sure you get the right photo, be creative and you can even make multiple images work together so they become clear once the full story is posted. This takes me on to my next point.
Tell A Story
I would have a brainstorm session with your team and consider how you can tell an interesting story to your fanbase. Maybe share how your business became what it is today. You could find old pictures of when the business started, as well as every major landmark along the way. Remember you can play music in the background if you have images, but you may want to go for something royalty free.
Build The Account
Don’t just expect the account to build naturally, it sadly won’t. The search functionality isn’t like on other platforms; it is very hard to find other businesses. Instead, you should try to advertise your Instagram profile on other social platforms by sharing your snapcode. There aren’t many successful bots or tools (at the time of writing), however it is only a matter of time till someone develops a useful which will help you to shorten the time requirement of many of the tasks.
Success Stories
Many businesses have caught the eye, or caught our heart strings, over the past year with some very creative campaigns on Snapchat. If you didn’t catch WWFs #LastSelfie Snapchat campaign then you might have saved a tear or two. They ran snaps of animals that are soon to be extinct, with the text don’t let this be my #LastSelfie. Needless to say, this went viral and helped the business earn a huge increase in donations.
Other success stories (beyond the previously mentioned voucher code campaigns) are largely around events, where businesses have pushed their customer base to snap photos. NARS also used their strong profile to share news of their latest collection of cosmetics which were soon to be launched to shelves.
So going forward, you should work out whether this platform will bring in the right audience to your business, what types of campaigns you can run and what you can create. Good luck and please do send me an email at charlie@finetunedigital to share your success stories. It would be great to hear from you!
