Snapchat for Small Business: 6 Ideas for Getting Started
You don’t have to be a mega-corporation to use Snapchat to create an effect. Even small businesses can use Snapchat in new and exciting ways. Here are a few to get started!
1. Reveal sneak peeks into your business
The opportunity to take candid, behind the scenes shots at your business gives your customers an intimate look at its inner workings. This is a bit like the same way in which Snapchat users send private photos to trusted friends. You are communicating a message of connection to your loyal followers. This is a crucial factor to Snapchat’s user base, according to the Social Media Examiner.
2. Use Geofilters to increase engagement
One of the features that Snapchat users love is the ability to alter their images with custom overlays. They often do this in humorous or quirky ways. Small businesses can take advantage of this functionality by purchasing On Demand Geofilters. This is a way for customers to overlay their pictures with a themed graphic specific to your business. It becomes operable within a predefined geographic area.(Source: Hootsuite).
3. Preview an exciting new product or service
Brands can use Snapchat’s powerful platform to build hype around a new product or service. The way cosmetics company NARS recently did for the launch of their upcoming special collection, as revealed by Convince and Convert. To enable the limited preview, new followers had to add the NARS account as a friend before being able to access the exclusive content at a designated time. Extremely effective!
4. Try Snapchat Video on for size
You might have a stronger message than might be allowed for by a mere photograph. Instead, try encapsulating your brand message in video format. Snapchat Video allows you to go in depth with your message, even though it too is set to disappear before your customers’ very eyes after an allotted period. Jayson DeMers, a contributor to Forbes, just asks us to remember that being casual is the name of the game here. Stuffy will not do at all in this environment.
5. Stimulate their appetites with a series of Snaps
So far we have dealt with photographs and videos in isolation. What can work well is a series of short snaps released together in a sequence. In this way, you could develop a ‘teaser’ for a new product or service. Do this by steadily uncovering individual pieces of an overall puzzle until it is time for the big reveal. This works well for movie premieres and could work great in lots of other contexts as well.(Source: Sprout Social).
6. Leverage the Power of Influencers
We’ve been talking a lot about Influencers on the blog lately, and all with excellent reason. Snapchat is no exception. The platform offers some exciting opportunities to leverage off well-connected influencers within your industry. As Kim Garst of Boom Social explains it, on Snapchat this usually happens by inviting the influencer to take over your account for a day or two. They run it from their perspective. This allows cross-over between your follower base and theirs, a potentially lucrative cross-pollination exercise for both your accounts.Snapchat is a valuable resource. Of course, it might not be the right choice for your business. Make sure you use these tips to utilize it in the best possible way. See the benefits.
