You've probably heard of Snapchat -- that all of the "young kids" are using it. If you haven't heard of it, in simple terms it's a photo and video sharing service where the pictures and videos disappear within seconds of being viewed. You can also message friends with a text message type of format, although the platform is much more photo and video focused. What you may not know is that some consider Snapchat to be an important up and coming marketing platform.
Gary Vaynerchuk, who is an author, speaker, and the CEO of VaynerMedia (which provides social media services to large companies like Pepsi) says this about Snapchat:
"Here is why I care so much about Snapchat: because I haven’t seen this much consumer attention on one social platform since early 2007 and 2008 with Twitter.
If you have 1,000 followers on Snapchat, 900 of them will watch your story."
Of course, Snapchat is not a huge platform in the business sense just yet. But it also shouldn't be ignored.
If you're looking for some ideas to get started with Snapchat marketing, here is what our friends at HubSpot said in a recent blog article:
Could you give me some Snapchat marketing ideas?
Here are a few ways you could give Snapchat a try. And hey, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. Work on designing quick, low-resource experiments when trying out new social networks like this. When your investment is minimal, a dud is no big deal; if the experiment shows the social network has promise, then invest more resources to see if you can turn it into something really big for your business.
1) Provide a product sneak peak.
Are you launching a new product or service you know your customers will love? Reduce their anticipation and release a quick 10-second sneak peak to your power users and evangelists. It could give your launch a bigger splash if they have time to formulate their thoughts, and even create content, around your new product.
2) Send a custom coupon.
Like the 16 Handles example above, send your customers a custom coupon that they can redeem at checkout. This will bring them into the store or ecommerce site and get them shopping around, but on their toes to reveal the ultimate coupon and use whatever value is redeemed. Just don't be a punk and have no coupon as an option -- that's not very lovable.
3) Release behind-the-scenes footage.
Working on a new video? Give your fans a little preview of what's to come, or a peak at how you're working behind-the-scenes. Perhaps you could release a series of behind-the-scenes videos, and have them guess what the video is about through a hashtag on Twitter. That way, you're connecting your snaps with a hashtag to track how much your fans are truly engaging with the content.
4) Engage event attendees with insider info.
If you're sponsoring an event, throwing an event, or even hosting a webinar, use Snapchat to give attendees inside information they wouldn't get otherwise. For instance, if you're sponsoring an event, you could use Snapchat to send them real-time event information. Tell them the line to the keynote's getting ong, and they should show up stat. Or that Happy Hour's ready 15 minutes early, and they can come get a drink on you. Anything that makes attendees feel VIP.
[Read the full Hubspot blog on Snapchat here.]
As always, you have to choose to spend your money on the marketing platforms with the most returns for your business. Whether or not you choose to market on Snapchat now, if the platform continues to grow alot of us likely will be there in the future. If you'd like to learn more about using social media for business or creating an online marketing strategy, contact us!
Since 2002, Half a Bubble Out has been dedicated to providing marketing, advertising and small business consulting that meet the needs of our clients. We specialize in powerfully telling stories through Inbound Marketing to grow your business filled with more passion and provision. Based in Chico California, we serve clients throughout Northern California and across the country to New York.
