Is a picture really worth a thousand words? While text-based blog content will always have an important place in your SEO campaign, you never want to neglect images.
Have you considered Snapchat? If not, maybe you should. While Snapchat isn’t for every brand, more brands will benefit from a robust Snapchat presence than you might think.
Let’s take a look at what Snapchat can do for your brand:
What is Snapchat?
About 41% of 18 to 34 year olds use Snapchat on a regular basis. But if you’re not in that demographic, you might not be very familiar with the platform. Here’s what you need to know:
Snapchat is an image messaging and multimedia mobile platform. The original idea centered around sending photos peer-to-peer. Upon receipt, the photo is automatically deleted after a short period of time.
Over the years, users focused less on the short-term photo deletion and more on the instant messaging capabilities. In March, 2016, surveys revealed over 70% of Snapchat users chose the service because of its chat, messaging and imagine services.
Headquartered in Venice, California, the app was created by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown.
Snapchat and Marketing
Your brand doesn’t need a presence on every social media platform. Different types of businesses will find success on different platforms. The Best Social Media Platforms for Your Brand is a good resource if you’re looking for more info.
Is Snapchat the right platform for marketing your brand? That depends.
First, you need to create detailed Buyer Personas. This is a fictional customer with traits representing your real customer base. Need help creating one? Check out The Power of Buyer Personas for a complete guide.
If your Customer Persona would likely use Snapchat, then you’re in luck. Snapchat is a powerful tool when trying to reach people between 18 and 34 who uses the web to connect with their peers.
The great thing about Snapchat is that users spend an average of 30 minutes a day on the platform. Over two-thirds of users also contribute content on a regular basis. This means Snapchat marketing will often lead to a lot of interaction between your brand and potential customers.
How to Approach Snapchat Marketing
Alright, so Snapchat seems like the right marketing move for your brand. Now what?
First, you need to understand the space. This means finding the Snapchat influencers in your industry. These are the most popular and active Snapchat accounts.
The Power of Snapchat Influencers
For the most part, these will be individuals, although you might find a brand or two to connect with as well. For brands, you’ll want to focus in on those which your target audience follows, but which aren’t direct competitors in your industry.
Connecting with these Snapchat influencers is usually done with personal outreach. You’ll need to send a direct message introducing yourself and your brand. This guide on how to Connect with Bloggers Using These Top Outreach Tools focuses on bloggers, but the same basic ideas apply to connecting with Snapchatters, too.
Snapchat influencers can have a huge impact on your brand. A Nielsen survey showed people are 92% more likely to trust an earned media instead of direct brand advertising. Earned media is a personal connection, social media follow and other non-commercial interaction.
Use Snapchat’s Immediate Nature to Your Advantage
Customers respond well to limited time sales. These type of events naturally lend themselves to Snapchat. Here are some popular strategies to try:
- Quick, Impromptu Sales
- Contests, Drawings and Giveaways
- Special “Snapchat Follower” Discounts
Tell “Stories”
In 2013, Snapchat introduced Stories. These are a series of sequential snaps used to tell a story. You can use this feature to convey longer, more detailed information about your products and services.
If you use Stories, be sure and change your view settings. Go to “Who can…” and then “View My Story.” Change the setting from “My Friends” to “Everyone.” This lets the general public view your brand’s presence on Snapchat.
Snapchat isn’t a platform for every brand. But if your target audience is using Snapchat, then you should be, too. Snapchat users are active on the platform and respond well to endorsements from trusted influencers.
Do you use Snapchat? What strategies have you found to be useful? Let us know in the comments below: