Snapchat for business is the new trend in the Digital marketing which is moving at a frightening speed. There is no denying that the world is rapidly shifting from analog to digital. The only way to keep up with this speed is by keeping oneself updated and reading more about what is happening in the digital world.
It is important not only due to its rapid growth but, also because it is set to be the future of marketing. While older generation people will undoubtedly be inclined towards paper-based newspapers, books, communication methods and traditional TV and radio broadcasts, but the millennial or as we can rightly say the young generation have grown up with the internet and the mobile phones embracing the convenience of this brave new world of digital consumption.
Digital marketing is a huge umbrella under which fall a number of activities. One such key activity is social media engagement.
No matter what you sell, to whom you sell your product to, a well-designed social media strategy can help you grow your brand leaps and bounds. Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat etc have changed the way brands interact with people.
It has been noticed that 84% of B2B marketers use social media in some or the other form and thus it has changed the whole marketing landscape. The business world has got a new and powerful tool at their fingertips that can share a piece of content all over the world in seconds.
We all know about how Facebook, Twitter, Instagram are fantastic social media assets but little do we know about one such emerging asset called Snapchat.
Snapchat is one of the fastest growing social networks with CEO Evan Spiegel from California. It is still a relatively small, ‘niche’ social network compared to Facebook and Twitter, but it’s more than 100 million seemingly addicted users who spend an average of 25-30 minutes on the app each day represent piles of potential customers.
71% of snapchat users fall under the age of 25 years which is a potential group to influence. Snapchat features nearly 8 billion videos per day which have increased fivefold from a year ago. Snapchat positions itself as a more secure and private social media space than other social media platforms.
The receiver can see the snap only once and if he desires he can replay it once which will be notified to the sender. As an additional security measure, if a user takes a screenshot of the snap, the sender would get the notification. Thus we can see that
Thus we can see that Snapchat has done a great job in making a distinguished mark in the social media world. Brands see an engagement rate of more than 80% on Snapchat, proving it to be a useful tool. They can take advantage of the special feature of Snapstories which Snapchat provides.
Brands can put stories on Snapchat which can be 360 seconds long and lasts for 24 hours, it gets more viewership and the greatest benefit is one can keep adding to the story and can take advantage of the 24-hour limit. Snapchat’s real-time nature is compelling for marketers.
Snapchat for business might differ from other platforms because it lets the brands be more genuine without having to build digital identities for users. Snapchat’s real-time nature is compelling for marketers. It differs from other platforms because it lets the brands be more genuine without having to build digital identities for users.
We already see that many brands like Dove, Michael Kors, GrubHub, are using snapchat for business to engage the audience with their brand.
How to use Snapchat for Business?
Provide access to live events
To use snapchat for business, give audience direct access to live events like trade shows, launch event, or one-of-a-kind events like the 1000th customer in our store helps to create inquisitiveness among the audience and increase the viewership. It provides a different, more authentic view of what’s going on in the company.
National basketball association had very well executed this idea by creating excitement about their upcoming event where Kevin Durant was awarded the Most Valuable Player. So in a three photo story, the NBA created a story to encourage fans to tune in on real time on NBATV.com and NBA.com as Kevin accepted the award.
Deliver private content
One can also use Snapchat for business to provide special content to your audience that they might not receive on other digital platforms. Fashion brands like Rebecca Minkoff and Michael Kors have used Snapchat to debut their collections to followers before they hit the runway.
Offer contests, perks, and discounts
People love social media giveaways and promotions, so one can always. Brands can offer promo codes or discounts to the fans who watch your entire Snapstory. Send a snap saying that you’re about to give out an exclusive discount code and then reveal the code.
Do measure how many people opened, watched and took the screenshot of the snap. Brands can also start an exciting story in the snap and tell the viewers it is continued on the website and increase your website engagement.
Track these activities by creating a special page with a URL you give out only on Snapchat and then track it with google analytics. GrubHub used a series of images showing a pizza being eaten slice by slice to create suspense before revealing a discount code in the last image.
Be creative in using snapchat for business
After deciding the content you want to develop, think about how you can present it in a creative way. Draw or write on pictures to add humor or emphasis. Creativity attracts viewers and thus more beneficial it is to your brand.
If you have an idea in your head, make sure it is conveyed in the most creative and exciting way in order to attract more engagement. Dove executed this idea phenomenally. Its mission was to help this generation of young women develop a positive relationship with the way they look and help them raise their self-esteem and realize their full potential through their ‘self-esteem weekend’.
People were encouraged to ask their personal insecurities which was answered by Dove’s self-esteem ambassadors. The mission behind this was to connect with participants on a one-on-one basis.
Take people behind the curtain
Provide behind-the-scenes content to your community, which helps create and engage a strong following. You can showcase your company culture by giving them a glimpse of some everyday events like a birthday celebration, or a Friday afternoon or a company outing.
Fashion brand and start-up Everlane excels at this, pulling back the curtain to educate customers while producing enticing content. They use Snapchat stories to highlight tours of offices, happy hours and manufacturing warehouses.
