Ian
Contrary to common belief, Snapchat is
not just about a bunch of youngsters flirting and face swaps.
Smart marketers have realised the
potential of Snapchat, especially with teen/young adult audiences. Sources say that 77% of
college students use Snapchat every day. Wait, there is more: 58% of college students are likely to
purchase a brand’s product or service if they received a coupon on Snapchat.
While the world is just waking up to
Snapchat’s potential rivalling Facebook, let’s look into how it can be used to market e-commerce.
1. Story responses
The main feature of Snapchat is the
Snapchat Story, which displays a collection of videos and photos and
is viewed and replayed up to 24 hours. New enhancements enable one to
respond to a specific photo or video by swiping up and opening a new
chat window. This means that a marketer gets instant feedback for
their snaps! This is much like likes, shares and retweets in Facebook
and Twitter. This enables informal
contests, host polls and Q&A discussions with users. That’s a
wonderful marketing platform.
2. Geo filters
Geofilters are available for a business
or private event. That means your customers can display their Snaps with your band logos! So, if you
create a Geofilter for an event, people who attend the event can add their snaps to it. That’s
great branding and reach for you.
3. Exclusive Discounts
Studies say that coupons sent via
Snapchat have a good success rate. Stories on Snapchat expire in 24 hours and that makes it a good
platform to host flash sales. Several ecommerce sites like Groupon have found success with this
feature on Snapchat.
4. Target Audience
Snapchat allows you to send promo codes
to a select few people. You can segregate target audience before reaching them. You can control
who sees your snaps. A select person who meets certain criteria can get a different coupon
code.
5. Engage with new Snapchat Stories
every day
Snapchat stories get deleted after 24
hours. So, zeitgeist is the buzz word. Unlike with Facebook or Twitter, where an old post can be dug
up after a decade, Snapchat deletes stories every new day. You cannot have viral posts in the
strictest sense. A good move is to have a new story every 24 hours so that people are engaged with
the brand.
6. Build up to a crescendo
Snapchat is perfect when you have an
event coming up and you want to promote that? Settle on a target demographic and send the snap
stories: manufacturing processes, team outings, workspace environments and product teasers. And
create your special on-demand Geofilter for the event!
7 Snapchat Ads
Every marketer wants to go viral.
Everyone wants appreciation with likes. But remember that unlike in Facebook where your high school
teacher and grand mom hang out, Snapchat is almost exclusive with the young population. That makes
marketers broadcast their very specific ads on Snapchat.
