You may not have used it yet, but at some point in the past few years you've probably heard of Snapchat. Whether it was a news story about racy sexting, user privacy concerns or the founders turning down billions of dollars for the app, Snapchat has made a lot of headlines. What you may have missed is that Snapchat has also become a highly effective way for brands to interact with current customers and acquire new ones.
So, who's using Snapchat? How are they doing it? And most importantly, how can your ecommerce business use Snapchat to boost sales, brand recognition and customer loyalty?
What is Snapchat?
Even though just about everyone has heard of Snapchat, many people still aren't sure what it is. So let's get that out of the way first.
At its core, Snapchat is a time-limited photo sharing app available only on mobile devices. You snap a picture or record a short video and send it to a friend. Before you hit send you can add doodles, captions, a few basic filters and set a time limit for photo viewing. The default time is ten seconds, but it can be set for less. Once it's opened, the "snap" is viewable for ten seconds (or whatever time you set) and then it deletes itself never to be seen again.
Snapchat introduced stories in late 2013. Stories are made from a series of snaps and are available to view for up to 24 hours after a user opens it. Disappearing text messages, video calls and other features have also been added recently.
Snapchat is fun, fast and temporary, and while it started out as a tool for sexting, businesses are now starting to realize why Snapchat can be a great marketing tool if used properly.
How Can Snapchat be Used for Marketing?
Snapchat can be an effective marketing tool, but as with any marketing channel, it's important to know the demographics.
The majority of Snapchat users are females, with an estimated 71 percent of users under 25. If your product or service doesn't cater to millennials, Snapchat probably shouldn't be the first marketing arrow in your quiver. With that said, if Snapchat is around for the long haul - and it's looking like it will be - don't forget about it if you have an older audience. Remember, when Facebook first started it was aimed at a younger crowd too, yet now just about everyone has a Facebook account. It's quite possible Snapchat may follow a similar path.
Here are some of the ways you can get the most out of Snapchat:
Teaser Images & Pre-Launch Previews
If you're launching a new product and want to build a buzz before it lands you can use Snapchat to count down to the big launch day by building a story about your product through a series of sequential Snapchat messages, perhaps following a character using your product in a special way.
You can also create quick, snappy video previews and send these out as exclusive Snapchats. If you know your audience and what excites them, you can get some good word of mouth going before your product even hits the stores.
Taco Bell have used this tactic to great success when launching their Beefy Crunch Burrito, and experienced great success and sales within the first week.
They now use Snapchat as part of their key marketing profile when adding a new product to their product line.
Exclusive Coupons
Since Snapchat chats are time-limited, Snapchat is the perfect forum to deliver an urgent call to action or time-sensitive offer. 16 Handles, a frozen yogurt chain has found a successful way to engage youth with its product.
Users who send 16 Handles a Snapchat photo of themselves eating one of their frozen yogurts instantly receive a Snapchat coupon entitling them to between 5-100% off their next purchase. This is a good way to encourage repeat consumption.
Other companies send out exclusive coupons for holiday promotions and seasonal sales with Snapchats disguised as leprechauns for Saint Patrick's Day or reindeers for Christmas. This is a great way to help get in your audience's mind at times of years when they are probably planning on spending more money and making purchases.
Gain Followers With Competitions
To really thrive in business you need to be consistently gaining new customers. One way to do this is to create a Snapchat competition, and promote it across other social media and on your website. You can set the contest rules so in order for a user's entry to count they have to get a specific number of their friends to add your company to their Snapchat account. Alternatively the competition could be photo based and require a tweet and hashtag. Both methods can help you attract new followers.
Show Off Your Personality
During Super Bowl XLVIII, car manufacturer Audi partnered with Huge, their social media agency of record, and The Onion to Snapchat the Superbowl live. Humorous photos and captions created spoofs of funny things people do during the big game and by the end of the game Audi's Snapchat following had grown by more than 5,500.
Behind the Scenes
There is nothing fans like more than to see behind the scenes images of their favorite products or celebrities.
Will Snapchat Enhance Your Marketing Strategy?
Younger audiences are notoriously hard to engage, but Snapchat provides a fun way to interact with millenials and so far this group seems fine with being marketed to through this platform as it is fun, creative and personal.
It's no secret that today's youth are practically attached to their mobile devices, so what better way to reach them than with Snapchat.
As long as you have a clear understanding on who your target market is and what they like and don't like, you can experience a lot of success on Snapchat. It allows you to build your brand's personality, appeal to and reward your core customer base, and gain new followers.
Best of all it is a relatively inexpensive marketing tool and one that is set to increase steadily in the next few years.
The only real downside is Snapchat is the limited demographic range. If you're targeting anyone over the age of 35, save your time and energy for other marketing efforts. Other than that though your only real limit is your creativity. So get Snapchatting!