How Can Brands Use SnapChat And What Are The Benefits?

We know exactly what you’re thinking – another social media platform to master and manage on top of Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube and the rest. Don’t panic yet though… we’re here to tell you that SnapChat has huge potential for brands, and especially those who are marketing to Millennials and Gen Z. Let’s get started:

What Are The Benefits?

What does SnapChat bring to the party that the others don’t? Lots actually!

• SnapChat is a more personal platform and gives the brand a ‘real’ identity without filtering and professional editing.

• SnapChat is raw, candid and in the moment, making it the perfect platform for storytelling and building a brand persona among consumers. It captures the everyday life of the brand – for example, a fahsion brand could use Snapchat to exclusively capture and publicly broadcast the design process, fashion shoot preparation, behind-the-scenes, runway shows, model fittings, celebrity styling sessions and more.

• SnapChat knows no boundaries when it comes to reaching, engaging and connecting with tweens, teens and Millennials. The large majority of SnapChat users are under the age of 30, which isn’t hard to believe considering the platform is built to attract the generation of avid smart-phone users.

• The ‘Stories’ feature commands attention and creates a sense of urgency because it expires after 24 hours. Followers have to view the content now, or never, so they’re drawn back to the platform daily to view their curated collection of limited-time-only snaps and stories.

• It makes followers feel like a VIP, which is never a bad thing for customer retention and loyalty.

• The ‘Discover’ feature is a steady stream of editorial content from big brands that have paid to be there. Think Mashable, MTV, BuzzFeed, news.com.au, Daily Mail, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and more. For smaller brands, it’s inspiration for their SnapChat content library, and for global brands with big budgets, there’s potential to be seen by a large and diverse portion of your target market.

• SnapChat is a great customer service tool for private feedback and conversations between brands and their customers. In an era where customers take to the keyboard on public forums to express their concerns about a brand, it is quite appealing for brands to open up and encourage intimate conversations on SnapChat. Just remember that if you’re doing this, you have to be prepared to be responsive.

• SnapChat is another key platform for influencer marketing and it is already starting to flourish as popular influencers jump on the SnapChat bandwagon as an extension of their blog, Instagram account and Youtube Channel.

How Do We Know That It Works?

You won’t know whether a new platform works for your business model and niche before you try it, but there’s no harm in experimenting and testing to see whether you get traction. Based on what we’ve seen though, it seems SnapChat is set to be huge, especially for fashion and lifestyle brands, as well as publishers and influencers.

Big brands have recently started jumping on SnapChat and promoting their username across their other social media platforms, so that’s a big indication that everyone else is set to follow suit and make like the early adopters. If you want to be ahead of the pack with an established following before the platform becomes saturated, follow our tips below to set up your account and start sharing.

What Can Brands Post On SnapChat?

If you want some examples of creative (and good) SnapChat contact, follow luxury fashion brand Burberry (their username is: Burberry) for a week and you’ll have a steady stream of inspiration from the get-go. Here are a couple of ideas to get you started:

• Sneak peak of new products and collections

• Offer promotional and discount codes to your followers

• Behind-the-scenes action in the office, showroom, warehouse, fashion shoots, runway, design studio, lunchroom… anything and everything that gives your brand character and encourages followers to engage with you on a personal level.

• Influencer takeovers

Tips

If you’ve made it to here, you probably want to get start getting snap happy right away, so here are a few helpful tips before you go:

1. Set up your account with the same handle (if possible) as your other social media accounts and start promoting it across your platforms to let your customers know you are now on SnapChat. Unfortunately, SnapChat is not great for discovering brands and finding users in general, so your followers will have to know your exact username before they can start following you.

2. Always publish content to your story and try to do it daily as content disappears within 24 hours whether your followers have see it or not. Having a flipbook of moments in your story at all times is great as new followers will be able to check out your content and start engaging from the moment they start following you.

3. Offer incentives to your SnapChat followers via promotional codes. As your story only lasts for 24 hours on SnapChat, this is a great way to generate a hit of sales in a short period of time by offering a discount until your SnapChat story expires.

4. Let your story tell a story. Be Creative.

5. Don’t mess with your ghost as SnapChat users can take a photo of your ghost and immediately strat following you. If you change or add text to it, this feature won’t work and you may miss out on a host of new followers.

So, have you secured your Snapchat username and account yet? What are you waiting for!