If your brand hasn’t invested in Snapchat yet, perhaps now is the time to do so. With 100 million daily active users, 52% of whom are millennials, 22% of senior ad buyers have asserted that they plan to advertise on Snapchat this year for the first time, eMarketer has revealed.
It probably goes without saying that many of your competitors have started to enter the Snapchat scene. Listed below are three things to consider when deciding how and when to test Snapchat to see if it will work for your brand:
1. It’s easier for brands to launch on Snapchat
Snapchat is incredibly easy to use while the barrier for entry is much lower than ‘traditional’ platforms, such as Facebook. For instance, you can start using the platform today and it won’t look as if your brand lacks any credibility because you haven’t been using it for years. What’s great about Snapchat is that followers cannot see how many other friends you have and there’s no need to even create a profile page. However it’s necessary to post stories on a regular basis in order to gain traction. That being said, the platform doesn’t keep track of how regularly or irregularly you post. These factors make Snapchat one of the easiest brands to get started with.
2. Engagement on the platform is incremental
Instead of viewing Snapchat as just another location to post the same content you shared on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, use it as a chance to post plenty of behind-the-scenes footage of you and your team creating your content.
Effectively, Snapchat is a place for meta-content.
For instance, if you’re a shoe brand releasing a new product, rather than using Snapchat to post your most polished, professional shots, take the behind-the-scenes shots of the creation of those shots, featuring things like photographers, lighting, boxes of products lined up and ready, models in waiting etc.
Alternatively, let’s say you’re trying to promote an upcoming seminar or webinar. Use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to spread the word about the event and get people to sign up. Meanwhile, use Snapchat to share exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the creation of the seminar or webinar, with pictures of your team getting ready, sneak peaks of what’s to come and more.
3. Snapchat advertising is still in its infancy
There remain limitations when it comes to using Snapchat as a form of advertising. First of all, the minimum spend is apparently $100,000, which is outside the reaches of most brands.
Furthermore, advertisers can’t embed a clickable link in ads other than a non-clickable text overlay of the URL. Though this isn’t necessarily good news for brands, it is good news with regards to the fact that the user’s attention is more fully focused on the brand’s content.
Finally, it’s difficult to track performance on Snapchat, although the platform is currently in talks about functionality for advertisers to track whether or not ads have been seen, while progress can be expected in the company months.
Closing thoughts
If you haven’t already done so, now is definitely the greatest time to discover whether or not Snapchat is right for your business. Test out its Stories feature, build your audience and develop relationships with your customers by posting behind-the-scenes footage and exclusive access to special offers. Since Snapchat comes with a sense of urgency, use it to your full advantage!
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