Snaptchat launched in 2011 and has become one of the fastest growing social media platforms to date. With approximately 400 million snaps sent each day, you should consider it a viable marketing tool.
If you aren’t using Snapchat in your marketing strategy, you could be missing out on the opportunity to connect with hundreds of people who fit into your target audience. However, does Snapchat make sense for your business?
Before you respond to that question you must consider the following:
Is your target demographic 13-25 years old?
This is a startling statistic that conveys Snapchat’s dominance within this demographic. It makes every marketer reconsider his or her marketing strategy when targeting teens–especially if their brand isn’t using Snapchap to engage them.
According to comScore’s numbers, Snapchat’s penetration is now at about half of 18-24-year-old smartphone users, up from less than one-third a year earlier and closing in on Instagram (54.6%).
Do you have the resources to consistently post and respond?
Keeping up with the high-velocity engagements of teenagers on social media is a significant undertaking. The brevity of content on this platform makes it difficult to have your brand stay top-of-mind with consumers. You must understand the frequencies and content types without the help of social media management software.
At this point, there are no social media management tools (such as Hootsuite or SproutSocial) offering Snapchat automation. So, with this in mind, do you have the resources to consistently post and respond on Snapchat?
If your answer is no, I would consider establishing an internal strategy to manually engage with your targets on Snapchat.
Do your consumers like contests or giveaways?
Ever played the game peek-a-boo with a toddler? The surprise that stimulates almost every toddler on earth has the same appeal on Snapchat. Now take that stimulation and add a prize to invoke the ultimate engagement.
Well, if executed correctly, that’s essentially what you’ll get on Snapchat. So, if your consumers like contests, announcing it on a platform where your content lifespan is seconds certainly increases interest.
Are you more focused on conversion or awareness?
Ultimately brands want to make a long lasting impression with consumers. When targeting teen users, you must use their spontaneity to your advantage. If your focus is awareness, Snapchat may be a great tool as it gains users’ full attention because they know the content will soon disappear.
If you are more focused on conversion, Snapchat has no analytics to measure performance so you may want to try another medium.
Lastly, if you’re still unsure of whether there’s any value in using Snapchat for marketing purposes, consider some statistics:
58% of college students would be likely to purchase a brand’s product or service if they were sent a coupon on Snapchat. [Source: Sumpto]
If you find that Snapchat does not make sense for your business try Facebook, Google Plus and Twitter. Each has different functions which might appeal to your target consumers.
Does Snapchat Make Sense For Your Business? Any interesting findings?
