Snapchat is a mobile app that allows you to take photos or videos, so called “snaps” to send to your friends and share with your followers. You are able to add fun filters and messaging to your snaps and a snap can be viewed for up to 10 seconds (this can be adjusted to less also) .
The belief that Snapchat is for teenagers only and has no value for business owners is completely wrong. Being one of the newer social apps (Snapchat was launched in September 2011) it has grown quickly to become one of the fastest growing social networks.
Did you know that Snapchat reaches 41% of all 18 to 34 year-olds in the United states? If that statistic is not surprising enough another fact is that over half of the users signing up are over 25 years of age. Here are some more stats about the app:
77% of collage students use Snapchat
10 billion daily views on videos
100 million daily users
9,000 snaps per second are sent
These facts just support the fact that this is a huge audience of potential customers for you. If you are not already on the app I think you should “get snapping” as soon as possible.
So why should you use Snapchat for your business? First of all because if your target audience is between 18-34 years of age the chances that you can reach them through this medium are very high. Secondly you can create a “real time” behind the scenes look about your brand or business and that way create a more personal relationship with your customers base. People like to connect with real people and Snapchat is the perfect platform to do so.
Here is how you can use Snapchat for your business:
1) Exclusive behind the scenes looks
Show your followers, things that you wouldn’t share on other social platforms, e.g. if you have a clothing store and some brand new items have dropped in store you could do “teaser snaps” to get your customers excited and also to make them feel exclusive as they have seen it first. Snapchat is perfect to create a real buzz around products especially as the snap only last for a few seconds it gets people excited and wanting to find out more about your new products or offerings.
2) Share Images that are not “good enough for Instagram”
Do you ever find yourself in the situation where you take a “ok” photo and don’t know if it’s Instagram or Facebook worthy? Or it doesn’t work into a specific theme you have built up around Instagram or Facebook? Snapchat is here to save the day! I always use images that are still very exciting and pretty on Snapchat rather than interrupting my social schedules on Instagram and other social platforms. Don’t clutter your Instagram with average images as here quality is very important to create a “good look” for your brand, but Snapchat is perfect for those “not too sure” images, as this platform emphasize on real life moments rather than staged images.
3) Give your customers more
People want to do business with real people, lets be honest if I want a pair of new sunnies I might as well buy them online from some overseas giant so I can save a few bucks (ouch did I just say that out loud? #truth). Snapchat is perfect to humanize your brand for example: if I follow a local store on Snapchat and connect with them on a emotional level (Snapchat really does that to you, you feel like you know the person) then I would rather buy the sunnies from this store, then spending my money elsewhere. Especially if I seen on their snaps before that they have particular products in store that I’m interested in.
4) Personalize don’t Cooperatize
Snapchat works in real time making it current and exciting, it is the “realest” it can get (Kanye West voice) when it comes to social media tools. Be yourself and give your customers a real behind the scenes look at your business and brand e.g. what your office space looks like, introducing your colleagues, new items and store and your honest reactions to these.
It is easy going which makes it ok to speak in everyday language with your followers. People want to see why your business is different and what gives you the edge.
So let’s get snapping! Add me on snapchat while you’re at it and see how I connect with my “people” hehe Snapchat name : serendipity.ave.