Perhaps if you compare the social apps today, Snapchat comes as a very unique app. It is the self-destructing content which makes it so unique. The users share captioned photos and videos which others can view for a certain time period. This makes the user feed relatively cleaner.
Snapchat can then be used for new businesses for innovative promotion and develop their business further. Why is that, you ask? The answer is simple – Snapchat has huge untapped potential. About 2% of the companies present on Facebook have presence on Snapchat. It means lesser competition.
Another advantage of using Snapchat for your business is that your posts won’t get lost in long feeds. A serious problem we observe in Instagram, Facebook and Twitter is that users have long feeds, and in that ocean of posts, your content can get lost very easily. Plus, it can disappear into an oblivion of “older posts” withing 3 days. As such, it becomes very hard to get value for your content. For example, on Facebook, average reach of your page without any promotion will be around 5% of your “Likes” on the page. It is an hostile place for business development. But on Snapchat, users have self-destructing posts which cleans their feeds automatically. Hence, your posts will be visible to them.
Okay, there is untapped potential and a better visibility then other apps, given that, how to use Snapchat  to grow your business?
Follow our list for the answer:
- Content. Content. Content.The golden rule for any kind of marketing is developing good quality content. In case of Snapchat, you need to make sure that the content is specifically made for Snapchat. Why? Because on Snapchat, your followers will be able to see your content for a very limited time. This means you cannot just migrate same content like you would do with Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
This will also open up opportunities for more creative content. You can create formal or informal posts for people to see. You can show your product in action in a short video. You can show your team working, or even enjoying. You can feature your users snaps and encourage them to post Snapchats using your product by offering enticing incentives with them. Maybe, share a cool tip from an industry leader or give an opinion on a recent event. Make sure that you don’t just promote yourself. It can be harmful.
- Engage Users
Snapchat informs you when someone takes a screenshot of your snap. You can use it to your advantage. You can release a snap informing user to take screenshot of the next snap for special discounts and then in a next snap, release a coupon. You can track the number of users who take a screenshot.Similarly, you can ask the user to visit your website to find the coupon. This way you can divert traffic to your website.You can also write on the snaps to make them funnier or lighter. It can also be used to draw attention to something particular.
Also, last and one of the best – Use snapstories to tell engaging and interesting stories. This is a sure shot way to retain users and attract new ones.
- Encourage Participation
Ask your users to read more on other social networking websites or blog.
Ask them to reply to your snaps. Make sure to give them a proper nice incentive to do so. Otherwise this may backfire.
Don’t forget to follow other people. You cannot hope to have thousands of followers while having 0 following.
Reply and interact with others if appropriate. This goes a long way by making people realise that there is an hard working team behind your company. - Build up a Following
Despite its advantages, Snapchat has one discouraging problem – It lacks any sort of discovery system. This means that you cannot expect people to find you automatically. You have to reach out to them. The simplest way is to ask people to follow you on Snapchat on other social networks. Share around your snapcode and hope for the best.
So there they are. Snapchat has great potential and good scope albeit lacking any discovery system. It is a great social app to be present on with your brand.
You can download Snapchat here!
I hope this helps you. Share any success story that you may have with us below!