Using SnapChat for business?
Is Snapchat capable enough to drive customers to your business or to your website? The answer is absolutely “yes.”
This is because Snapchat is a very different in comparison to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram that’s what makes it unique. As such, it offers businesses unique ways to connect with their audiences. If you haven’t adopted Snapchat as a part of your marketing strategy, you might be missing out on the first mover advantage with the ‘NEXT BIG THING’.
Snapchat provides you with an opportunity to connect with relevant members of your target audience; So get snappin’!
In today’s world, the digital platform is an inescapable platform; be it through television, mobile, laptops tablets and many more. We are exposed to everything digital.
Needless to say, the same principle applies when we talk about digital campaigns, their reach and subsequent effect on users. In this article we will focus on few of the best ones and the reasons behind.
1. #GoodSleepIs by Kurl-On
Under this initiative Kurl-On launched #GoodSleepIs campaign, with their main focus being World sleep day, i.e. March 18. They asked people what a good night’s sleep meant to them as a weeklong competition whose responses were made into beautifully appealing posts and also was turned into a sleep anthem video.
The efficiency of their campaign can be measured by the stats as they received a total of 1,129 re-tweets with 458 unique participants and the campaign trended on Twitter for 5 hours on #2.
Their campaign thought and execution shows how a simple idea can be so efficiently used to communicate your core brand message to a larger audience. They amplified their campaign well with creative posts tagging each person who shared their thoughts and also made a sleep anthem.
2. #MemoriesForLife by HDFC life
HDFC life came up with a beautiful idea of connecting a person to his/her loved ones without the restraint of time.
Unlike the usual campaigns, this one is a long term campaign that was launched in the first quarter with a vision to build a common platform for everyone where they can come, record a message, be it a video message or a scrapbook of photos which they can then choose to be mailed to their family or friends on a particular date in future. Being a life insurance company they know the need of emotional connect in their advertisement and they have portrayed it well with a moving video of a Father’s message that reaches his son on his birthday, years after he passed away telling him all about life and the little important things.
This campaign scores a lot of brownie points just because they have very aptly captured the essence of their brand message “sar utha ke jiyo” and combined it with the value of relationships to send a beautiful message.
3. #KhulKeKheloHoli by Parachute
Parachute wanted to put the spotlight on Holi and how everybody should shed their inhibitions while celebrating it this year. They created a 3 minute long video of an old man in an old age home that just wants to celebrate holi but how people around him don’t think of it as age appropriate. The digital amplification of this touching video is something that garnered a lot of engagement.
Parachute organized two contests. In one the brand invited people to share a dubsmash of their favorite song and in the other Holi selfies were the theme.
The brand garnered 5-6 million views with very high post engagement. All the brownie points in the world to them for building the connect, executing with brilliance and amplifying the campaign to the best.
There are thousands of brands catering to a diverse audience coming up with a variety of campaigns to build a connect with their customers, to increase brand awareness and many more such reasons. This article is an analysis of few of them to showcase how well their message has been communicated & received.
Businesses, small and large are using social media to push their brand and reach their target audience which largely includes the millennials. With millions of active users, social media has become a staple to myriads of the digitally savvy.
Most companies are fascinated how upcoming social media platforms are being adopted by the users who are looking for quick interaction with a brand. Some of the platforms that started just a couple of years ago are now turning into norms for most of the largest digital firms owing to the multifarious activities and features provided by them.
The main reason, of course, is to communicate their brand value, initiatives and extend their business reach in the shortest of time. Here are some of the new & upcoming social media platforms that are making the headlines:
Snapchat: One of the most talked upcoming social media platforms
With 100 million plus active users, the image messaging multimedia app is also used for brand networking by the companies. The features of the app such as Discover and Stories are widely being used by General Electric (GE), Coca-Cola, CNN, etc for connecting to their customers.
Snapchat is preferred by the companies for creating brand awareness and to encourage interactions from their followers. American fast-food chain, Taco Bell has been shattering Snapchat records since launching its Cinco de Mayo Snapchat Lens campaign.
It received 224 million views in one day. In the past, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) started #LastSelfie Snapchat campaign for raising awareness about endangered species.
Vine: Upcoming social media platforms for the video sharing
A six-second video sharing app, Vine attracted myriad users including comedians and musicians and has revolutionized the ways brands connect to their customers. Brands such as Dunkin’ Donuts, Gap, Samsung, Target, Disney and Oreo are famous for their stunning six-second-loop videos.
Vine marketing is now widely being used by many companies to visually promote their brands. Vine can help a brand in creating a brand story and showcase the brand personality through the allotted six seconds.
Whether tutorials, comics or stop motion; vines gain more views as they are more easily shareable due to their short duration. Shots Commonly known as the comedy app, Shots is used to share funny links along with selfies and videos that are displayed on a feed.
It has now emerged as a full-fledged social network that can be leveraged by various brands. Popular celebrities like singer Justin Bieber and boxer Floyd Mayweather increased their social media presence through shots.
