When you think of Snapchat you’re probably not all that surprised that over 40% of the apps accounts are made up of 18-34-year-olds. Most people assume that Snapchat is for the younger demographic but with over half of all new users being over the age of 25, the platform can reach a much wider audience than many give it credit for. With around 150 million people watching 10 billion videos via Snapchat on the daily, there’s never been a better time to use Snapchat as a marketing tool to propel your business.
With Snapchat recently upgrading its advertising features to meet the demand of the many companies large and small looking to promote and gain a following through the app, let’s take a look at some of the ways you can boost your business using Snapchat and some of the ways those already using it have seen success.
Paid Ads and Third Parties
Snapchat is now the most popular social media method for brand advertising, helping you build a following and promote brand awareness. With the new advertising expansion comes a new range of business specific features. The new Snap Ads appear between stories and while they’re skippable much like a Youtube ad, they will be displayed in the corner of the screen, while those in the slightly higher price range/frequency will be played in full with sound.
For the first time, ads will be linked to relevant third party options, meaning that when a user swipes your business ad you can direct them to a website, an additional article or extended video without them having to leave Snapchat. This allows you to not only bolster your brand but also build traffic and begin to foster a connection.
Ad Effective
To test their new advertising tools, Snapchat took 10 global brands on board and surveyed their consumers. Companies included the likes of Warner Bros, Verizon, and Universal Pictures. After conducting eye tracking, swipe rate and measuring emotional response. Snapchat found that their ads gathered two times the visual recognition of a Facebook ad and 1.5 times more attention than content on Instagram.
When Snapchat and Youtube were pitted against each other it came out 1.3 times more effective at producing an emotional response and nearly doubled the intent to buy when exit surveys were conducted.
So whether you’re just getting started with Snapchat and want to organically build a following over time or you think you’re ready to take the plunge with the business advertising packages on offer, you’d be a fool to miss out on what the app has to offer either way.
Geofilters and Snapchat Sponsored Lens
Snapchat geofilters are highly effective in driving new business and give you a real-time connection to your current customers. Geofilters are a small graphic that appears over a snap when users are in a specific location. Think at an event, your store or other location associated with your business. This allows them to take a snap and it’ll show where and when they were engaging with your products or services for all to see. These kind of filters are relatively inexpensive to start up and are a small but powerful promotional tool.
The Snapchat sponsored lens offers the option to make your ad interactive so snapchatters can take animated photos of themselves. For example, if you sell clothing or accessories snapchat users can play around with the lens highlighting your products and add it to their story or send it to their friends.
Snapchat Marketing Initiatives
If the above marketing methods mentioned so far seem a little too in depth for getting your business started on Snapchat there are many other simple marketing methods that piggyback off of traditional marketing techniques that still appeal to the Snapchat demographic.
Share Promo Codes and Discounts: These work across the boards for all companies as it’s easy to share coupon offers for in-store use or discount codes for websites.
VIP Access and Influencer Showcases: Giving followers VIP access to events, your locations or other places you might go that hit the sweet spot of your brand, allows them to get instant access and insight into your business when you share a snap.
Getting in with some of the biggest Snapchat influencers in relation to your business can get your content out to a larger audience easily, this is useful when you want to build a campaign on a smaller budget. Partnering with influencers and showcasing your followers can help you promote products and reveal plans to an engaged audience.
No matter your plans for your Snapchat business account, it’s clear to see the room for growth and success. Remember to be authentic with your storytelling and pinpoint points of interest and you’ll be sure to have a social marketing tool that works with you.
