How to Use Snapchat For Your Business

Since its launch in 2011, Snapchat has a total of 150 million users around the world. Snapchat users watch 10 billion videos a day.

In the second that it takes for you to blink, approximately 9000 photo snaps are shared on Snapchat.

According to marketing genius Gary Vaynerchuk, Snapchat will continue to grow. Find out how you can use this to your advantage by using Snapchat for business.

You might have the app on your phone already, but the things you snap are selfies with your friends, the breakfast you made this morning, and your vacation at the beach.

You might be wondering how these pictures or videos will help your business?Well your selfies, #foodporn, and #nofiltershots can actually benefit your business if you use Snapchat for business the right way.

Currently, there are restaurants, brands, and even real estate agencies using Snapchat to show people the latest dishes, collections, and properties that are available for consumers to take advantage of.

There’s even a real estate agency that solely uses Snapchat for business to feature their property listings.

What Snapchat has done for businesses is encourage urgency.  Many of us see billboards on highways telling us to call the number, buy now, and take the next exit.

But how many of us do?  The percentage of people who actually follow through is quite low. Snapchat has given businesses a marketing tool that will reach your followers in seconds and encourages your followers to watch the story before it disappears.

Because your followers choose to watch your story, they are interested in what you have to say.  Unlike the billboards many of us just drive pass.

Not only do your followers choose to watch your stories but they also have to watch within 24 hours or they would miss out on your story.

At this moment, FOMO (fear of missing out) is real.  People want to feel like they’re a part of something.  It’s human nature. So create a community on Snapchat that is worth engaging with.

Use these tools to your advantage and find out how to use Snapchat for business.

Grab a surfboard and ride the social media wave because restaurants, shops, salons, corporate offices, and every other business in between can benefit from Snapchat for business.

Bakeries can snap pictures or videos of their fresh out of the oven pastries.  Stores can snap promotions such as“free gifts for the first 100 customers.”

Websites can snap pictures of flash sale banners.Offices can snap pictures of their employees or stories of their company motto.  All these snap stories will engage with potential and current customers.  Read about these tips and so many more on our Snapchat tips for business.

Why You NEED to use Snapchat for Business

There are 150 million potential customers on Snapchat and that number is growing. Snapchat has an international reach, so you can expand your market.

Plus, Snapchat for business can give your business a more modern appeal by reaching out to younger age groups.

Through Snapchat, you can reach new customers and also engage with current customers.  Businesses can provide better customer service and show customers that your business is not just a company.  It’s a company made of real people.  This aspect can revive your business and give you a new edge.

Newspaper ads and billboards are marketing strategies of the past.  They have the capacity to reach a large number of customers but many people just flip or drive passed them.  The newspaper ads and billboards are missing engagement.  That’s what Snapchat gives businesses.

How You Can Use Snapchat for Business

For your business, you can use Snapchat to reach new customers and increase sales. You can also engage with current customers and create a more meaningful relationship with them.  To do so, you can post about new products, services, or promotions.  You can even post pictures of happy customers and employees.

The first step of using Snapchat for business is developing an identity. How do you want your business to look and sound?  Your Internet personality needs to match with your business goals and appeal to new customers.

Start off by making a list of what you want your identity to represent and say about your business.  This list should have nine to ten characteristics.

After you have written down the characteristics that encompass your business, consolidate the list in to three focal points.  Once you have your focal points, you’ll have a platform to start building your Snapchat posts on.

This platform will be a unifying theme for all your snaps and snap stories.  When followers see your theme and relate to it then they’ll start engaging with the different snaps and snap stories your business puts out.

After you have created a Snapchat identity, you need to start posting.  Now the question is what should you post? Businesses can post promotional banners, sneak peaks to new products, inspirational/relatable quotes, and pictures of customers or employees.

Snapchat can give your business an identity outside of the corporate world.  It can be a fun social media outlet for employees to show off their personalities.  You can also use it to build an engaged following through special promotions for Snapchat followers or sneak previews to new products and collections.

For businesses that create products, you can have your Snapchat followers be a part of the creation process.  Let them voice their opinions on the new color, scent, flavor, or texture of your new product.  This will increase the number of people engaged and let your customers know that you care about their opinions.

For businesses that provide services, you can create a hashtag.  Caption every post you make with the hashtag.  If the hashtag trends then you’ll reach and engage with a huge pool of potential customers you didn’t have before.

Every time a customer leaves your store with a satisfied experience you can tell them to post about it with the hashtag.  To incentivize customers to post, you can even provide a discount code for the customers who took the time to create a Snapchat for business post.  You can verify their posts with a screenshot or saved story.

Now that you’re business is creating Snapchat stories, you need to think about the frequency of your posts.  How many times a day or week will you post? Remember quality is better than quantity.

You don’t want to swamp your followers’feeds with your Snapchat for business stories.  A limit of three Snapchat stories a day is a good rule of thumb.  But if you don’t have three quality stories, don’t force yourself to post one.

Once you start posting pointless snaps then you’ll lose your followers.  When you lose followers it’s hard to get them back, so focus on creating quality stories that will keep your followers engaged while staying in line with your Snapchat identity.

Snapchat is an amazing resource for businesses to engage with current customers and reach new customers.  There are so many possibilities for business opportunity and expansion on Snapchat.

Make your snaps and snap stories funny, captivating, witty, or inspiring.  Let your personality and your business motto shine through.  Don’t be left behind, make a Snapchat account for your business today!