Snapchat is a powerful marketing tool for businesses. Built around the concept of sending temporary images to other users, its mobile-focused features bring a dynamic opportunity for businesses to engage customers and increase their reach. It’s also one of the most popular social media platforms with 158M users per day. With this level of global awareness, it is important to know how to use Snapchat for business.
How to Use Snapchat Features to Enhance Your Visibility and Connection
Snapchat has multiple features in its mobile app for users to explore.
Snapchat Stories contain at least one video or photo and expire in 24 hours. Users can see stats on viewers of each story. A business can utilize the stories as a showcase for a “day in the life” or advertise upcoming special events or new product launches. To create a more personal connection, the story feature can also highlight employees via video or photo.
A Live Stories feature is also available to connect users at the same event. This can deliver a cohesive narrative for companies to deepen community bonds and expand reach.
Snap Ads provide businesses a creative opportunity to reach users with 10-second, full-screen, vertical videos. This is an excellent space to have a direct call-to-action with an interactive element such as a clickable link. Make sure to be succinct about products and services and any current special offers — and take advantage of the audio element.
This location-based feature can be very impactful in spreading the word about your business. It not only allows users to tag specific geographic locations but can also be connected to nationwide themes or holidays. For example, a donut shop (or franchise) could use geofilters on National Donut Day.
The most popular feature on Snapchat, lenses, works by using special facial recognition technology that lets individuals add graphics to photos or videos. Companies can sponsor lenses specific to their products or services to engage customers in unique, fun, and creative ways. This one is a great investment as it elevates average brand awareness three times higher than mobile norms — and increases purchase intent by two times. If a marketing manager is considering how to use Snapchat for business effectively, sponsored lenses are a data-driven impressive choice.
The newest resource on the platform, Snapchat Discover is a corporate feature that lets viewers access original content on popular media sites like ESPN and Cosmopolitan. The dashboard includes video, audio, and photo content. Ads can be purchased for these, but the feature is primarily targeted for large brands. Rates typically start at ~$50K daily and get reserved for well-known brands and publications.
Snapchat, for now, is most widely used among millennials. This audience, on average, opens up the app about 18 times per day. Depending on your product or service, the platform could be an incredibly valuable tool to increase reach, elevate your market share, and showcase your brand in innovative, disruptive, and exciting ways.
