Snapchat, the trendy photo and video messaging app, launched back in 2011 and has been growing rapidly in popularity ever since. The main USP and differential feature when it comes to Snapchat is that all photos and videos are constrained by time. This means that content is only available for a short amount of time before it disappears from the platform forever. So submissions are purely momentary, offering a unique and unusual marketing opportunity for businesses worldwide.
Millions of Snappy Happy People
The platform works well too, with more than 100 million users sending over 700 million snaps every single day (as of May 2014). Due to this popularity Facebook reportedly attempted to purchase the platform for around $3 billion; only for the offer to be declined by one of the app’s cofounders.
What about the users? Well the primary target audience for Snapchat is 13-25 year olds; so if you are marketing towards an audience a lot older than this, Snapchat may not be the best approach. However, this does also create a unique window of opportunity for such businesses as the competition for this demographic is considerably smaller.
Top 10 Tips on How to use Snapchat to Generate Sales
With so many users and so much global attention, Snapchat has naturally progressed from a simple social media platform to a full-blown, effective digital marketing tool. Businesses all over the world are hopping aboard the gravy train and using Snapchat to gain followers, market products and generate sales online. How are they doing it? There are a number of methods really, and the options are almost limitless.
With this in mind, we have brought to you our top 10 tips on how to effectively use Snapchat to generate interest and influence sales. Let’s start with some good old fashioned bargains!
1. Everyone Loves a Bargain!
One of the most effective methods of growing your audience is to offer special deals and bargain discounts to your customers. This is true no matter how you choose to market/promote your business. It’s a technique that is proven to work and will continue to stand the test of time; after all who doesn’t like a good bargain?
Where Snapchat can make this even more inviting is through an increased sense of urgency. We all know that deals and discounts don’t last forever and they often come alongside promotional periods and specific seasonal offerings. The time limited nature of Snapchat further increases this urgency as users are encouraged to take action quickly to ensure they do not miss out on the deal.
2. Provide Access to Live Happenings and Events
Real-time social media marketing is extremely effective as it entices new and existing customers in the here and now. Snapchat can be used in this way to provide direct access to live happenings and events. So you can adopt this technique when launching a new product, attending a trade show or doing anything else that is worth showing the world momentarily. Have you just sold something to your 1000th customer? Snap it and let the world know about it!
3. Get Personal
Just by reaching out to a few customers and by having a personal interaction with them you can effectively acquire some more followers; or at least increased levels of interest. Just a swift “Hello” or “Thanks for your business” can make you relevant and admired to your audience. This is why other platforms such as Twitter are so effective and popular. So don’t always send general messages, send the odd personal one too!
4. Quick Off the Mark and Memorable
As mentioned previously, Snapchat content is timed, so users can set a time limit for how long people can view photos and videos. This is usually between 1 and 10 seconds, although there is the option for 24 hours too. This means businesses have a very short window to market themselves effectively and capture customers’ imaginations. So one of the best tips we can provide is to be quick in your actions and memorable in your approach. No dillydallying here!
5. Sneaky Peak of the Week
Providing little sneak peaks of new products or coming services is a great way of building customer loyalty too. This way you can create a buzz around a product before it even reaches the shop shelves; teasing your audience right up until release date. The 10 second window makes this perfect sneak peek material too, you can even make it a regular thing to ensure people keep a lookout for your content.
6. Host a Quick Q&A
Another great way to communicate with your demographic is to host a real-time question and answer session. Either this or you can provide real-time assistance to customers in need or those that have particular queries. For example, a customer may snap you a video showcasing a particular difficulty with operating your product. You can simply snap them back with a video solution. Perfect!
7. Stand Out or Stand Down
Not many companies are using Snapchat, compared with Facebook and Twitter, but the numbers are growing steadily. It’s best to jump on board now if you are going to do so, ensuring you are ahead of the rest of your competition who have yet to use this marketing opportunity. If you do jump on the Snapchat bandwagon, make sure you do it in style. It is best to stand out as much as possible here. It’s like a presidential election; if you can’t stand out then you might as well stand down.
8. Snapchat Scavenger Hunt
This one only really works when you sell products rather than services and works especially well in retail/shop environments. The premise is very simple – snap an image of a product in your store and tell your users that if they find it, they can have 25% off. This is a fantastic way of getting rid of old stock whilst engaging directly with your audience too. Who can resist a treasure hunt?
9. Snapchat Contest
The options here are limitless, you just need to be a bit creative with it. So for example, if you are a business that sells bicycles and cycling equipment, you could ask your audience to send in snaps of their favourite and most beautiful cycling destinations. The user with the best picture will win a prize or some form of discount at your store. Simple yet genius.
10. Behave Like a Brand
In order to come across like a true and proper brand on Snapchat you must simply act like a brand; not just a publisher of random, unconnected pictures and videos. What we mean by this is, your content offerings should all look as though they came from the same place – your brand! Consistency is key here in terms of brand message, design and tone of voice. You can’t post a series of comedic, tongue-in-cheek videos alongside a number of serious, heart-felt images. This way your brand will conflict itself and your audience will not know who or what to follow.
Get Snappy with unit36
If you are thinking of launching your own Snapchat campaign, or require some help and advice for a current campaign, do not hesitate to get in touch with the team here at Unit 36. We can certainly help tailor an effective campaign around your specific wishes and requirements, alongside other important social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.
Contact us for more information.
