In order to be competitive in an increasingly globalized world, social media needs to be at the forefront of your company’s marketing strategy. For millennials, the introduction of social media had the same impact as the introduction of cell phones did to baby boomers. Technology is facilitating rapid, easy dissemination of information worldwide, generating new business opportunities and widening corporations’ potential client and customer base. For marketers, social media is another channel to help brand companies and products, capture competitive information, and listen and respond to the voice of the customer. In this article, I want to concentrate on one popular social media channel, Snapchat and how you can use it for business.
Created in 2012 by three Stanford University students – Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown Poster – Snapchat is a photo and video platform that allows users to share brief images or videos lasting 1 to 10 seconds. After those images or videos are shared, they are no longer accessible. There is also a “story” feature where you can link several segments in chronological order. Stories are available for 24 hours before they disappear. Several media outlets participate within Snapchat as “teams” that offer their content to share. Some of these outlets include CNN, Comedy Central, ESPN, and the Food Network.
Today, the company boasts a $10 – 20 billion value with over 7 billion daily video views online and 200 million daily users. Snapchat’s predominant user demographic is 13 to34 year-olds. If your company is targeting this demographic, I strongly suggest considering incorporating Snapchat into your marketing strategy. Here are some business applications that you should consider.
Branding
Snapchat stories can provide prospective customers with a quick view of a company’s personality and mission without the expense of creating flawless corporate videos. Some companies have used Snapchat as a tool to give customers an inside look at the company. For example, one company told several stories on Snapchat showing sneak peaks at new products before they were officially introduced.
Promotional
Other companies use Snapchat as a promotions tool. For example, if your company manufactures clothing, you can encourage your customers take a Snapchat of themselves wearing your products and send the images to your company’s social media team. As a reward, you could automatically send participating customers a discount for their next purchase. This would build support for your brand and expand your customer base.
You can also create a promotional code and “Snap” it to your customers. They can then get their discount using this code online or via your call center.
Another popular promotion is to send customers a story and have the last frame of the story be a redeemable coupon that they can take a screenshot to be used on their next purchase. Alternatively, you can use the private chat feature built into the application to send a promotional code.
Announcements
Snapchat is a great medium to announce new products, trade shows and events. The NBA has used Snapchat during the draft, the All-Star Game and the Finals, to allow attendees of the games to add to the Atlanta Hawks “story” as events were unfolding.
Deliver Special Private Content
You can also use Snapchat to deliver special private content and to convey a sense of personal investment in individual customers. For example, actors Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson appeared at the Paris Fashion Show as their characters Derek Zoolander and Hansel to promote their new movie “Zoolander 2”. They documented their Paris Fashion Show adventure using Snapchat to help followers feel like they were involved in a special private event by creating behind-the-scenes snaps.
Acquiring New Customers
Customer acquisition is always on the hearts and minds of marketers. You can utilize Snapchat to gather new customers by uploading prospect lists from your address book or utilize a QR code in your digital and print marketing that invites customers to be part of your Snapchat network. Snapchat enables your company to target a younger demographic and build new customer support through innovative outreach strategies and promotions.
Building New Relationships
Customers do business with companies they know and trust. Use Snapchat to help build relationships. How can you build relationships in 1 to 10 seconds? By stringing a series of Snapchats together in a story or a series of events that showcase your products and services, you provide customers with personal insight into your company and help them feel connected to your products and brand.
Conclusion
If you are marketing your products to 13 to 34 year-olds, you should strongly consider Snapchat as part of your marketing strategy. I recommend that you don’t just settle for one social media channel; synchronized marketing strategies utilizing Snapchat, LinkedIn, and other tools will enable your company to achieve its goals. You can leverage Snapchat along with Vine, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter for example, to create a multi-pronged marketing approach that creatively tells your story to attract new customers.
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