There are many new and exciting ways to market your business in the 21st Century, but have you ever tried using Snapchat?
Snapchat can be a fantastic way to reach a new audience and promote your products like never before, and with over 100 million active users a day, it’s easy to see why.
Brands and content creators are using the app to filter photos of products, have fun with emoji’s, music and text and, more recently, produce snapchat stories. (this is a 24 hour video narrative via a ‘string of short snaps’ which entice customers to buy from them).
Here are 5 ways your business can thrive via the use of snapchat;
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Providing Access To Live Events
Snapchat is perfect for real time social media marketing because it gives your audience direct access to live events (much like Facebook’s ‘live feed’ button).
Use it for product launches, trade shows, interviews, latest releases, or one off events to see the real benefit, and track viewer numbers as you go.
In essence, Snapchat gets your audience excited because you’re providing a different, more authentic view of what’s going on.
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Delivering Private Content
You can also use Snapchat to provide special content for your audience that they wouldn’t see on all of your other digital platforms. Think of something unique that they can ‘unlock’ by following you (i.e. discount codes, additional promotions, unseen video content).
Flying the flag for brands tend to be top retailers like Topshop and Michael Kors, So follow them for an insight on how to things properly.
There are also plenty of celebrities flogging their latest albums, fragrances, clothing items and trinkets via the app too. You only have to look at the rise to fame of the Kardashians to realise how beneficial online marketing can be.
Another great example was the marketing of the Zoolander 2 franchise.
At a Valentino show for Fashion Week in Paris, actors Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson as Derek Zoolander and Hansel for a runway walk-off. They even had a “Blue Steel” geofilter at the fashion show.
The use of Snapchat at Fashion Week made consumers feel included in an exclusive world, and by doing so, they felt like they were part of the event.
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Contests and Promotions
Are you trying to get people coming back for more?
How about offering exclusive discounts for those who enter your entire Snapchat story? Or ask followers to take a photo of themselves with your product?
GrubHub succeeds in Snapchat community engagement with a variety of promotions, exclusive deals and contests. In fact, they were the first brand to execute a Snapchat scavenger hunt.
Each day during the five-day campaign, they asked their followers to post a daily snap, whether it was a food selfie or a food doodle.
This innovative campaign showcased GrubHub’s brand personality and created two-way communication between consumers and the brand. The company was able to capture user-generated content while increasing loyalty, which is a recipe for Snapchat success.
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Take People Behind The Scenes
With Snapchat, you can provide behind-the-scenes content to your community, which helps create and engage a strong following.
Show off your company and make sure to have fun with it. Capture birthday parties, Friday afternoons or company outings. The sky’s the limit on showing how your brand differentiates itself with company culture.
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Partner with Large Brands / People
Just like with Instagram and other social channels, social media influencers on Snapchat can help spread brand awareness and reach. By partnering with influencers, you can spread awareness to a demographic that’s hard to reach through traditional media.
Keep in mind, too, that influencers who are skilled with the Snapchat platform can create spectacular video content that can further enhance your brand voice and personality.
The best example of this working is with vine star Logan Paul and his involvement with the Sour Patch Kids brand.
They enlisted him to post a Snapchat story to the Sour Patch account (during a month of promotions), encouraging him to use his usual comedic influence while promoting the brand at the same time.
Why does it work? There are multiple reasons really….
- The brand had the risk tolerance to try out a partnership with a new form of social celebrity
- The brand open themselves up to a greater target market
- Logan, in turn, gains a whole new collection of followers
- The brand can send ‘one on one’ content to a huge group of people
Its also worth bearing in mind that if you enlist the help of someone similar, they are skilled with Snapchat and all its potential. They can also create spectacular video content that can further enhance your brand voice and personality.
…And who doesn’t want that?
