Snapchat has become the new social app for teens and young adults, but what kind of impact can it have on businesses? Social media is an important part of any communication and business plan, but if you’re in the market for a younger customer, Snapchat is becoming almost a necessary option.

Snapchat is a photo and video-sharing app in which the media disappears after a certain amount of seconds. There is a “story” feature, which allows you to add consecutive “snaps” to all your followers and is available for 24 hours. This makes Snapchat a great tool for delivering a call to action to your fans. Since it’s only available for a short time, it creates a sense of urgency.

How to Create Business From a Disappearing Photo

For many marketers, the rise in Snapchat users was unconventional. It wasn’t like other networking apps out there, and being able to feature information for only a few seconds was a new concept. However, with the decreased attention spans of the Internet generation it quickly became clear why the network was so brilliant. The next step is learning how to leverage it.

Consider some of the best practices below:

  1. Once you get a following on your new social media account, reward those customers by offering coupons or special deals to ignite their interest and keep them coming back. This is also a good way to get your customers to spread the word about your company.
  2. Use your other social media platforms to alert customers and followers of a contest or giveaway you are hosting through your Snapchat. This can involve having your followers send a snap to you with a certain theme or hashtag.
  3. Behind the scenes. Snapchat stories are a great way to maintain interest in your business between promotions and events. Give your followers a taste for what actually happens day-to-day. Or save this for special occasions such as award ceremonies, local events you’re at or introducing new products.

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Curiosity for how things are made or what goes on behind the scenes is always there, especially if you have interesting products or purposes. Take for example the New Orleans Saints football team. Their media team often has behind the scenes snaps that fans itch for.

  1. Give your loyal followers (and customers) a sneak peek at your new product before any other media channel. This will help create buzz around your new product for free.

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The casual tone used with Snapchat makes the communication relatable – your customers don’t feel like customers, they feel like your friend. See how Taco Bell’s snap doesn’t explain when or where or how this grilled stuft nacho will be introduced, but their customers know they’re up to something and they want you to know about it. Plus, their target demographic is teens and young adults, the main users of the app.

Creating a Snapchat account might seem ridiculous at first, but the amount of consumers who use it daily along with their other social media accounts is astounding. This is a great way to connect with the younger generations with a tool they know and love – plus, it’s fun!

A Few Case Studies and Snapchat Statistics

Last year, Business Insider ran a story that in the UK, Snapchat accounts for 75 percent of all instant-messaging data. It may be tied to the fact that with Snapchat you have to send a video or photo, but the act of messaging through the app is still outshining other messaging apps. It’s clear this app is popular and gaining more ground.

In that same Business Insider article, Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao said Snapchat data consumption has grown 260 percent in the past six months (this was posted May 2015). The Discover Section on Snapchat, which allows media partners to share video and photo stories to all Snapchat users has helped. In March of 2015 TechCrunch reporter users’ average smartphone data usage increased from about 100 to 150 megabytes per week pre-Discover to nearly 400 megabytes per week afterward. Below shows some of their findings.

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As TechCrunch also stated, the app shows strong, consistent growth. More users, more usage, more data, more contact with customers. Snapchat is a free, easy, quick, and quirky way to interact with your customers. The time it takes to create a snap, which is maybe a minute if you’re really getting funky with it, is worth the return on investment – you literally pay nothing for the app, spend a little, or none, for social media blasts to get followers and create a communication plan for giveaways, contests, coupons and more. The wins coming from this are astounding. I do believe your business is ready, you just have to get started experimenting and getting out there.

Do you have any great stories or advice involving Snapcaht for business? Let us know in the comment section below.