Got a TVC that’s coming out? Why not share the teaser on shots and let it brew? Different needs, different social medias, that’s how the internet rolls these days.
Periscope: upcoming social media platform for video streaming
Periscope is a live video streaming app that has gained a ton of traction within a short span of time. Brands have come up with innovative videos to earn new followers and grow their business. Owing to the quality of the app, the users are able to forge personal relations with its customers.
Periscope can help in brand-building activities such as interactive customer support, product demonstrations, sharing customer feedback, breaking news and even an overview of brand history. All of which are being utilized by Red Bull, Doritos, Adidas, GE, Pizza Hut and many more.
Last year, British luxury fashion house, Burberry premiered on the app with a live broadcast of its show in Los Angeles. Periscope is a great way to introduce a new product and receive customer feedback and questions almost immediately. Without a doubt, this can take customer relations of a brand to the next level.
Wanelo
With about 90% female members, Wanelo app is a digital mall with millions of products including a host of big brands that enables you to follow and share products with other people on the app. Many brands are managing their e-commerce presence on Wanelo for increasing traffic and conversion rates.
100% advertisements free, it is a social media marketplace for more than 3.5 lac stores and 20 million plus products. Addicted to online shopping? Then this shopping community is a must to be part of. Some of the brands that have stores on Wanelo are Katie Joelle, Kody, Opal Apparel, Kalypso and much more.
Blab
Real-time video streaming has become quite popular among brands. Blab, with an easy-to-use and engaging interface, is an interactive app that facilitates group discussions. Periscope and Blab are similar, yet different in some key aspects. The former permits 1 host per each video broadcast. This is called a “scope”.
Whereas, Blab allows 2 to 4 hosts for each broadcast. In Periscope, the scopes are available for replay only for 24 hours, whereas in Blab there is no time limit.
Depending on the requirement, the companies can decide which platform is best for their business. The social media triumphs of many brands are proving as a catalyst in expanding their online brand presence and outreach as well as increasing online sales.
Social media monitoring has improved exponentially in order to promote, strengthen or defend a product or brand on social media sites. Most of the companies are applying 360-degree approach for having a huge presence on social media platforms.
It’s clear that most of these social media channels are interactive platforms that are fitting for today’s fleeting attention spans. They’re also very hands-on platforms that need to be tended to on a daily basis, this kind of interaction will almost definitely help in humanizing the brands like never before.
Therefore, it is high time brands start leveraging this platform for their own benefit.
In 2015, consumer preferences, new software’s and platforms brought about a host of changes and opportunities for all the social marketers; because of which the social media strategy has subsequently evolved and will continue to do so in 2016.
Here are six trends of 2016 that social media marketers should keep an eye out for:
1. Video is the King! and Queen:
Now is the time to jump on the mobile bandwagon of on-the-go videos. Videos started ruling the social media posts in 2015 and will continue to do so in 2016! Consumers want fast access to live-streaming of events, thanks to apps like Meerkat and Periscope, it’s possible for brands to broadcast a live stream of world around them. Live-streaming reveals a much more authentic side of your business which is unfiltered and unedited. Neither of the video app services has completely taken over the live-streaming space, so both should be considered while creating a social media strategy.
2. Customer drives the message:
Companies and brands are no longer in the driver’s seat. Customer dictates the content. While promoting the products, we need to build our social messages based on the customer needs. Rather than steering clients in what products and services a brand believes in, we need to make it into a conversation. Marketing tactics need to be adaptive of client and their behaviour.
3. Real-Time Engagement:
Each year the window for real-time response grows smaller and smaller. According to Search Engine Watch, 70% of Twitter users expect a response from brands they reach out to, and 53% want a response in less than an hour. That number jumps to 72% when they’re issuing a complaint.
Faster response time is one of the key strategies, marketers need to implement in 2016. If you are not quick enough to respond to your customers, your competitors might be. You are expected to keep up with the fast moving pace of the social media, if your business has a presence on any of the social media platforms.
4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO):
In 2015 we all saw a massive shift from text to media—but the competition for visibility has never been stronger. With more businesses building out their content strategies and the rising advertising costs, optimizing your organic content is at its highest demand. Although social media doesn’t directly influence your search ranking, greater social signals (such as people sharing your content and sending more traffic to your website) can help you rank higher. Why is this important? Because 33% of traffic from Google’s organic search results go to the first item listed.
5. Mobile First:
Mobile devices have become the primary (not secondary) screen for most social media users. In 2015, mobile traffic finally overtook desktop traffic in 10 countries, including the US and Japan.
As of January 2015, 80% of Internet users own a Smartphone. An estimated 2 billion consumers worldwide are expected to own a Smartphone by 2016. Additionally, devices like smart TVs and smart watches saw a spike in popularity, and we’ll continue to see their adoption rise in the New Year.
6. Data Driven decisions:
Data is already a big part of how you measure social media success, but it’ll play an even bigger role in your 2016 strategy. Marketers have never had this much access to information about consumer preferences before. This data can help you personalize your message and focus on building stronger loyalty and long-term engagement—rather than short-term acquisitions and individual sales.
