Snapchat. The mere name either brings on a state of confusion or has most business owners exhaling some kinda sound of annoyance – anotherrrr social network.
Yes, that’s how I felt at first, too. My job is hard enough trying to keep up with the major players in social media. But Snapchat offers a truly intimate experience with it’s users.
And businesses can benefit greatly if they jump on the bandwagon early.
But first, understand that while I wouldn’t recommend Snapchat to be your main focus, it’s certainly something to begin getting to know, play around with, and take steps towards building an audience.
Why Snapchat can be great for your business
It’s easy to take a quick look at what Snapchat is all about and throw it to the side as something too simple or too confusing to utilize, but consider it from another point of view.
Do you remember text message marketing?
It used to be big a few years back. But because of a growing interest in no-call lists and the heavy cost to incorporate it into your marketing strategy, it went out of style. And let’s face it – it ticked people off because often the numbers were bought in bulk, so people were spammed.
Compare that to email marketing. There definitely is spam that makes its way into our inboxes, but usually the emails make it there by choice. You sign up to be included in some rad person’s email list that goes out weekly, daily, whatever – you opt in.
I personally consider email marketing to be the most intimate way to reach your prospects or audience. For those of us given the opportunity to land in someone’s email account – we are very lucky.
But the ONLY thing more intimate than getting in someone’s email account is getting inside their cellphone. And unless you’ve had your head in the sand lately, you know everyoneeee is carrying around their cell. I rarely disconnect from mine.
Enter Snapchat.
Snapchat offers you the ability to send out marketing messages to everyone on your list in one go, gives you the opportunity to humanize your brand (similar to Instagram), and can make for fun customer interaction.
But it could also make you serious $$$.
Take Starbucks for example. If Starbucks put the little Snapchat ghost on the door of all it’s locations and added it to other marketing materials to let people they have an account, then people would start following them. This would give Starbucks the opportunity to endear these fans to them even more with insider photos, new product launches, and coffee-related videos. And when they want to get rid of inventory or hold a promotion – one picture or one video could be sent out to EVERYONE at one time.
Consider that.
Take it down to a smaller business level. A restaurant could promote a plate on a slow night, a hairstylist could let it’s clients know there’s an opening after someone else cancels, or a retail store could offer flash sales.
Bottom line, Snapchat is going to be HUGE. So start getting on board now.
But before you go running out the door – know that the responsibility to make sure your customers/clients/prospects know you are on Snapchat is YOUR responsibility.
How to advertise your new shiny Snapchat account
It will take effort on your part, and it won’t happen overnight, but you can do it.
1. Tell your online audience and in-person customers. Send out an email that announces your new network, explain why people should follow you on it, but make a personable impression. Use people’s first name in the emails and if you have a business with face-to-face customers, make sure to let them know.
2. Include your new Snapchat account in all your marketing materials. Add it to all your upcoming emails, announce it on your social networks, add decals to doors/registers, and blog about it. More than anything, understand that doing these things once will not get through to everyone – it takes time, so be willing to put in the effort more than once.
3. Get creative. Make a video about why you’re going to start using Snapchat, share pictures/videos from your Snapchat account to other social networks, and don’t be afraid to ask people outright to follow you on Snapchat.
Snapchat is an incredible tool that you should begin utilizing for your business marketing efforts and I guarantee you’ll be thankful if you start learning how to use it now and begin growing your audience.
Be on the lookout for more Snapchat blogs/videos on the way that will explain the who/what/where/when/why of using Snapchat for your business.
Infographic created by red website design.