You have probably heard of snapchat and maybe even use it in your private life, but can it really help you graow your business? Isn’t it just for fun? Let’s find out more:
When we pass by one another, talk to each other or just live our lives, moments fade into distant memories. Nothing lasts forever, and that is the sentiment echoed on Snapchat. The concept is simple: Look now or miss out entirely. Its seduction is evident in the data: Snapchatters open the app an average of 18 times per day, contributing to the platform’s 3.5 billion snaps.
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For those who want their business to reach new heights, Snapchat provides billions of opportunities every day. Yet, many local store marketers are hesitant to expand their social presence as it’s still an up-and-coming advertising platform.
However, it’s typically the early adopters that receive the most substantial return on their investment. As channels become more established and proven, costs increase due to competition among other advertisers vying for the same consumers’ attention. The cost of digital advertising is up 12% and is rising five times faster than inflation.
To help decide if Snapchat is right to add to your social media strategy, here are five ways marketers can use Snapchat to grow their business:
Create Experiences, Not Just Stories
Viewable for 24 hours, Snapchat Stories are collections of images and videos. Use them to provide personable content such as demos, fun facts, live events, special offers, teasers or testimonials that give a behind-the-scenes look at your business. This authentic, uncut content shows your team as they are — not the perfectly polished Instagram photo version, helping to establish trust with followers.
Keep your stories succinct and create impact in the shortest possible time by giving viewers just a glimpse. This will not only keep their interest to watch the entire story but provide them with a reason to come in for more. For example, NASA uses Snapchat to give followers an out-of-this-world experience by taking them into space. It also provides followers behind-the-scenes tours, interviews and trivia to keep its audience engaged while educating them on various topics.
Exclusive Promotions
Stories only last for 24 hours and Snaps disappear after they’ve been viewed, providing a quintessential opportunity for flash sales and promotions. In fact, Snapchatters are 68% more likely to make impulse purchases. Try promotions such as “Only 25 tickets left, order now” or “Screenshot this snap and show it at the register for $10 off today.”
These enticements appeal to more than just discount shoppers — there’s a psychological effect on the recipient. Scarcity incites urgency by its nature. If you’re running a one-day special or only have 100 tickets available, there’s a limited supply. Fear of missing out on an opportunity causes people to take action: 56% of people feel the desire to live more extravagantly because of the content on their social networks.
Create A Call To Action
Including your website links in Snaps and Stories is one way to turn followers into potential customers. Add links to encourage newsletter signups, directs fans to products, blog posts, contact forms or additional information about your brand, allowing them to take the next step in your sales cycle. By creating a simple landing page and using the “Auto-Fill for Web View Forms,” Snapchatters’ appropriate contact information will be automatically populated, similar to Facebook’s Lead Gen Ads.
Measurable Offline Advertising
Affordable advertising formats have been released since Snapchat became a public company. Ad objectives include brand awareness, website traffic and app installs. There is a $50 per day minimum advertising spend, but the campaign can last for as long as you’d like.
One of the biggest struggles many local businesses have with social media advertising is knowing if their ads drive foot traffic. Snap to Store can play an integral role in solving that dilemma. This feature allows advertisers to see how many Snapchatters visited a physical location within one week after seeing a Snap Ad and subsequently visited.
The caveat is, ad recipients are only tracked if the app is open while they are in the location, so not all foot traffic will be accounted for. However, thanks to Snapchat’s high engagement rate, it’s frequently used throughout the day: 80% have used the app while dining out, 67% at a shopping mall and 50% at the gym. Help circumvent this by encouraging people to open the app while at your location with signage, offering incentives such as, “Show us you follow us on Snapchat for a special offer” or with geofilters.
Filters In A Snap
A Snapchat filter is a design that you can overlay on a photo you take within the app. Geofilters are filters that are available within a geographic area you designate. It allows marketers to contextualize snaps, letting followers on your account know what’s going on that would be of interest to them.
These are a great way to promote an event, promotion or new launch. For example, if you’re holding an event, you may designate a geofilter to be available only at the venue. When attendees use the filter and share their photos, their friends will see your event details, generating more awareness. Make sure to promote your geofilter at your designated location — without being prompted, attendees may not look for your filter and you will have wasted money and opportunity.
Pricing depends on various factors including the size of the area in which you would like your filter to be visible and how long you want it to be available. As an estimate, it’s about $5 per 20,000-square-feet per day.
In the end, Snapchat can provide immense opportunities for marketers to connect with fans unmirrored by other platforms. It comes down to knowing where to direct your efforts. If your ideal customer skews to a younger crowd, it can indeed be advantageous to your marketing strategy. As with all marketing, experiment, analyze the results and continually optimize. By entertaining and building relationships in an authentic way, you will capture your audience’s attention, loyalty and wallet.
Article prepared with Forbes
So there we have it. Yet another way to boost your business and make sure that your are crushing it in the local market. If it all seems too much for you get in touch with us and we will take care of your marketing needs.
