Have you embraced Snapchat for marketing yet? Many brands are struggling to get their heads around the ephemeral messaging app, which continues to grow and innovate.
To understand what the platform can do for your brand, I've spoke to Victoria Taylor of Blend Social. You can listen to the interview below or via iTunes or Stitcher, or keep reading on for a summary of our conversation.
Our tip of the week is none other than SoundCloud and our big shout goes out to Daniel Cohen.
What's the key to success on Snapchat?
"I would say the top tips to success are showing behind the scenes, showing your personality and showing the in-between moments, because that's what Snapchat's all about. It's not a perfectly polished Instagram post that's filtered. It's not a perfectly crafted blog post. The beauty of Snapchat is the fact that it's those in-between, raw, real moments. So I think for success I would say, be real, be you and make sure you're showing people the parts that they don't see on other platforms."
How do you get more followers on Snapchat?
"With regard to followers on Snapchat, you have something called a Snapcode, as I'm sure you're aware. So we can take that Snapcode, download it and we can upload that to different social platforms. So if you've got a really nice Twitter network or a good network on Facebook, you can very easily shell out your Snapcode or your Snapchat URL to those different platforms. You can also engage in others.
Lots of people use the Snapchat hashtag on Twitter, so look in there to see what conversations are going on around Snapchat. And I think you'll find, as well, we're seeing an increasing number of people using their Snapchat images as their profile pictures under the social networks as well. So that's a great way to get new followers also.
And also re-purposing your content. Snapchat's got a beautiful ability where you're able to download single Snaps or your whole story. And downloading a single Snap is perfect, because you can then upload that to Twitter. So people can see almost a tiny snapshot. And then you can direct them and say, "If you want to join in with the rest of the story, hop on over to Snapchat."
What is the return on investment of Snapchat and how do you measure it?
"ROI is different for everybody, and I think, as marketers, that's what we always get asked. "What's the ROI of a piece of string?" So the ROI of Snapchat for everybody is going to be different. It depends on your 'why' and, I suppose, your own personal goal with Snapchat.
Certainly for me right now the ROI of Snapchat is the relationships that are deepening, the opportunities that it's presenting. I'm working with consultative clients now through Snapchat, because they found me on Snapchat, which is fantastic for me. So that's my ROI currently, but that could change within a couple of months. It could be something else. I know people that have got speaking engagements through Snapchat.
So I think if you're looking at the ROI right now, it's not necessarily to look at it as in a monetary value, but to look at it from a relationship point of view and think, "this is a platform where people have real, raw access to you". It's a platform that provides a lot of access, more access than any other platform out there right now, I believe. So I think that looking at an ROI, in terms of money right now, is probably not the right approach. But if you look at it and think, "I'm here to build relationships, to get to know people," then that's where the real ROI will be, because those relationships form. And as relationships form, trust is established. And with trust comes buying power."
Follow Victoria on Snapchat VictoriaTaylUK.